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Neil, the information in the articles I have read seems to be somewhat limited and probably contains some inaccuracies, either intentionally or in the information provided to the writer of the article itself. In particular the "air" hybrid statement, since there are definitely issues with using the atmosphere as a compressed gas source, with humidity and the potential of combustion when it could create danger. It may be that the same charateristic of spontaneous combustion of highly compressed atmosphere and any combustioble liquid or gas actually could become useful instead of undesirable and potentially dangerous. Injecting any combustible liquid or vapor into a atmoshere compressed to 3000 PSI could be potentially dangerous, but it could also be potentially beneficial, if done properly.
In my opinion and based on considerable research and investigation of my own, I believe the hydraulic system can be inbcorporated into a vehicle without any weight penalty, when you consider the considerable amount of conventional components that could be eliminated, basically the whole powertrain, if the drives replace the conventional braking system as they are in the configuration I envisage.
Driving the wheelsls directly whether inboard or in the wheels themselves replaces all of the mechanical connections between the power source and the wheels. It also eliminates the cumulative energy losses inherent in those same components. A third benefit is that hydraulic motors are most efficient at wheel speeds compared to engine or propshaft speeds. Direct drives with better designed motors offer efficiencies comparable to manual transmissions with low viscosity lubricants (IE ATF versus gear lube).
I believe eventually the battery electric will replace the IC engine in vehicles, as you do. The only question is how long will that transition take and at what cost? The development of a direct drive HH powertrain platform will enhance all other developments in materials and aerodynamics, a system that takes advantage of every improvement outside the powertrain itself.
My experience is unfortunately, it requires a dedicated commitment, with a fairly huge capital commitment, to the purpose of powertrain improvement. In the end, driving technique will have a much lower effect on overall vehicle mileage, but that may take decades to evolve.
To see Bosch and Peugeot make that commitment is a huge step in the right direction, and if my beliefs are correct, others will follow. At some pont in the future our beliefs and subsequent designs will merge into a transportation mode that is better than the sum of the parts and our design priorities. As Patrick Henry stated, we all need to hang together or we will be hung separately. Hopefully the end result will be a vehicle that adresses the legitimate concers about the effect on planetary climate before we actually reach a point of no return.
regards
Mech
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