Stupidist Plan yet to save gas -- muzzling the alternator

Has there been some trend of supersizing car alternators since the last time I checked?

Back when I was driving cars with alternators, it seemed like 65 or 80 amps might be typical. You might upgrade to a 90 or 120 amp if you had a reason. Maybe in a bigger vehicle / truck you'd see higher than that.

A gen 3 Prius DC/DC converter is rated 120 amps.

 

electrical loading is no joke when it comes to gaining or losing mpg.

A failing brake actuator in a Gen 2 can make the car lose 3-4 mpg from the hydraulic pump running every 7 or 8 seconds.
A failing 12v battery will be similar if it needs to stay "on charge" at a higher rate than normal.
Just like the AC will drain significant MPG depending on whether it's used or not, and at what setting.
There's a reason many versions of exercise equipment use alternator style loads to provide resistance.
If someone wanted to get crazy with mpg on a Gen 2, they could even add a temperature controller to the inverter cooling pump circuit since there's really no need for it to run continuously, small load or not.

 

See: gen 3 (where it isn't just a temperature-controlled on/off, it's a variable-speed pump).

 

Hey Chappy, have been curious about this as a new hybrid owner: when did electrically-controlled / -powered ICE coolant pumps debut on Pruises? Seems genius considering how many things in a hybrid depend on ideal temperatures... but want to know if they've been a failure point before, esp on higher-mile examples (like the coolant circuit thru either exhaust or catalyst, iirc -- 2nd? 3rd-gen? Hope those aren't still being used).

 

Meanwhile, I've seen people with sailboats put alternators on their diesel engines that can pump a up near 300amps into their battery storage while auto manufactures are sending a few amps to charge their 12v while its running and being drained down.