Quote:
Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr
In an aftermarket hybrid conversion aimed to FWD cars I'd always consider more suitable to provide the electric auxiliary drive to the rear axle, since it would deliver 2 main dynamic advantages: would provide better traction for higher-speed cornering and also compensate for the different weight balance which would come due to the extra weight of the battery packs.
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(Assuming we're attaching the motor to the hub or spindle...)
Not to mention that the rear wheels typically have less brake disk mass so you can end up with less unsprung mass. Also since the wheels don't turn like the front wheels, I imagine the wiring would experience less fatigue.
Back to original topic, an easy retrofit would be a modified alternator that spits out a higher voltage, either add it to the belt or modify existing alternator and then use voltage converters to power the existing electrical systems. Operating it at higher voltage will increase the efficiency considerably (a hydraulic energy recovery system isn't going to do very well in the efficiency department anyways). To optimize it further, if you have an e-throttle, you would want the throttle open in DFCO mode so you can recover more energy.
If I were retrofitting a RWD car though, I wouldn't bother feeding the power back to the rear wheels. Put electric motors on the front, feed all the excess power to the front wheels.