New Source for Generated Electricity, Exhaust Gasses.

i love it!

 

Thermal electric generators are a topping system that could provide accessory level power. In the past, the problem has been the expense but for ordinary engines, it could eliminate or down-size the alternator. This reduces the parasitic loss on the engine and removes another moving part.

Another approach is to use solar cells on a race car to eliminate the alternator. I don't have the link handy but I understand one of the competitors has started testing this approach:
The two F1 teams leading the push for solar power in F1 | James Allen on F1 – The official James Allen website on F1

Bob Wilson

 

We'll just have to wait for a downsized Rankine Organic Cycle to get the thermal energy past the cat...no turbos, only a heat exch...

 

I think the concept is easier understood when looked at as half of a hybrid turbo charger. A hybrid turbocharger separates the two halves of the turbo. The exhaust half is hooked to a generator, this goes through a battery buffer, and then supplies the intake half through a motor (intake half is an electric super charger) that drives a compressor that pushes fresh air through an intercooler and into the intake of the ice. The benefit of a hybrid turbo is easy to understand. The intake half can be physically separated from the exhaust half so the intake air is not heated so it does not need to work as hard for the same compression. There is energy loss generator -> electriicty -> motor that does not happen with the simple mechanical linkage of a turbo charger, probably around 25%. In a gasoline race car though this is more than made up for because less energy is wasted at higher rpm. Even in passeneger vehicles this is likely true, but a hybrid turbocharger adds expense and complexity.

What about just the exhaust half for a prius? The first thing is the aktinson design + ehr sucks more power of the exhaust, so it is likely for maximum efficiency that the ice would be redesigned for the system, and would have a higher effective compression ratio, and lower exhaust ratio. That would provide an ice of the same size with more power. Or the ice could be downsized but it already is quite small and weight is only 100 kg. That means that this greater efficiency has to be traded off with higher costs and complexity, something that I don't expect in a prius. Perhaps if they make a higher hp version, and costs of hybrid turbo chargers drop, the added cost (probably $1500) might be worth it for the efficiency.

The benefits mainly apply to SI, spark ignited cars. A diesel like Audi's hybrid can simply over compress then run lean, so a hybrid turbocharger doesn't buy much on a diesel.

What happens on a cloudy day? Solar as a racing option is a non-starter. No one will put it on if there is a penalty that happens on cloudy days. If all were required to have it (rule that there is no penalty for solar would really require it), is the only way it would be worthwhile. On a passenger car the benefits are tiny for the cost.