"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
Adrian wrote:
Roland Perry gurgled happily, sounding much like
they
were saying:

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7f2f081e-2...077b07658.html

A very small step (for man or mankind....)

"The S-Class car, a 'mild' hybrid that will still draw most of
its power from petrol..."

Indeed.

But do Lithium Ion batteries provide the step forward that's being
alleged?

In my opinion, yes.

Not really. One litre of petrol provides 35MJ of energy, about 10kWh.
Even a small car will have a c.50 litre fuel tank, something the size of
an S-class nearer double that.

So that's 0.5-1MWh of energy on board. Wonder how big the battery pack
would have to be to replace that...? Wonder how long it'll take to
recharge...?


You forget that that energy is converted at less than 27% peak efficiency,
propably less than 20% average.: its nearer 95% with battery electric, and
with regenerative braking you get a little free recharge.

Using super capacitors, 99% of all kinetic braking energy is recovered.

My opinion is that the technology is JUST good enough to use for large
scale replacement of IC across the board in the next ten years. Especially
if attention is paid to the rest of the vehicle weight- and
aeodymamic-wise.

You got that right.