[geeks] electric cars

[Sandwich Maker]

" From: Dan Duncan <dand at pcisys.net>
" 
" On Mon, 23 Oct 2006, Sandwich Maker wrote:
" > " Trains are also diesel hybrid-electric, at least in the US.  They
" > " have been for quite some time.
" >
" > locomotives have had electric transmissions since just about their
" > invention around ww1.  there have been hybrids but the few i know of
" > were rare one-offs made for specific jobs.
" 
" Your basic locomotive is a series hybrid-electric.
" http://travel.howstuffworks.com/diesel-locomotive.htm

that's wrong on several points.
diesel locos aren't hybrids.  where's the storage?  transmission only.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel-electric
a gearbox would be big and complicated and probably a maintenance
nightmare but not inefficient.  i got to have a tour of an arleigh
burke class destroyer 2 years ago and was surprised to learn that the
two 25000 hp main turbines [jumbo jet cores] drive the props directly
through gearboxes.
two stroke diesels don't make more power than comparable four strokes.
they are mechanically simpler, which is why the winton engine co
settled on the design which evolved into gm-emd's 710 series.  they
are also dirtier, and gm is moving toward four strokes for their next
generation.  ge's - and until they dropped out, alco's - four stroke
diesels, with comparable displacements to gm, had comparable power
ratings.

nb. the v12 is huge by road standards, but gm has v16 and v20 versions
too, the latter making 5000 hp.  both gm and ge have 6000hp locomotive
diesels.

" Maybe the one-offs were parallel hybrid models?

they were diesel-battery-electric, 45 units made by ge in 1930 for
yard and terminal work.  the 300hp diesel ran at constant speed and
charged the batts, from which traction power was drawn.  they could
also run off overhead wire and/or third rail.  curiously, you could
flatten the batteries in about 2h 'off the wire' even with the engine
running.

also curiously, as few as there were this offshoot was much more
popular than its 300hp 60-ton and 600hp 100-ton parents, with 28 and
24 units respectively, made by alco-ge-ir and later just ge '24-'35.
they get the mark for the first 'mass produced' diesel locos though,
at least in this hemisphere.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Electro-Motive_Division
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GE_Transportation_Systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Locomotive_Company
________________________________________________________________________
Andrew Hay                                  the genius nature
internet rambler                            is to see what all have seen
adh at an.bradford.ma.us                       and think what none thought