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Old 09-04-2014, 09:53 AM   #40 (permalink)
P-hack
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Old Mechanic View Post
the piston in cylinder has survived any effort to render it obsolete for good reason.
I think there is a larger factor in the automotive world (certainly aircraft and many military vehicles sorted out turbines long ago), namely drive-ability. With the peaky output of a turbine it wasn't suited to driving like a car, but if most/all your torque is electrical then it is operated independently of the throttle and dependently on battery state of charge. Plus with very low moving parts count and weight and extreme reliability, it is a good match for electric.
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