Can we design and build a bio-diesel electric hybrid scirocco?

[behrleiii at yahoo.com (Behrle Hubbuch)]

I didn't say it would be cost effective or practical or anything but challenging and perhaps a fun way for all interested parties to get together and build something.  I like the diesel and electric motor both up front idea.  I like the water powered vehicle idea even more.

Brian Haygood <haygood@myway.com> wrote:  
This is a great idea! Now all we need some idiots who are too bad at math to realize the money you save on gas would never make it worth all the cost of building such a thing, and we might have some buyers for it!! Heck - it worked for Toyota, but then aren't they still losing money on the Prius's? 

Aerodynamics? We are talking about a scirocco here, aren't we? 

Any real advantage to a parallel setup? The extra weight of getting driveshafts to the rear wheels, suspension changes, motor mounts, etc. would be a big problem I would think. Also, you would lose trunk space for the batteries. Besides, with the 3 cylinder setup there would be plenty of room up front for the right electric motor. 

...or you can consider the fact that Chuck Blue's MK1 already gets 39mpg with an ABA turbo in it and start wondering why a Prius only gets around 60. If you grant Chuck the fact that he has decent tires, MK1 aerodynamics, and can outrun anything he wants to, the hybrid magic really loses its appeal. The realization that hybrid's are more of a sales gimmick than useful technology can't be far behind in your minds!. Now the guy who is building prototype Hummers for the military that run on water. THAT is something worth pursuing. 




--- On Fri 06/23, Behrle Hubbuch < behrleiii@yahoo.com > wrote:
From: Behrle Hubbuch [mailto: behrleiii@yahoo.com]
To: scirocco-l@scirocco.org
Date: Fri, 23 Jun 2006 08:27:12 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: Re: Can we design and build a bio-diesel electric hybrid scirocco?

Brendan Doyle wrote: Would be an interesting project. The VW 1.2L TDI 3-banger would be a good
engine for this purpose. That engine in the 3L Lupo has set fuel economy
records all over the place, including being the first european car to
travel 100 km (62 miles) on 3 liters (.79 gallons) of fuel. I think I
read somewhere that it was the first car to break 100 mpg during normal
road travel at posted speed limits as well. Sure, it's NOT a hybrid, but
the engine is small enough and powerful enough (61 hp 103 ft-lbs) that it
might be a good place to start with a bio-electric hybrid.

Brendan

That sounds great! I hadn't heard of the 3-cyl TDI powerplant until now. Yeah one of those up front, an adequate electric powerplant in back, a battery pack that's modern and light instead of a bunch of HEAVY old style lead acid batteries. We'll have to think about braking and suspension as well as weight distribution and 
power management then it's on to aerodynamics, aesthetics and comfort. We can certaily design all this on paper/computer then build it later. We could have a high milege, low emission set up that could be easily placed into most A1 and maybe even A2 VW models. 
Heck it might even have some pep.


Behrle

_______________________________________________
Scirocco-l mailing list
Scirocco-l@scirocco.org
http://neubayern.net/mailman/listinfo/scirocco-l


_______________________________________________
No banners. No pop-ups. No kidding.
Make My Way your home on the Web - http://www.myway.com