Source: Toyota takes control of World Endurance Championship in 2014 | Autoweek I was eating supper Saturday reading my paper copy of AutoWeek when I found this piece. Bob Wilson
Yep, Toyota's come close at LeMans, but no cigar. Audi has three or four cars entered every year, so they always have a better chance of winning.
I don't know how many cars you need. Toyota definitely improved not only because of rule changes but better skills with its drivers and mechanics. I think the rules favor the choices toyota has made again this year. Porsche has been away from racing for a number of years. I think they did the right choice for them using batteries instead of supercaps, probably hurt them in races, but may help them building plug-ins. I think the redesign will work and Porsche will be better competitors in 2015 Porsche reveals its 2015 919 Hybrid LMP1 car for WEC and Le Mans - WEC news - AUTOSPORT.com Toyota even may move to battery, but I doubt it will be this year. Moving to batteries would help them test the tech they actually are putting in cars, but it may wait until 2016 to be competitive with the supercaps they currently are using. Toyota could switch to battery option for 2015 WEC LMP1 - WEC news - AUTOSPORT.com
Wouldn't testing Supercaps help Toyota give more extreme road data with their Supercaps they are planning to put into future hybrids?
I think the cost and weight for lithium batteries have fallen, and are expected to fall fast enough to stop supercaps from being used by themselves in a new production car or hybrid, Mazda is playing with them in their eloop system, but performance of that system would probably be better with something like the new JCI lithium/lead dual battery, and price is lower. Hyundai was the other big proponent, but are using lithium polymer instead. These systems require a redesign, and mazda doesn't have deep pockets so I expect to see any supercap improvements to be tried in those systems. Super caps are bigger and heavier for the same energy than lithium, but are able to give off bursts and store power faster. A combination of lithium + super cap may be viable soon, but stand alone supercaps don't make sense engineering sense for production vehicles. Still they are better in race vehicles for now. A combination of lithium + super cap could allow more ice downsizing in a small batteried hybrid or blended phev.
How come you and I agree on SuperCap + Lithium combos, but have not seen any hybrid maker even attempt that? I thought the Toyota experiment was Supercap + Lithium combo they are testing?
Toyota is testing it in the lab, but not in these lmp1 race cars. In the 2000s flywheels like the audi team is using were best for highpower applications like racing. Now super caps are the leaders, but supercaps +batteries would be better for real real life, the rules don't really give you the credit in this race serious right now. Porsche is subjecting their ideas for production lithium batteries though to the rigors of racing, waiting for the tech to catch up.
Just to add, there is the promise of making supercaps part of the structure of a car. This explains it, and why plug-ins and full hybrids will go lithium batteries (or the next tech). Graphene-based Supercapacitors Take Another Crack at All-electric Vehicles - IEEE Spectrum Think of this, even at current graphine super-capacitor energy density 14 wh/kg, you can store 3 ten second bursts of 80 kw (size of prius mg2) for about 100 lbs, and not take up any space in a new car design. That is enough to really hold any regeneration/acceleration scenario. Add on a new JCI dual lithium/lead acid battery (available in 2018, currently supplies Toyota with all north american batteries) that can sit where current 12V batteries sit, and you have great packaging for a hybrid, no need for room for a big battery, just need to find room for the psd, which can fit under just about any hood. This scenario works with tech that would be ready for a 2019 model. A supercapacitor added to a blended phev like the prius phv could make it an erev, giving full performance to acceleate to highway speeds without turning the ice on. Get it to 64wh/kg (korean researchers expect this) and it would only add 23 lbs. supercapacitors need added electronics to charge and discharge into a lithium battery, but these electronics follow normal power electronics and should be much cheaper in 10 years when the gen VI prius is ready to come out.
