
Turning on the Juice
Date: Sunday, March 19, 2006 @ 10:15:28 UTC Topic: Devices
From KeelyNet News: (Thanks to Bob Paddock for this headsup - JWD) With electrical architectures supporting 300, 400, 500 and even 600 volts, this new breed of hybrids will offer far more accessory power than today's conventional vehicles, and could open the door to a multitude of new features.
Some vehicles could have so much on-board power that they'll allow truckers to run air conditioners while they snooze, without idling their engines. They'll serve as enablers for electrically-assisted steering in SUVs. They'll allow contractors to run power tools and outdoorsmen to plug in heaters. They'll permit automakers to add such features as pre-heated catalysts, thus lowering a vehicle's emissions every time it starts up. And they could even serve as the foundation for future technologies, such as steer- and brake-by-wire.
"There are a lot of possibilities when you have a higher voltage electrical architecture in your vehicle," notes A. J. Lasley, chief engineer for advanced powertrain and power electronics at Delphi Corp.
"That's one of the advantages that a hybrid powertrain brings to the market." Ford's Escape Hybrid already sports a 330V architecture, which places it far ahead of the 42V architectures proposed a few years ago, and leaps and bounds ahead of today's conventional 12V vehicles. Similarly, Toyota's Prius works off a 500V architecture, while an upcoming Lexus hybrid SUV promises a 650V system.
These higher-voltage architectures are currying favor among automotive engineers for a simple reason: power. The Escape's 330V system allowed Ford engineers to endow their hybrid with 2.5 kW of accessory power, about 60 percent more than is available on today's conventional vehicles. And that may just be a taste of what's to come. Some engineers are talking eight, 10 and even 20 kW within a few years.
Automotive engineers also say that high-voltage hybrids offer automakers an opportunity to boost reliability. By employing dc/dc converters to step their 330V systems down to 13.2V, Ford engineers say they improve the reliability of wiring and bulbs in lighting systems. "Your headlights and all the other bulbs in your vehicle see a very consistent voltage," Watson says. "You don't get the voltage spikes that tend to burn out bulbs and shorten their lives."
Moreover, many engineers see the higher-voltage electrical architecture as a foundation for an all-electric, belt-less engine, in which all the pumps for water, fuel, oil and steering, as well as the air conditioning compressor, are electric. The result would be the elimination of the traditional serpentine belts, as well as the parasitic losses associated with them. "If you go to an all-electric system with a high-powered bus, you only use the power when you need it," Schumacher says. "You only use air conditioning power when you run the compressor. You only use steering power when you turn the wheels."
Source: http://www.keelynet.com/#whatsnew
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