On Fri, 01 Feb 2008 22:16:38 -0800, cavalamb himself
wrote:

spaco wrote:
I too think it's 42 volts that we'll see soon. Remember that it took
from the 1920's to about 1974 or 1980 to get electronics into cars
except for the radio (and Cadillac's photomultiplier headlight dimmer).
I heard that, along with 42 volts comes a combination
starter/alternator built into the auto's flywheel. And electrically
operated valves.
One other big gain for higher voltages is that you loose less power
in the wiring, particularly for the starter.

Pete Stanaitis
----------------


That big gain comes with an interesting drawback...

40+ volts DC is dangerous as all hell!

Richard
Which is why the 42 volt (36 nominal) system is being proposed instead
of a 48volt nominal (54 volt charging) system.Anything over 40 volts
(or is it 42? somewhere real close anyway) is no longer "low voltage"
and ends up regulated much more stringently.
I know 48 volt DC switches tend to have a short lifespan unless
properly designed with arc blowout or VERY fast snap action.
The advent of solid state high-power DC switching is making the 36/42
volt system almost feasible today.

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