WANT A HYBRID but can’t stand the shape of the Prius? Do the Civic and Camry hybrid not tickle your fancy either? You might just be interested in what Dr Charles Perry has invented.
Perry, a former IBM engineer, recently won first prize in a green energy competition run by the Tennessee Technology Development Corporation for his retrofittable hybrid conversion kit. The kit takes the form of two (or more) in-wheel electric motors, which are mounted onto the hubs of a regular petrol-powered vehicle and hooked up to boot-mounted batteries.
Perry claims that the kit can reduce fuel bills by as much as fifty percent, potentially more if used in EV-only mode. It’s still some distance away from becoming commercially available, but Perry intends to use his US$50,000 prize money (plus a further US$50,000 from Palmer Labs, who will commercialise the product) to further refine his concept and commence real-world testing.
Estimated time of arrival? Don’t bank on seeing it on the shelves of your local auto parts store until at least three years from now.
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That technology is nothing new, Mitsubitshi did an electric evo-lancer back in 2006 with electric hubs within at each of it’s wheels.
A.Luc - I think you’ve completely missed the point. A kit that can be applied to any car is vastly different to something a manufacturer makes for one model.
I am skeptical.
Merely retrofitting a car’s hubs with electric motors is not going to give you seamless operation– You will most likely have to manually switch operating modes (put the transmission into neutral to disengage the gasoline engine from the drivetrain so the electric motor wheel hubs can work).
This is clunky compared to the Prius, which transitions between gasoline power, electric power, or a combination of both seamlessly. And the Prius can shut off the gasoline engine whenever it is not needed, even if the car is still moving.
That electric motor wheel hub retrofit kit doesn’t sound like something intended for the general public. Somehow I don’t see soccer moms using that system in their family haulers if they have to manually control which drive system to use at any given time.
JohnQPublic… not sure why it would not give seamless operation.
If it is used in conjunction with the petrol engine, it will mean that the load on the ptrol engine will be greatly reduced and therefore save petrol. To run it purely as an EV, I agree would be difficult but I cant see a few motirs in wheel hubs making enough energy to fully power your Commodore or X5, but it is greatly reduces petrol around town then I would be interested.