Quote:
Originally Posted by Intrigued
Hey, that is a pretty neat idea: using a heavy flywheel. We'll have to see if anyone with experience can punch holes in the theory. It would be a breakthrough if it worked! 
The reason so many have stayed away from automatics is that you lose up to 15% of your efficiency to the torque convertor, which just sits there and turns the energy into heat when not locked up. There is such a delicate balance between carrying enough batteries to get any range versus being able to make the car able to carry all of the weight versus getting any speed out of the thing...etc that most folks just try to find a standard tranny.
Some of the automatic guys just connect directly to their input shaft - no flywheel or torque convertor. Saves weight to help with the balance of weight/power/speed that way, too.
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Well, I want the smooth acceleration associated with automatics, and want to keep it as similar to a carbon burner as possible. I also thought of something else. A lot of the GM trannys have the capability of locking the torque convertor with an internal solenoid. That could be controlled with the software easily enough. I found that out on a Grand Prix the hard way when it locked in and stayed locked in. It will kill the motor when you come to a stop at a red light!
For distance driving, I thought I will "hybrid" the car with a very small one cylinder gasoline generator, adapted to output the battery voltage(+ a few volts for better charging), and just see what happens. Should increase the distance quite a bit.
cheers!
