Turn your Hyundai into a hybrid for only $3000
09-26-2012, 10:34 AM
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Turn your Hyundai into a hybrid for only $3000
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/this-cou...170717691.html
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Even with an increasing number of car manufacturers building hybrid cars, it's hard for a lot of people to justify buying a new car for an extra 10 miles per gallon in fuel savings.
But a former IBM engineer and current professor at Middle Tennessee State University named Charles Perry and his students have designed a hybrid retrofit kit that may soon turn any gas powered car or truck into a hybrid.
It's been in the works for the past few years, but the technology is getting closer to becoming a reality. We spoke with Professor Perry this week to find out more.
Prof. Perry's design takes a lot of the confusion out of hybrid technology, making it more realistic and accessible to car owners. The kit attaches to the rear wheels of just about any car or truck, and is powered by a lithium ion battery in the trunk. Sure, not everyone could install it themselves, but Perry insists that if you can change your brakes, you can install the kit.
When it comes to market he hopes to retail the kit for around $3,000, with battery costs as the main factor in determining the price.
But a former IBM engineer and current professor at Middle Tennessee State University named Charles Perry and his students have designed a hybrid retrofit kit that may soon turn any gas powered car or truck into a hybrid.
It's been in the works for the past few years, but the technology is getting closer to becoming a reality. We spoke with Professor Perry this week to find out more.
Prof. Perry's design takes a lot of the confusion out of hybrid technology, making it more realistic and accessible to car owners. The kit attaches to the rear wheels of just about any car or truck, and is powered by a lithium ion battery in the trunk. Sure, not everyone could install it themselves, but Perry insists that if you can change your brakes, you can install the kit.
When it comes to market he hopes to retail the kit for around $3,000, with battery costs as the main factor in determining the price.
09-26-2012, 01:54 PM
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I think the concept of it would work amazing.. It would really depend on how long the battery/ies hold up for it to be a consideration in my opinion..
If they batteries lasted a long time, the concept seems quite sound. Adding the weight to the car would be negated by the fact that the battery would be doing the work so at those points you would be using more battery than gas.
I am not sure how powerful the DC motors are but you really don't need much power to go slow or maintain speed on the highway..
Very interesting concept and I hope something like it makes it into production one day.. If you could get a 50-100% increase in the car I am driving that would be boosting the MPG from my average of around 30mpg to 45-60mpg.. Yes please..
If they batteries lasted a long time, the concept seems quite sound. Adding the weight to the car would be negated by the fact that the battery would be doing the work so at those points you would be using more battery than gas.
I am not sure how powerful the DC motors are but you really don't need much power to go slow or maintain speed on the highway..
Very interesting concept and I hope something like it makes it into production one day.. If you could get a 50-100% increase in the car I am driving that would be boosting the MPG from my average of around 30mpg to 45-60mpg.. Yes please..
09-26-2012, 09:06 PM
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DC motors have full-rated torque right from a dead stop, unlike gas engines. Specify them properly and you can really get a car moving quickly.
Lithium chemistry batteries have a service life in the 3-7 year range before they are useless due to old age, then you have to buy them again . . . also unlike gas engines. Figure that into your miles/gallon equation and it doesn't look quite so good.
For my car, this works out to a break-even at 5 years, going from 30MPG to 50MPG at a cost of $3000. Then I would have to buy new batteries saving exactly zero dollars. I know this because I whipped up a .xls spreadsheet calculator to tell the time it takes to pay for a modification with fuel cost savings. Nobody likes this, because almost no mod looks good when ONLY considered from this standpoint. http://www.hyundaiaftermarket.org/fo...-modification/
All other battery chemistries are too heavy or too low energy-density for realistic use in a sporty hybrid. I have seen lead-acid forklift batteries used as electric car batteries but they are h.e.a.v.y. Oh and P.S. one of the failure modes for lithium chemistry batteries is "explodes into a fireball"
Lithium chemistry batteries have a service life in the 3-7 year range before they are useless due to old age, then you have to buy them again . . . also unlike gas engines. Figure that into your miles/gallon equation and it doesn't look quite so good.
For my car, this works out to a break-even at 5 years, going from 30MPG to 50MPG at a cost of $3000. Then I would have to buy new batteries saving exactly zero dollars. I know this because I whipped up a .xls spreadsheet calculator to tell the time it takes to pay for a modification with fuel cost savings. Nobody likes this, because almost no mod looks good when ONLY considered from this standpoint. http://www.hyundaiaftermarket.org/fo...-modification/
All other battery chemistries are too heavy or too low energy-density for realistic use in a sporty hybrid. I have seen lead-acid forklift batteries used as electric car batteries but they are h.e.a.v.y. Oh and P.S. one of the failure modes for lithium chemistry batteries is "explodes into a fireball"
09-28-2012, 08:31 AM
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Stocker gives quite a rational summation of the issue though. It's a shame that they don't really have an economy of scale here, I'm sure with mass production you could get the rrp down to half of what they are asking.
The only other thing is that it will make your brakes hotter and your ride shittier, but that probably doesn't matter to most people looking to double their gas mileage.
Stocker gives quite a rational summation of the issue though. It's a shame that they don't really have an economy of scale here, I'm sure with mass production you could get the rrp down to half of what they are asking.
The only other thing is that it will make your brakes hotter and your ride shittier, but that probably doesn't matter to most people looking to double their gas mileage.