When it becomes a public company (by a Tesla co-founder). Electric drive trains for trucks. This is a very interesting article from the BBC.
Saul
http://www.bbc.com/autos/story/20141006-the-jet-powered-fede…
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This is very interesting. From the article:
The parcel company [here they were discussing FedEx] recently retrofitted and road-tested two trucks with the Wrightspeed system, and subsequently ordered retrofit packages for 25 more.
In another example, an Isuzu NPR, a medium-duty truck that achieves roughly 12mpg with a diesel engine, returned 44mpg after a retrofit by Wrightspeed.
Garbage trucks represent another opportunity. An average truck burns about 14,000 gallons of fuel per year in the US, at a cost of about $55,000 to the operator. Wright says a Wrightspeed powertrain could double a garbage truck’s fuel economy from fewer than 3mpg to 6mpg. “We can generate $35,000-a-year savings per vehicle through reduced fuel costs,” Wright says.
$35,000 per year per vehicle is likely to go a long way to financing the drive train.
Thanks Saul.
Jeb
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The Army has found the weak spot for turbines in the Abrahms is fuel consumption, it burns nearly as much at idle as at speed. But presumably the gas turbine here could be used more efficiently.
As this suggests
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_turbine
To me, a conventional ICE engine represents a bad choice for powering alternators in hybrids. It’s too heavy ,requires too many unnecessary parts , and vibrates,etc.
Actually I think the Wankle rotary is near perfect for this application, weighs little, is not bulky, and is a lot cheaper than a turbine. The known disadvantages seem less so in intermittent operation. Present hybrids don’t use ICE engines because the are good, they use them because that is what the car companies have available…
The above comments are made with the assumption that to give an EV driving experience the gas engine must produce electricity only and never directly drive the vehicle.
Mazda is coming out with a Wankle based hybrid before too long.
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