60 MPG Hybrid Hummer

[Wiyosaya]

Fast Company visited John's garage and found a 2005 Hummer H3 on jacks. John is going to put a 60,000 PRM, 1985, turbine, jet engine in the Hummer. The turbine engine will run on biodiesel or waste vegetable oil with a hydrogen-injector. John plans to make a series hybrid with this turbine engine. A beauty like that going to waste as a range extender? No, it charges a set of super capacitors in a matter of seconds, giving the car 600 horse power.[/b]

Full Article
Interesting...

Thanks to this site.

[finman]

Huh.

so, yet another GM product one-off/limited sale vehicle I can't buy.

As if 600 HP is what we all need...

I'm thinking not. But hey, it's the overkill that sells this stuff.

Nevermind the practical market that would REALLY make sales history!

Is this (a 600 HP turbine-driven Hummer) really a platform to make alot of money? Or maybe a hybrid van...slightly larger than a Prius?

Hmmm, makes me think of a Toyota Estima hybrid van...why isn't it over here Toyota? Why do we put up with a hybrid Hummer?

Humans have no end to the non sense in an ever-depleting resource world.

[MikeSF]

John is going to put a 60,000 PRM, 1985, turbine, jet engine in the Hummer. [/b]

And they complain that the added cost to a hybrid is too much...

[miscrms]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ Oct 23 2007, 01:45 PM) [snapback]529384[/snapback]</div>

And they complain that the added cost to a hybrid is too much...
[/b]

Yeah, and this conversion costs only $28k

Not counting of course that the surplus turbine probably picked up for a few $k would be $120k new with warranty

If they could throw in a few more buzzwords on this thing (series hybrid, super capacitors, hydrogen, biodiesel, turbine engine, etc, etc) it would probably sprout wings and fly

I can somewhat appreciate the guys enthusiasm for bringing the green(ish) message to the gear heads, but....

Rob

[hampdenwireless]

How do they get 60mpg out of a turbine? Turbines are LESS efficient then ICE engines. A hybrid hummer with the best technology out there would not get 60mpg unless they made the whole thing out of carbon fiber.

[Wiyosaya]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(finman @ Oct 23 2007, 02:18 PM) [snapback]529380[/snapback]</div>

Huh.

so, yet another GM product one-off/limited sale vehicle I can't buy.

As if 600 HP is what we all need...

I'm thinking not. But hey, it's the overkill that sells this stuff.

Nevermind the practical market that would REALLY make sales history!

Is this (a 600 HP turbine-driven Hummer) really a platform to make alot of money? Or maybe a hybrid van...slightly larger than a Prius?

Hmmm, makes me think of a Toyota Estima hybrid van...why isn't it over here Toyota? Why do we put up with a hybrid Hummer?

Humans have no end to the non sense in an ever-depleting resource world.
[/b]

Awww, come on! You need 600 HP. We all need 600 HP.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hampdenwireless @ Oct 23 2007, 09:05 PM) [snapback]529489[/snapback]</div>

How do they get 60mpg out of a turbine? Turbines are LESS efficient then ICE engines. A hybrid hummer with the best technology out there would not get 60mpg unless they made the whole thing out of carbon fiber.
[/b]

It sounds like the turbine only needs to run for a very short period of time to charge the super caps; once the caps are charged, the turbine can be shut off.

Not, of course, that I would buy one of these things even if they were mass produced, affordable, and on the market. Apply the technology to a much lighter vehicle in a much more cost effective manner and I might consider adopting the technology.

[tripp]

For what it's worth, the first gen Bradley CFVs that I used to drive had about 600 HP (or was it 650?) in a 12 cylinder diesel. Of course, they weighed 25 tonnes.

[MikeSF]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Wiyosaya @ Oct 24 2007, 08:53 AM) [snapback]529712[/snapback]</div>

It sounds like the turbine only needs to run for a very short period of time to charge the super caps; once the caps are charged, the turbine can be shut off.

[/b]

If these special super caps existed as advertised (or hoped) why do you need a jet turbine? Why couldn't you simply plug it in?

[markderail]

Here's another article, on http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/120/mo...ad-messiah.html.

This guy is multiple levels of COOL

"Conservatively," Goodwin muses, scratching his chin, "it'll get 60 miles to the gallon. With 2,000 foot-pounds of torque. You'll be able to smoke the tires. And it's going to be superefficient."

He laughs. "Think about it: a 5,000-pound vehicle that gets 60 miles to the gallon and does zero to 60 in five seconds!"
[/b]

And also :

In the corner of his office sits Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1987 Jeep Wagoneer, which Goodwin is converting to biodiesel; soon, Neil Young will be shipping him a 1960 Lincoln Continental to transform into a biodiesel--electric hybrid.
[/b]

Still in operation today, are locomotives with a Diesel-Engine running at an efficient RPM turning a generator, to power multiple electric motors, are very efficient.

Large SUV's have the room to house such a system. Just watch out for birds on takeoff !

[jhinton]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hampdenwireless @ Oct 23 2007, 09:05 PM) [snapback]529489[/snapback]</div>

How do they get 60mpg out of a turbine? Turbines are LESS efficient then ICE engines. A hybrid hummer with the best technology out there would not get 60mpg unless they made the whole thing out of carbon fiber.
[/b]

That statement is simply false. Gas Turbines are MORE efficent that Internal Combustion Engines. A typical low compression gasoline engine is about 25% efficent. A very efficent turbo diesel is 30 to 31% efficent.

The GE simple cycle gas turbines that I made components for are 35% efficent. These are turbines very similar to those used in airplanes. The combined cycle turbines have efficiencies in the 50 to 60% range. (A combined cycle turbine is a turbine that used the waste heat from the turbine to heat water to drive a steam turbine.)

Take a look at GE's website: http://www.gepower.com/prod_serv/products/...cc/en/index.htm

Gas turbines are very inefficient when used at partial loads. This is why they are not used in automotive applications. However, with a series hybrid, the turbine is only used at near full load to charge batteries and then is turned off.