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Raser to display "E-Flex for trucks" hybrid system
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What emissions will there be on battery power? It says near 0. Is that including coal burning or uranium steaming?
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That's awesome! It'll make a huge difference when you're talking about large trucks that consume a ton of gas. Hope all these new technologies get implemented widespread very soon and help us get off of foreign oil!
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I like the sound of this......
Don't know how feasible it would be for GM to license the tech., especially with their 'Two-Mode' system getting alot of hype......but hell, put this in Silverados and Suburbans.......and that would handle CAFE quite nicely. Would give Lutz enough breathing room to expand RWD by a vehicle line or two
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No reason for GM to license it... they are working on the Volt, which is basically the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if GM is already working on expanding the Volt powertrain (E-Flex) into other vehicles, including trucks.I like the sound of this......
Don't know how feasible it would be for GM to license the tech., especially with their 'Two-Mode' system getting alot of hype......but hell, put this in Silverados and Suburbans.......and that would handle CAFE quite nicely. Would give Lutz enough breathing room to expand RWD by a vehicle line or two
I wouldnt doubt that to be true. If GM keeps the Volt as the center of attention, then they can make an E-Flex based trucks and SUVs under wraps. And if they do make it into production, then the competition could be a bit scared to.
Either way, if GM license it or make their own, they should go for it.
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I worry about battery life. An SUV will need a significantly larger motor than a Volt will. My Avalanche has 320hp and does 0-60 in about 8 seconds flat. A Cobalt does the same with about 170hp. For a truck to accelerate at that rate (which is the Volt's estimated 0-60 time) it would require a significantly more powerful motor which would obviously consume more electricity.
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They'll license it for the same reason they "collaborated" with DCX and BMW on the 2-Mode...this stuffcosts a lot of money and it would be nice if someone else will pay you a bunch for it. Although, you can bet they won't license it to Ford. A Silverado getting uber-mileage would give Chevy the pick-up crown once and for all.
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yeah and Ford and Chrysler could expland their RWD by a vehicule or 2 as well. And maybe, we could begin to dream of a RWD ImpalaI like the sound of this......
Don't know how feasible it would be for GM to license the tech., especially with their 'Two-Mode' system getting alot of hype......but hell, put this in Silverados and Suburbans.......and that would handle CAFE quite nicely. Would give Lutz enough breathing room to expand RWD by a vehicle line or two
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But keep in mind, the electric motor has about 10 million pounds of torque from 0-rpm, so it won't need as much HP to to the same low end work.
Also, while it needs to be reasonable, the hybrid doesn't need to be exactly as fast as the gas truck either. This is supposed to be for fleet trucks, which typically translates to "cheap bare bones truck" in which case it wouldn't likely have the 320 HP gas engine either.
If a hybrid car gets 5MPG better than the gas car, but the truck gets 10 MPG more than the gas truck, but still gets less than the car, then the hybrid truck still ends up saving more gas in the end.
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I think Eldofan was talking about GM licensing this technology FROM Raser. That's what I was saying would be unnecessary. As far as licensing E-Flex to other automakers, I would say don't do it. GM will have a huge advantage if they can get E-Flex to work in 2010, and they don't need the other guys to help them out.
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good news indeed!
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"....is expected to enable an average 100 miles per gallon fuel consumption......"
This sounds a great deal like the early claims of a Volt getting 150mpg. Those claims were based on taking the Volt's gas mileage (50mpg) and added in the extra range provided by the plug in charge (40 miles), assumed 60 mile round trips, and got 150 mpg. Assuming 50 mile round trips would have given them 750 mpg. And less than 40 mile trips would have meant "infinity" mpg. Those aren't true.
The Volt gets 50mpg, plus an extra "gas-free" 40 miles per charge.
They ignored the fact that those extra miles were not derived by gas at all, and ignored the source of that power (although cheaper than gas, you can't just ignore it). So that number was misleading, and just plain wrong.
The Volt is fantastic! But don't "cook the books" to get an inflated gas mileage number. You'll only be embarrassed when the truth comes out.
This sounds a great deal like the early claims of a Volt getting 150mpg. Those claims were based on taking the Volt's gas mileage (50mpg) and added in the extra range provided by the plug in charge (40 miles), assumed 60 mile round trips, and got 150 mpg. Assuming 50 mile round trips would have given them 750 mpg. And less than 40 mile trips would have meant "infinity" mpg. Those aren't true.
The Volt gets 50mpg, plus an extra "gas-free" 40 miles per charge.
They ignored the fact that those extra miles were not derived by gas at all, and ignored the source of that power (although cheaper than gas, you can't just ignore it). So that number was misleading, and just plain wrong.
The Volt is fantastic! But don't "cook the books" to get an inflated gas mileage number. You'll only be embarrassed when the truth comes out.
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I agree the numbers can be misleading but until a better way of measuring the mileage on these cars comes out we're pretty much stuck using what we have that is until a standard is developed to use for marketing mpg in e-flex type vehicles - something along the lines of "mpg per 300 miles" or something like that.
Saying 50mpg plus 40 mile gas free is too much of a mouthful for today's dumbed-down, believe everything they read, uneducated consumers, never mind that is sounds just as confusing as my example of "mpg per 300 miles"
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What you say is definitely true, it is complicated. But the future buyers of E-Flex type systems are going to need to learn the truth, or they will just end up greatly disappointed that their car isn't getting the mileage they might expect (and bad mouthing it all over town). They will need to UNDERSTAND "50 mpg, plus a free 40 miles per recharge". Plus understanding that the free 40 miles per charge isn't really "free" either. Even the uneducated will notice the difference between 50 mpg and 150 mpg. Expect to hear a lot of complaining.I agree the numbers can be misleading but until a better way of measuring the mileage on these cars comes out we're pretty much stuck using what we have that is until a standard is developed to use for marketing mpg in e-flex type vehicles - something along the lines of "mpg per 300 miles" or something like that.
Saying 50mpg plus 40 mile gas free is too much of a mouthful for today's dumbed-down, believe everything they read, uneducated consumers, never mind that is sounds just as confusing as my example of "mpg per 300 miles"
"Never underestimate the resourcefulness of a complete idiot."
The government's calculation used to "estimate" the Volt's mileage for CAFE purposes, will be yet another issue. (speaking of uneducated idiots
)
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As a fleet truck yeah I can see it.
But as a personal vehicle, it wouldn't do as well. I'd need it to replicate the 50-70 passing power of a gasoline V8 to replace my truck. When I'm pulling a boat and need to pass a tractor-trailer on a 2-lane, 320hp is barely adequate. I think a hybrid-ala the two mode is more efficient, only I'd up the power of the electric engine, make it plug-in and put much bigger batteries so it can operate under electric only during all cruising applications and just use the V8 to accelerate.
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One of the most interesting problems I have read about the Volt is how to keep the gas fresh in the tank. Great problem to have. I would be in that boat. I very seldem drive more than 40 mile in a day much less many days in a row to consume any fuel. In my case I could see buying gas once every couple of months. I guess I should buy some stock in Sta-bil.
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This is America, so you can do whatever you want. I am not suggesting otherwise. But I do roll my eyes when I think about the following. If you add up all of the minutes you drove last year, you spent maybe 1/100 of 1% of those minutes towing a boat while passing a tractor trailer on a 2-lane road.
One option is to spent that minute amount of time behind the tractor trailer rather than passing it while towing your boat, and spend the other 99.99% of the time in a far more efficient vehicle.
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The Tesla electric roadster costs $0.02 per mile in electrical costs to operate. If you price gasoline at $3.20 per gallon, the Tesla gets the equivalent of 160 miles per gallon.
You can turn around and take the money you save by not buying gas, and use it to purchase your electricity from solar, wind, or some other renewable source, so that your total electrical consumption is nearly emissions neutral. Even if you buy electrical that costs 3 times as much per kilowatt hour as electricity from coal and nuclear, you're still coming out ahead versus driving a conventional combustion engine.
... and besides, the cost of electricity from nuclear plants is artificially low because of government investment in startup costs. I have nothing against nuclear, there's a nuke plant less than 10 miles from my house. But it's not really 'cheap' energy. I officially pay $0.11 or so per kilowatt hour, but my parents' and grandparents' taxes helped build that plant and my own taxes help dispose of the waste material.
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