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Old 05-10-2017, 05:12 PM   #9 (permalink)
Ecky
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Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: New Zealand
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ND Miata - '15 Mazda MX-5 Special Package
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Not all mods have to pay off or make any kind of financial sense though. Sometimes I like to tinker for the sake of tinkering.

I don't think regenerative braking is going to happen with bolt-ons, at least not in any meaningful way. Sure, there are hybrid conversions for sale on the market, but they're not remotely cheap and require some fabrication. And, unfortunately, most of the gains from hybridizing a vehicle are not from capturing braking energy, but from being able to use an undersized engine and/or run it lean and/or with the Atkinson cycle, and running that undersized and "detuned" engine as little as possible.

I think the low-hanging fruit is going to be maximizing engine-off time in the Jeep, given how relatively inefficient and large the engine is. However, I'm under the impression that many automatic transmissions require the engine to be running for lubrication and cooling (? never owned an automatic) and that you run a very real risk of detonating it by coasting with the engine off.
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