Diagram: How to Ecomod Your Car

[gone-ot]

...the proverbial "...a PICTURE is worth a 1,000 WORDS..."

[ConnClark]

Does an alternator kill switch really improve your mpg? All the electricity you draw from your battery has to be put back with a 15% penalty when recharging the battery.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by ConnClark

Does an alternator kill switch really improve your mpg? All the electricity you draw from your battery has to be put back with a 15% penalty when recharging the battery.

On my CRX,Honda configured the electrical for the field such that at low manifold vacuum( accelerating/climbing,passing) the alternator would drop to 12-V output until the load was reduced,such that at cruise or deceleration,the battery would be topped-off.
A small measure to help out a pretty low-power engine.

[ConnClark]

Originally Posted by aerohead

On my CRX,Honda configured the electrical for the field such that at low manifold vacuum( accelerating/climbing,passing) the alternator would drop to 12-V output until the load was reduced,such that at cruise or deceleration,the battery would be topped-off.
A small measure to help out a pretty low-power engine.

So it allows them to downsize an engine more to save fuel. If the technique is added to an existing car it would just be a performance enhancement and not a fuel saver. Correct?

[California98Civic]

This is great. I'm going to use it tomorrow as a handout at a university event with my students who have been learning the basics of the ecomodding. Your timing is perfect!

[NachtRitter]

Very cool... thanks for creating and posting!!

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

This is great. I'm going to use it tomorrow as a handout at a university event with my students who have been learning the basics of the ecomodding. Your timing is perfect!

If only you could teach at my school and perhaps make a difference in future production cars!

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Sven7

If only you could teach at my school and perhaps make a difference in future production cars!

A change in production cars would be a great thing to contribute to. But I think there is an opportunity in aftermarket stuff for the existing millions of vehicles too. I talk with students about this and other forms of entrepreneurship that can fill niches and when clever enough and with the luck of the market win changes in how some companies work by effecting their understanding of the opportunities in the market.

[Sven7]

True, but I always imagine that in 15 or 20 years the old, inefficient designs will have petered out and we will have pre-aeromodded cars all over. That won't happen if design students don't learn about economy. I'm in my last semester at one of the top two automotive design schools in the country and have not heard more than a passing word about aerodynamics.

There was a student who decided he wanted to put giant wind turbines on the car to charge the battery with wind power while driving on the freeway. I'm not going to name names- he's a good guy- but it just kind of shows the lack of instruction in matters not directly relating to drawing, sculpting and aesthetics. The curriculum is lacking.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I'm very glad you're teaching your students about this and helping to create a grassroots ecomodding aftermarket, but what the world really needs is informed design from the drawing board to the factory.

/rant

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by ConnClark

Does an alternator kill switch really improve your mpg? All the electricity you draw from your battery has to be put back with a 15% penalty when recharging the battery.

Good point but sometimes, yes. Especially if you can charge the deep cycle battery off the grid at night and your commute is short enough to make it home without switching on the alternator. Alternately, (no pun intended) if your route is hilly you can switch it off climbing a hill and switch it on while engine braking on the descent. Modern fuel injected engines use no fuel while in overrun.