150mpg engine

[mion]

So I saw this on yahoo about 150mpg engine with over 300hp, that what they claim. Anyways what caught my attention was that US auto makers are not interested in such a thing.

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/8129227

[vengance_01]

I am not sure on the 300HP claim, but a Hybrid that can deliver that kind of efficiency would be fantastic. It would make a great in-between jump till we can get Hydrogen fuel cell cars in full swing and to be affordable.

[bball4ever39]

Well I know a lot of car companies add the electric and gas engines hp together to get a total. So it could have a 260hp gas engine and a very efficient 40hp electric engine.

[[XC] Lead Head]

So I saw this on yahoo about 150mpg engine with over 300hp, that what they claim. Anyways what caught my attention was that US auto makers are not interested in such a thing.

http://gmy.news.yahoo.com/v/8129227

Engine does not give you mileage, You can have an 1800 HP engine, stick it in a go kart, and you'll get 150mpg.

Anyways, i found the video they were talking about and its a plug in hybrid, not an actual engine itself that does that, and its 300+ combined HP, that problem with that is, one your that fancy capacitor runs out, your back down to 20-30 MPG from the gas engine.

I'd say the biggest reason no one is interested is that massive costs it would have to bring to mass production, including to customers. Who wants to pay 80,000 for a car that gets 150 mpg for a short amount of time in the city only?

[Magnj]

Lots of Nuclear + plug in diesel hybrids ftw.

[Levish]

Engine does not give you mileage, You can have an 1800 HP engine, stick it in a go kart, and you'll get 150mpg.

Anyways, i found the video they were talking about and its a plug in hybrid, not an actual engine itself that does that, and its 300+ combined HP, that problem with that is, one your that fancy capacitor runs out, your back down to 20-30 MPG from the gas engine.

I'd say the biggest reason no one is interested is that massive costs it would have to bring to mass production, including to customers. Who wants to pay 80,000 for a car that gets 150 mpg for a short amount of time in the city only?

Depends on what the short amount of time is (which is actually more along the lines of useable distance) if it's 30-40 miles its well within the range of most commutes for people in a congestion heavy urban area like NYC or LA.

Theoretically with a plug in hybrid in this scenario you can make it to and from work and back again using zero gas, making your trip cost around 3-5 cents a mile instead of 35-40 cents a mile or much more depending on level of congestion.

[Thrilla]

When I click on that link I get something about neck tie??

[nn_step]

Lots of Nuclear + plug in diesel hybrids ftw.

hybrids are a bad joke. Ironically pure electric or even pure internal combustion is more efficient. Simply because you don't have 2 engines, which usually just has one sitting idle and taking up weight

[Soulburner]

hybrids are a bad joke. Ironically pure electric or even pure internal combustion is more efficient. Simply because you don't have 2 engines, which usually just has one sitting idle and taking up weight

Actually no, when using the electric (when stopped and accelerating from a stop) the gas engine is usually shut off, and kicks in at cruise speeds.

[[XC] Lead Head]

Hybrids show the most gains on larger vehicles in city driving.

Dodge Durango HEMI Hybrid is supposedly to get around 18-19 MPG city, when normally it would get around 12-13

[nn_step]

Actually no, when using the electric (when stopped and accelerating from a stop) the gas engine is usually shut off, and kicks in at cruise speeds.

yes and I said that. But note that the electric motor turns off when the engine reaches cruise speeds

[[XC] riptide]

Engine does not give you mileage, You can have an 1800 HP engine, stick it in a go kart, ?

I'll take 2 of those go Karts. Oh and a few sets of wheels... and an F-16 ejection seat just in case.

[Andrew LB]

I'll take 2 of those go Karts. Oh and a few sets of wheels... and an F-16 ejection seat just in case.

Or you can always have a 1300cc Turbo Hayabusa go-Kart.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjHMFd4Bln8

[jinu117]

I went out to get prius and gave up. In place I live (so. cal where there are a lot of long distance commuter), demand is incredibly high. With lot of people driving 80-120 miles a day in traffic, there is no way to say it won't be cost effective for these commuters.
In fact, in local ad, I've seen frigging 2 year old prius with 20k mile with sticker for carpool lane listed tad over $30k (gasp!!!)
In all honesty though, I would love to see proper hybrid minivan first. With size of my family, we use it a lot and I can definitely use better gas milage on tha... :P

[Brave758]

hybrids are a bad joke. Ironically pure electric or even pure internal combustion is more efficient. Simply because you don't have 2 engines, which usually just has one sitting idle and taking up weight

Couldn't agree more. But they are a small step in the right direction. Realistically we need to look at methonal power till electric, liquid nitrogen, or even hydrogen fuel cells become truly economical. At the moment we need to put more in than we get out, you can't carry/deliver in the same volume as fuel. And realistically the government and car bodies need to stop using MPG and use the calorific value of the fuel as a means of comparison taxing costing etc

[Soulburner]

yes and I said that. But note that the electric motor turns off when the engine reaches cruise speeds

Yes, because you optimize each engine's strengths that way. The gasoline engine is much more efficient at cruise, and the electric engine saves a lot of gas by never letting the gas engine do the acceleration.

If you were to run an electric engine on the highway your batteries would be dead fast...thus the hybrid, which increases your range by a large amount.

[nn_step]

Yes, because you optimize each engine's strengths that way. The gasoline engine is much more efficient at cruise, and the electric engine saves a lot of gas by never letting the gas engine do the acceleration.

If you were to run an electric engine on the highway your batteries would be dead fast...thus the hybrid, which increases your range by a large amount.

Yes it is very true that gasoline engines are most efficient at a sustained cruising speed. However they are not as efficient as any electric motor.
But as battery technology improves, the advantages of gasoline engines becomes eliminated.