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There was a fad for turboelectric drive, like a Diesel-electric locomotive, in the 1920s. No need for reduction gears. That idea comes and goes; the Zumwalt cla
by stcredzero 7y ago
There was a fad for turboelectric drive, like a Diesel-electric locomotive, in the 1920s. No need for reduction gears. That idea comes and goes; the Zumwalt class destroyers are turboelectric drive.
Lately, I've been wondering about hybrid electric turbochargers. The batteries would be a lot of extra weight, but it might make sense for hybrid cars that have the batteries anyways. Shouldn't that yield turbocharging with very high boost, but zero lag?
- mark-r 7y agoMight work, but unnecessary - the electric motors coupled to the wheels directly already give you the equivalent of turbo. I have no problem squealing the tires on my Hybrid Camry.
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoI have no problem squealing the tires on my old french car with its formidable 1.6L naturally aspirated inline-four that produced 109 horespower when new. It's not a very telling metric.
- mark-r 7y agoMy 1981 Renault couldn't even dream of squealing its tires.
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoSo mine is a 2001 Peugeot, it's "old" but not "veteran". Probably it has twice the low-end torque of the equivalent 80s car, and 50% more power. In the 80s French cars, 110 horsepower was "high performance" versions like the 205 GTI, which could definitely make some noise.
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoFormula 1 already does this. From what I can tell, it requires a really long shaft between the compressor and the expander sections of the turbo, for thermal reasons, so it's a very expensive piece of kit. Also, it requires that your typical driving scenario frequently dumps a lot of flow out the wastegate, which is known as "driving like an idiot" on normal roads.