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Hydraulics Could Boost Hybrids' Power

Discussion in 'Prius, Hybrid, EV and Alt-Fuel News' started by Arroyo, May 15, 2005.

  1. Arroyo

    Arroyo Member

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    Hydraulics Could Boost Hybrids' Power

    J.D. Power and Associates Inc. predicts that hybrids will account for three percent of U.S. vehicle sales by 2011. However, today's hybrid vehicle batteries must be replaced every eight to 10 years, at a cost of about $1500-$5000 more than the premium buyers pay for the fuel-saving technology.

    Inventor Steve Bloxham presented a new technology at the Society of Automotive Engineers' conference in Detroit that is said to be less expensive, 50 percent lighter, and eliminates the environmental concerns associated with battery disposal, according to Eric Mayne of the Detroit News.

    Tentatively named the Phoenix Motor, Bloxham's device uses hydraulics to generate the juice needed to power the electric motor mated to a gasoline engine in a typical hybrid vehicle. Bloxham, president of California-based Compressor Control Co., is marketing his technology as hybrid vehicle sales gain momentum amid rising fuel prices. The Phoenix Motor is named because its power is reborn from energy wasted during the braking process.

    "The customer buys the car to save money (on gas) and half the money he's spent goes back into replacing the battery," said Bloxham.

    But Bloxham faces a significant obstacle: automakers have yet to embrace hydraulic hybrids. Ford Motor Co. is among the manufacturers that have examined Bloxham's technology. "Batteries are expensive, but not so problematic," Ford's Vice President of Research and Advanced Engineering Gerhard Schmidt told Mayne. Schmidt said hydraulic systems are cumbersome for smaller vehicles. "(They) tend to have a higher energy-saving value on heavier vehicles."

    "Bloxham admits that his motor represents a compromise over conventional batteries, says Mayne. "Its power, generated when compressed gas moves hydraulic fluid through a pump-motor, drains more quickly than in typical hybrids."

    "I lose my extra boost after 10 or 20 seconds - they lose it after 30 or 40 seconds," Bloxham said to Mayne. Readily available technologies can fix that, he said. "A full-size car with variable valve timing and turbocharging would still be able to allow that car to go up a mountain grade at 80 mph."

    Omnico President Jim Whitney, an engineering firm in Rochester Hills, believes the Phoenix Motor has a future in commercial vehicles, however. "He's been pitching Bloxham's brainchild to makers of "in-plant" workhorse vehicles," says Mayne.

    "Whitney envisions the Phoenix Motor in tow vehicles used by airport baggage handlers. A vehicle could operate for brief intervals on hydraulic power alone, promising to reduce the hazards of emissions in the workplace. The technology also shows promise for vehicles that handle heavy loads in a constant cycle of stops and starts."

    According to Mayne, Cleveland-based Eaton Corp.has built a garbage hauler with a hydraulic hybrid. "It differs from Bloxham's design in that the hydraulics spin a driveshaft."

    "Tests have shown a 20 percent improvement in fuel economy over a conventional powertrain and a 50 percent reduction in brake wear because Eaton's driveshaft can reverse direction to slow the vehicle," Eaton's director of new business ventures informed Mayne.

    - LACB, May 15, 2005
     
    #1 Arroyo, May 15, 2005
  2. jchu

    jchu New Member

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    Suspect that if this ever sees commercial use, it will be more in the "in-plant workhorse vehicles" that he talks about with lots of stops and starts as opposed to standard road vehicles.


    "I lose my extra boost after 10 or 20 seconds - they lose it after 30 or 40 seconds," -- I think Mr. Bloxham doesn't appreciate all the other times that the electric side is in action. And 80 mph uphill for long stretchs is just not that important.
     
    #2 jchu, May 15, 2005
  3. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

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    Yeah -- I think Bloxham is incorrectly painting a "my way is better than your way", instead of treating it as an independent technology that could be used in conjunction with other fuel-saving technologies -- even gas-electric hybrids.
     
    #3 bookrats, May 15, 2005
  4. klyndt

    klyndt New Member

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    You need to be careful of assuming everyone doesn't find 80mph with mountain grades important. Many people who travel in the west feel the ability to go interstate speeds up mountains to be very important (I am one). You do not want to be the hazard in the road when there are other hazards already out there (like semis). I almost didn't buy the Prius because the Toyota dealership admitted to me that the Prius couldn't maintain that speed up interstate mountain passes. To this day it is one of my negatives for this car.

    Regardless, the inventor and the pusher of the technology seem to be going in two different directions. One is talking to Ford and the other is talking 'in-plant'.

    Klyndt
     
    #4 klyndt, May 16, 2005
  5. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    Toyota estimates their battery will last 19 years. Honda on the other hand....

    Most cars that i've seen that have gone 19 years with lots of driving will experiance many problems that our hybrids may not experiance. like transmission replacement. supposedly our transmission system. er.. "transmission" will never give out do to it's simple design. However, there are electric motors to worry about. we'll see.

    i would like to think of their transmission cost as our battery.
     
    #5 V8Cobrakid, May 16, 2005
  6. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    i have to agree with V8, most of what ive read says the battery will last much longer than 8-10 years. i think the writer of the story is saying that because of the warantee Toyota currently has on the battery. only time will tell how long the batteries will last. we are still a few years away from knowing that and im willing to take the chance. i see the battery outlasting the car anyway. these days the average car life is about 10 years anyway. yes cars are lasting much longer than they used to and a 200,000 mile car that used to be something to brag about is now much more common place.
     
    #6 DaveinOlyWA, May 16, 2005
  7. Frank Hudon

    Frank Hudon Senior Member

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    ever seen a forklift blow a main hydraulic hose. You can pump 10 gallons of oil on the floor before you can turn the key off. I'm one who will not buy this technology. Yes you get some flow losses and yes hp in =hp out less flow loss but I still don't think hyd. has a place in a hybrid auto. Changing 10-15 gallons of oil because it's cooked after a long trip just isn't going to be ecologically friendly. Maybe in a forklift where your already using hydraulics but on road automobiles......... nay.
     
    #7 Frank Hudon, May 16, 2005
  8. jchu

    jchu New Member

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    Travelling through the Blues in Oregon and Snoqualmie (among others) has never been a problem. (please note the Idaho location on my tag). While I am sure there are a few passes in other parts of the West with longer steeper grades, maintaining 75mph seems easy enough and definitely not a road hazard.
     
    #8 jchu, May 18, 2005
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