Biodiesel-electric hybrid motor swaps
11-20-2007, 09:21 PM
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Biodiesel-electric hybrid motor swaps
Article is on CNN, no technical details of course
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/20/g...ers/index.html
The guy pulls the motor out of any vehicle and installs a biodiesel / electric drivetrain. From the article saying the driver flips a switch to go from electric to diesel, it sounds like the drivetrain is always electric, with the diesel only acting as a generator to recharge the batteries. Regenerative braking is also not mentioned. Not complex, may get the job done, but I am very sceptical. Swap runs 40k, and the article mentions the guy did not graduate high school and is currently renting, by themselves not an admonishment of his achievements but it does raise questions as to the stability of his company and the legitimateness of the product.
One guy is converting a 1959 Lincoln Continnental and thinks he'll get 100 mpg, not likely IMHO. The article also mentioned "Goodwin's developing a download that can be installed in a car's computer and improve the mileage by five to seven mpg without losing performance. He expects it to cost about $200." I'm hoping this is just for the ECU in use with the diesel, if he's thinking of some magic universal SW that patches into your OEM ECU my BS flag is raised rather quickly.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/11/20/g...ers/index.html
The guy pulls the motor out of any vehicle and installs a biodiesel / electric drivetrain. From the article saying the driver flips a switch to go from electric to diesel, it sounds like the drivetrain is always electric, with the diesel only acting as a generator to recharge the batteries. Regenerative braking is also not mentioned. Not complex, may get the job done, but I am very sceptical. Swap runs 40k, and the article mentions the guy did not graduate high school and is currently renting, by themselves not an admonishment of his achievements but it does raise questions as to the stability of his company and the legitimateness of the product.
One guy is converting a 1959 Lincoln Continnental and thinks he'll get 100 mpg, not likely IMHO. The article also mentioned "Goodwin's developing a download that can be installed in a car's computer and improve the mileage by five to seven mpg without losing performance. He expects it to cost about $200." I'm hoping this is just for the ECU in use with the diesel, if he's thinking of some magic universal SW that patches into your OEM ECU my BS flag is raised rather quickly.
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