Quote:
Originally Posted by zeropointbug
Brian, what car you referring to when you said use a turbine generator? It would be nice heck yah, but it would be loud. Regular piston generators can be had for a few grand for a 15kW unit, for my little car project this would be perfect, providing the highway cruising power is the calculated 8kW. These generators are quite efficient, and can run 100% continuously.
|
No car that I know of. I was just thinking that turbines have fewer losses. Pistons have a lot more power-robbing friction. Also, turbines operate better at higher speeds, so I just figured if it was tuned for maximum efficiency at a certain rpm, it would be the logical choice. The idea is not to solely power the car from turbine-generated power, but to supplement it. If the car draws 30A constantly in highway conditions, and the generator provides 15A (or more) of current, it would extend the life of the battery pack considerably for the longer runs.