Quote:
Originally Posted by ATX78703
yes, so genius that they should rename it a "supercharger"... j/k, i know it's not the same thing, it's not technically belt driven - but it does rob a little crank power to power the motor.
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It definitely should not rob crank power during the times when you want every ounce of power you can get, power to run the electric motor should come from the battery during full throttle.
Also, from the
patents and article on bimmerpost, it only described the electric motor as going into generator mode when the turbo was reaching peak capacity and when a regular turbo would normally start opening its wastegate, but I don't understand why it couldn't be engineered to be in generator mode during normal highway cruising. There is so much waste energy leaving through the exhaust system. Include a bigger turbine to capture more of it, and when you don't need the extra boost run the electric motor in generator mode to charge the batteries and power electrical systems. Then when you want to accelerate, you'll also already have more turbine torque on tap with close to zero lag because the torque is already there, you just have to wait a couple microseconds while the electric motor stops resisting the turbo to generate electricity. If that makes sense.
Like you say, can they make it reliable. Also, is it superior to and/or cheaper than a variable geometry turbo or twin sequential turbo setup.