Electric supercharger/alternator

[pete c]

I think I have seen this discussed somewhere here before.

Would an electric supercharger that also served as an alternator make sense?

My thinking is that you might be able to recover some of the pumping loss by turning the supercharger into a throttle by putting an electrical load on it during partial throttle situations. On a hybrid vehicle, this power could be sent directly to the electric motor. I suspect that you'd still need traditional throttle for some situations where good throttle response was needed, but in regular cruising mode the throttle goes full open throttle duties are handled by varying the electric load on the supercharger. An added benefit is that when you ring up all ahead, full, you put power to the supercharger making it into a traditional supercharger.

[mort]

Originally Posted by pete c

I think I have seen this discussed somewhere here before.

Would an electric supercharger that also served as an alternator make sense?
...

Hi pete,
There is a unenlightening thread here. Ultimately throttling losses are too small to justify the extra complication.
-mort

[oil pan 4]

Originally Posted by mort

Hi pete,
There is a unenlightening thread here. Ultimately throttling losses are too small to justify the extra complication.
-mort

Indeed.

Originally Posted by dcb

Then Lancelot, Galahad and I wait until nightfall and then leap out of the rabbit

LoL.

Realistically I calculate throttling losses to be around 2 horse power at speed on a typical 4cyl engine.
You might be able to capture around half of that to do work, if you are lucky.
The easiest answer that works is get an engine that does not have throttling losses.

[pete c]

Originally Posted by mort

Hi pete,
There is a unenlightening thread here. Ultimately throttling losses are too small to justify the extra complication.
-mort

Yes, that was the one. Was a while back and I did put my two cents worth in then.

Looks like the only way this might be worthwhile would be with a large displacement engine.

drmiller100 posted on that thread. Seems like he dropped off the board around that time. Anyone know if he ever got his trike finished?