3 ms·
Do the math like I did. Go watts to watts to watts with the most efficient gas engine there can be. You’re not going to get much of an improvement. You’re still
by idontwantthis 2y ago
Do the math like I did. Go watts to watts to watts with the most efficient gas engine there can be. You’re not going to get much of an improvement. You’re still burning gas to charge a battery to turn into forward motion.
- AtlasBarfed 2y agoYou're pretending in-city inefficiency doesn't exist? The atkinson cycle doesn't exist? Turbocharging and combined cycle tricks (which can be used to boost efficiency / approach or exceed carnot limits I believe), other heat recovery/reuse (especially for A/C and heating), compact rotary engines, more precise combustion and timing, all of that can't be employed for a charging engine?
- idontwantthis 2y agoI'm not pretending anything. A 3500 lb object moving at 60mph requires 57kw to to keep moving at that speed. If you have an engine producing less than that, then you're going to run out of energy, no matter how efficient it is. You brought up a "lawnmower motor" which produces at most 1/3 of that if you're talking about a gigantic riding mower. If you put a motor smaller than the wattage requirement then you can end up stuck with a full tank of gas, and a dead battery running your gas engine to slowly charge your vehicle. To the point of "ideal RPMs", my ICE car already does that on a flat highway and it doesn't suddenly double or triple it's mileage. It gets about 33, while the overall average is about 26. Go test it yourself. Find a stretch of highway where you can maintain 60mph without fluctuation, and see what "ideal rpm" means. My point in all of this has been lost anyway. My point is that the more efficient you make the gas engine of a plug in hybrid, the less important is the battery component. Plugins are not a bridge between ICE and EVs, and they are definitely not superior to either. They are a distraction.