[QUOTE=snakeeater,Feb 9 2006, 03:12 PM]Check out Boosthead.com for electric motor driven compressor.

 

I started to point out that "turbo" was just short for "turbo-supercharging" and that there were both belt and exhaust driven "turbos," but then I decided that it would only confuse people more. However, sir, you are absolutely correct!

 

You may be choosing the tougher road to hoe with an all electrical turbocharger. It seems, in my opinion, that you want a turbocharger that makes power down low. So you need a turbo that spools at low revs. I vaguely recall reading in an article in Sport Compact Car magazine about a turbo that could be spun at low revs by an electric motor. The electric motor would go to "neutral" once the exhaust produced enough pressure to spin the turbine to take over. Also you could look at the anti-lag systems in modern day WRC cars. I am going to oversimplify this dramatically, there is an injector and a spark plug just upstream from the turbo. Igniting raw fuel to keep exhaust pressure up while the motor spins down. Lastly Porsche is alledgedly putting a variable vane turbo into the next 911 Turbo. It will allow a quicker spool up and high boost on the top end as well, but I don't know any of the specifics of it yet as it is not official. It is all means to an end, more and better delivered power.

 

[QUOTE=wills2k106,Feb 11 2006, 07:08 PM]You may be choosing the tougher road to hoe with an all electrical turbocharger.

 

Unless you've tried and discounted both the LoveFab GT3071R turbo and BRP supercharger I really don't see the point in electrical motor assistance or electrical supercharging. You're trying to solve a problem that may not exist. And going a very long, torturous and unless I'm mistaken, futile path.

 

100%

 

There are, of course, pro's and con's for every option. While a properly-sized turbocharger gives you unmatched efficiency, due to the waste heat recovered from the exhaust stream, it does have drawbacks (packaging issues to fit under hood, boost lag, need for anti-surge provision esp on manual trans, added backpressure in exhaust, more heat under hood, costly pipe fabricating, etc).

I think the beauty of the electric compressor is the simplicity and elegance of design. More and more of the automotive sub-systems are being converted to electric motor drive because of simplicity and functionality.

Everything used to be done mechanically - spark distributor, tach drive, fuel pump, cooling fan, coolant water pump, power steering pump (S2000 even has electric PS). Hell, if you go back far enough, the starter function was once mechanical (hand crank).

The OEMs have a considerable R&D investment in these areas, and they are obviously sold on electric. One reason is energy conservation (ie turn off cooling fan when cold). The main reason though is the unlimited ability to control the system at will via the EMS/ECU.

I work with a lot of industrial electronic controls (including combustion controls for boilers, burners, turbines, etc) and almost any time you can control something with an electric system rather than a mechanical one, it is cheaper, simpler, and easier to calibrate, diagnose, maintain, etc. A rebuild on the internal combustion engine is a ton of work, while an electric motor just gets rewound.

The advances in electrical systems, including replacing/supplementing the main internal combustion engine with an electric motor(s) are truly impressive and give me hope that hot-rodding will survive the technology changes being forced by increasing environmental pressures.

I know that the electricity is not w/o its price, as well. In the case of hybrid electric vehicles, the electrical energy used to recharge their batteries was generated by an electrical plant (probably coal fired with poor emissions). But at least the emissions can be controlled by the locations of the coal plant.

But an auto has kinetic energy in the drivetrain that upon deceleration can be converted to electricity by an alternator/generator to recharge batteries AND provie extra braking force at the same time.

 

That's all neato and stuff, but the stuff you are failing to mention are things like the efficiency ratings of energy conversion from one form to another (what, 5%?) and the negative impact of electrical energy storage (battery weight).

A car's primary power source will be electric a long time before it's boost source will be.

 

I don't see this materializing. Not in the near future.

 

Oh there are plenty of them. They just don't work.