FEATURE-Jet turbine could power hybrid electric car | Reuters KFAR SABA, Israel, July 21 (Reuters) - With a brief, muffled hiss of a jet engine, the test vehicle that an Israeli start-up hopes will be the future of the hybrid electric car, ignites. The car is built on the shell of a normal Toyota Prius, a top-selling gasoline-electric hybrid, but without the need for its internal combustion engine. Instead, an electric engine, containing a supercapacity battery and a micro-jet turbine engine, powers from the rear as it drives almost silently around a test track.... ... The game-changing development, said chief technology officer Arieh Meitav, was a higher density battery, based on Lithium Manganese Nickel Oxide. The batteries will be the first to have 4.7 volt cells, versus existing Lithium-ion batteries with 3.2 volts. This allows for longer range with a smaller battery, and it is projected to last the lifetime of the car, he said. The second part of the system, the electricity producing micro-turbine, is being developed with the help of an Israeli aviations company -- though ETV Motors would not say which one...
Its been done before.... General Motors EV1 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia EV1 series hybrid EV1 series hybrid prototype at EVS-16 in Beijing, 1999 The series hybrid prototype[30] had a gas turbine engine APU placed in the trunk. A single-stage, single-shaft, recuperated gas turbine unit with a high-speed permanent-magnet AC generator was provided by Williams International; it weighed 220 lb (99.8 kg), measured 20 inches (50.8 cm) in diameter by 22 inches (55.9 cm) long and was running between 100,000 and 140,000 rpm. The turbine could run on a number of high-octane[citation needed] alternative fuels, from octane-boosted gasoline to compressed natural gas. The APU started automatically when the battery charge dropped below 40% and delivered 40 kW of electrical power, enough to achieve speeds up to 80 mph (128.8 km/h) and to return the car's 44 NiMH cells to a 50% charge level. A fuel tank capacity of 6.5 US gal (24.6 L; 5.4 imp gal) and fuel economy of 60 mpg-US (3.9 L/100 km; 72 mpg-imp) to 100 mpg-US (2.4 L/100 km; 120 mpg-imp) in hybrid mode, depending on the driving conditions, allowed for a highway range of more than 390 miles (627.6 km). The car accelerated to 0-60 mph (96.6 km/h) in 9 seconds.
I seem to recall jet turbines not being particularly fuel-efficient. Does anyone have the numbers to either prove or disprove this?
Microturbine power can be very efficient ... for stationary applications Capstone MicroTurbine - Products & Solutions - Products They are actually very ideally suited to CHP installations Capstone MicroTurbine - Products & Solutions - Solutions Not sure if I would want THIS under my hood Turbine Technologies - Gas Turbine Lab Turbofan engines work best under constant load. If you throttle them, especially partial load, they become *very* inefficient
Old News Volvo had a reheated gas turbine/hybrid prototype running around back in the early 90's. It was called the ECC and the new body it was fitted with you know as the S60-S80. Volvo ECC
