Connaught HYBRID+ system testing a success
While many of our readers may be familiar with Connaught for its Type D hybrid sportscar, the firm is also hard at work developing its fuel saving technologies for more mundane types of vehicles. Connaught's HYBRID+ system has been affixed to seven Ford Transit vans with diesel engines that are owned by Tesco in the UK. Testing has taken place on the delivery vehicles and the numbers have been compiled. All in all, everything appears to have worked successfully, with the Transit vans recording an average reduction in fuel usage and in carbon emissions of about 15-percent on average. In the city, things were humming along quite nicely, with a high 24.7-percent improvement in one test and an average city mileage upgrade of about 18-percent. Even on the highway, where hybrid systems usually don't work as well, the Connaught HYBRID+ system managed to reduce fuel usage by 11.5-percent.
Using supercapacitors in lieu of batteries, Connaught's retrofit hybrid system is currently available for fleet customers for a charge of £2,750 plus VAT and can reportedly be adapted to almost any vehicle. Therefore, potential purchasers will need to do some math to find out how quickly the hybrid drivetrain could end up paying for itself.
[Source: Channel 4]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gorr 2:38PM (10/28/2008)
Only 2700 L(british) or approx 4500$ u.s for such a system, it's cheap. I doubt it's working like they said, it must tear appart some mechanical system like transmission and suspention and maybe brakes. But if it's working fine like said and for cheap then congratulations.
I will not put that on my 2005 neon. Im still waiting for a 500-700$ natural gas conversion and reprogrammation ready with a switch for hydrogen gas too.
Reply
gorr 2:58PM (10/28/2008)
At least they got rid of the worst thing there is: Batteries, LOL.
Reply
Chris M 5:26PM (10/28/2008)
Batteries would be cheaper and lighter for the same amount of energy storage. The only reason to choose ultracapacitors is if they expect a truly rediculous number of charge/discharge cycles.
gorr 4:40PM (10/29/2008)
Chris m ,It's been 20 or 30 times you respond to my postings in particular and always with the same lines of arguing. Im not deaf, so find some new arguments at least. Im not Here to argue, flash my knowledge, make humor, entertain, make noise, lose time typing abradagadrabra magical story and dreams. Im here to shop by typing for losing time make abradacadabra story and flash my knowledge and entertain but with the goal in mind of replacing my old fart and boring neon 2005 5 speeds when the time come. Im writings here because i know that chatting is the last invention of mankind. Ice engine, sattellites, atom bomb , computers and tv have been invented before chatting sites and humans always play with the latest inventions and the last invention is chatting. Everything is recorded with numerology( dates of the intervention) and the implications are huges, way bigger then expected. Every interventions by chatters are shaping the reality at a certain moment, mainly the date. So im following the car market and i help it to conceive and built and put on sale near my town the car that i want to buy. Im shopping in advance and i rejected each and all actuals cars and i know that official engineers and marketers from toyota, gm , ford, mahindra and mahindra, hyundai, ferrari, daihashu, tata are all reading in secret what we write in autobloggreen because they lack new ideas and lack imagination and all i writed before and all they read before have provoked a big and deep energy crisis and an identity crisis and everything is exploding in all directions. High gas price then high price drop, tons of studies from all goverment that end-up just as silly reports for billions dollars for nothing, batteries nightmare researchs, fuelcell and hydrogen that work good but have provoked a big fear amonst incompetants that live by starving people, etc, etc. Lattelly fuelcell have been forgotten as a dream by actual car compagnies to please, affraid naysayers and these silly car compagnies engineers and administrator are pursuing batteries. Result: customers are still waiting and have put their buying to a minimum and chrysler, gm and ford are going the sink, only taxpayers can solve their problems by paying more tax to these incompetants that don't deliver the car i said before to build. The car is a simple ice engine car but with a water electrolyser that produce hydrogen gas on demand. It's been invented by many backyard inventors and it work. If they are afraids of the politicians with their spy, journalists, policeman and f.b.i and c.i.a agents and income tax bureaucrats and poison in their coffee then i will accept at least natural gas conversion at 1/3 the actual price of gasoline then approx 3$/gallon make 1$ gallon equivalent for natural gas. Then in 2 to 3 years a compagny from india or russia or even namibie from africa will invade the market and sell me a car power by water and end the existance of polluting compagnies like gm, ford, toyota, ferrari, porsche, mercedes, bmw, chrysler, caterpillar, mack trucks, john deer, honda lawnmower, kawasaki mortorcycles, all these hightech compagnies that refused my previous orders must die before i die. IM waiting to see Gm go to the sink and never reappear, they are old farts.
AS of exxon mobil and shell they have no problems in my view. They have accumulated so much much money and no trial can be made agaist them because tons of politicians, bankers, scientists, car compagnies, journalists, have been on their side and if a trial start then as much politicians and all kind of past-associates will be judge guilty, so don't expect any trial for what happen in the past with pollution and war and terrorism. Do you think that toyota will say something against e.p.a after having following their order for 50 years, LOL.
Reply