Turbohybrid Beats The Battery. Sort Of.

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: February 5th, 2009

The vocabulary used to classify hybrid drivetrains has been lagging considerably behind new developments, as Wikipedia’s article on the matter proves. The old parallel, serial, mild and plug-in hybrid categories do little to illuminate public understanding of the underlying technology, and much to confuse it. Enter the BYD Dual-Mode, VW “ Twindrive” and, now, the AVL “ Turbohybrid”. With cooperation from BMW, Bosch and LuK, AVL has developed a mild-ish hybrid drivetrain. The consortium claims it’s cheaper and more fun to drive than a “full hybrid” while offering nearly the same efficiency. Care to deep dive?

The system is built around a turbocharged, direct-injection 1.6-liter engine (tuned for a flat torque curve) coupled to a long-geared manual transmission and a clever electric drive strategy. Electric power replaces low-end torque lost to tall gearing. AVL also claims that turbo overboost maintains a steady charge. Even if you only have, say )slowly), a 15kW double layer capacitor module instead of a lithium-ion battery, you don’t loose [sic] no juice.

Still awake?

That’s how the boffins rolled during testing of their Stage One (v1.0?) system. Even without regenerative braking or a high-capacity battery, AVL claims that its BMW 320i mule was 24 percent more efficient (NEDC) than a stop-start equipped, naturally-aspirated 320i– at an estimated 150 percent of the price.

And though that doesn’t sound great, a certain unnamed 1.5 liter power-split hybrid (Prius) offered only 36 percent better efficiency than the NA 320i at (again, estimated) 300 percent of the price (to produce, of course). Those BMW badges are expensive.

Anyway, the kicker (claims AVL): the Turbohybrid 320i is more fun to drive than either a weedy NA four-banger Beemer or a Prius. And that I buy.

Check out their release for graphs of elasticity, tip-in, and other “fun to drive” proving stuff.

#BMW #Euro #Hybrid #Turbo

Edward Niedermeyer

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PeteMoran on Feb 06, 2009

@ psarhjinian I recall the term lingered long after the button did nothing. The "turbo" word seemed to make it's way into everything else at the time too. It was a catch-all replacement for "super". Here another example. "I'd even bought a vacuum cleaner because it had the word 'turbo' on it!" Ah... the memories...

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PeteMoran on Feb 07, 2009

@ menno Hydraulic hybrids are interesting up'n'comers. One to watch for sure. The pros and cons as I understand it are; 1. Excellent regenerative recovery compared to electric. 2. Constant speed drive efficiency still significantly lower than direct drive via CVT from high pressure system heat losses. 3. Limited alternate power source only range. You can't store more than a few miles of hydrostatic pressure. 4. Combined system weight in smaller applications is higher than electric. Looking good for heavy vehicles (Hino have a hydro/hybrid test bed with running gear courtesy of the forklift division probably). 5. Packaging/drive component arrangement flexibility. Obviously all those things are being worked on - somewhere. I'm not aware of any of the major manufacturers pursuing it however.

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