Thursday, May 8, 2008

Reader Comments

at 5/8/2008 2:51:23 PM, W17053 said:
Current draw affects us today, we just don't see it. I believe it is Ford who is working on a way to turn-off (free wheel) the Alternator to decrease the load on the engine, thereby gaining a few tenth of a mile per gallon. Essentially, they will run off of the battery until it drops to a lesser capacity, then turn the regulator back on to recharge the battery. The more electrical load results in more fuel use.

at 5/9/2008 9:04:11 AM, EV'er in ABQ said:
Having driven an EV for 10 years I can say your driving style affects your range a lot more than any accessories you use. Aggressive vs gentle acceleration can take a 30% off your range, putting accessory use a distant 2nd. No different than a gasoline car if you think about it. 30% is significant when your range is only 40 miles (as in the Volt) but when your gasoline range is 400 miles the impact of aggressive driving is days or longer away in the form of a sooner fill up. I consistently get 15-20% better than rated fuel economy in any gas car I drive by simply exercising modest driving habits but still driving the speed limits. Instead of some goofy bluetooth or voice recognition gadget in new cars I'd like to see a user-selectable economy/performance control. Let the driver decide what level of performance and economy they desire. Changing driving style has a whole lot more impact than the few watt hours you save by switching from incandescent bulbs to LED's, or other such nonsense.

at 5/12/2008 7:41:21 AM, PaulR said:
I am generally in agreement with EV'er here, but, last time I looked, "user-selectable economy/performance control" was known as a "brain & foot". It's how I used to get 50 mpg out of my old Honda CRX 1.3 (5-speed) everyday and 70 mpg on long highway trips. What I would support is enhanced fuel economy monitoring in more vehicles than have it now. Anyone have an actual figure on the actual heater output on "medium" in a mid-size vehicle?

at 5/12/2008 7:45:29 AM, PaulR said:
BTW, a good size audio system can easily consume over .5 Kw (on average.)

at 5/13/2008 1:12:48 PM, SWS said:
Hey W17053, Ford may be working on freewheeling the alternator, but Honda has been doing this (turning-off the field on the alternator under light loads) for years. In fact, some older Civics had a problem with battery life because the algorithm to cut-off the alternator field was too agressive, so there was a Firmware update to fix a discharging battery condition! Best Regards, SWS

at 5/13/2008 1:41:38 PM, W17053 said:
I think Toyota had a performance / economy switch in older cars (a friend of mine had one). Your style (habit) observations are similar to electric forklifts and carts; if you lurch forward, you peg the needle; if you press lightly, the needle barely moves (and the battery last longer). Some after market audio systems consume much more (our neighbors kid has 1 - 1.2 kW). SWS: Thanks, good to know. Although I no longer work with Alternators, that would explain why Tuffy's had battery and Alternator problems with some Civics (and why our alternators worked on the Test Bench, but poor in some cars). I'll pass this along to my buddies in Philly.

at 5/13/2008 1:56:18 PM, Bitbanger said:
The "user-selectable" control is good but even the best brain requires good data for proper operation. If the user can see the instantaneous result of a lead foot the whole system shold work more efficiently. My new car (Saturn Astra, non-hybrid) has an instantaneous mpg indicator, and that tells me what my foot is doing to my wallet.

at 5/13/2008 2:21:10 PM, David in FL said:
Any ideas about how much power AC requires in a car?

at 5/15/2008 12:08:31 PM, W17053 said:
Hey SWS, my former co-worker said: "thanks for the info, haven't see this in our warranty reports, but one of our employees with a Honda CRV (mid 90's I think) leaves his car running about 30- min after parking at work, he says this is requires to keep the battery from going dead."

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