http://www.4x4offroads.com/oshkosh-hemtt-a3.html

Watched modern marvels, and heard about this.. Pretty neat..

Like the Chevy Volt, I'm starting to warm up to the series hybrid layouts.. Especially since when technology improves in the future, it shouldn't be too hard to take out internal combustion completely..

 

Thats pretty cool to see hybird technology powering something of that size.

 

Actually, most of the massive modern freight trains in use today are diesel electric series hybrids. So the concept is nothing new, its finally trickling down in size.. Because relative to a modern freight train, the HEMTT is probably relatively small in payload?.. lol

PS: In case people don't realize, hybrid series is different to what hybrid cars are of today. In hybrid series, only electricity drives the wheels (in the HEMTT's case, all 8 wheels independently!) The internal combustion engine is only used to generate electricity..

 

Fixed.

Im waiting for the first turbine/electric hybrids... Gas turbines are extremely efficient at high power settings, (not so much at anything less than 80%) and Im curious to see what a 40-60shp turbine engine tied to a generator would be like for a hybrid motor vehicle application. (probably something like a bus or medium-duty truck.)

 

It's powered like the Volt concept right?

I had a discussion a bit back on a Toyota board about the Volt, and we discussed how its powered only by a motor and the small generator, compared to the Prius and how it is powered either by electric motor or by its 4cylinder.

 

The volt is a series hybrid while the pirus and all others to date are parallel hybrids.

 

The Honda hybrids can be safely classified as parallel architectures; the Toyota power-split hybrids and the GM two-mode defy easy classification. There are times when such a system resembles most closely a parallel arrangement, but there are also functional modes where the system acts much more like a series system.

 

How about the old school batmobile as a series hybrid? heheh

So, one thing that kinda makes me wonder about series hybrids... We're taking internal combustion engine.. to spin a generator, that powers ultracapacitors and to drive electric motors... All those steps of energy conversions and transfers.. yet its still more efficient than an internal combustion engine running the wheels directly?

Is this simply because all the energy loss between the transmission and drivetrain is that drastic? I guess if in a car, it can be around 20%, then probably in a heavy duty app, it could be even more.....

And the electric drive has energy savings with advanced traction control (I hear that itself for freight trains is significant) and the ability to get some energy back on braking?

wacky.

 

A engine can be made much more effecent when designed as a generator vs. what it needs to do to drive your car. Plus drivetrain loss can be miminized depending upon design.