Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
Suggest you come out here and try driving down some of our hills, without using brakes or engine braking :-) Of course you don't need to store 100% of the energy needed to raise the weight of the vehicle that distance (though it would be nice). What you need is the capacity to store all the EXCESS energy that would otherwise be wasted in braking.
Your beliefs are not at issue. If you want a vehicle that doesn't have such capabilities, there are many on the market to choose from. I do want one, and am speculating on how best to design it.
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I don't know where you live but I think most people don't need to deal with big hills on a regular basis.
Some of the hills in San Francisco are so steep that if I engine brake down in 1st gear (I have 4.3 rear diff C56, 1.8L, 2170 ish pounds so the braking is *very* strong) I keep accelerating until the engine reaches over 4000 rpm :O Does that mean all cars should have hybrid racecar like regenerative braking capability?
The more energy capacity you put in, the more cost, mass, and volume is used. What I'm saying is that not many people will have much of a use for the extra capacity. Maybe something more reasonable like enough energy to climb 500ft, which would be like storing the excess energy from descending 1000ft at a faster speed. In a city environment that would already be massive overkill.