3 ms·
Wouldn't the development of turbochargers naturally direct itself toward special industry/heavy duty applications, as climate change and new technology spurs mo
by peterwwillis 11y ago
Wouldn't the development of turbochargers naturally direct itself toward special industry/heavy duty applications, as climate change and new technology spurs more investment in electric & autonomous vehicles? In five years, once one in four (i'm pulling that number out of my ass) of every new car is a hybrid, will the efficiency of turbos matter?
- maxerickson 11y agoThose applications don't have the huge volumes that the vehicle market does. Ford is going to sell 1 million turbos this year, what industrial market for engines approaches that? As to the relevance of turbos in the future, they increase peak power more than anything else, so I would expect them to continue to be useful in parallel hybrid configurations (if it enables a smaller ICE, it's probably a win).
- arethuza 11y agoSmall high-performance turbo engines seem pretty appropriate for hybrids - look at the 1.5L 3 cylinder engine in the BMW i8.