An Affordable Diesel Plug-In Hybrid Car

December 3, 2006 – Vol. 11 No. 37

AN AFFORDABLE DIESEL PLUG-IN HYBRID CAR:
ONE SEASONED DEVELOPER THINKS IT’S POSSIBLE NOW.

Mate three of the most efficient and readily available automotive technologies: hybrid electric drive, plug-in-to-the-grid capabilities and an efficient diesel engine (that of course could run on biodiesel) and you could have a very efficient package for a car or truck.

The problem, however, is cost. Hybrid electric drive systems are typically a few thousand dollars more than a conventional drive. Add to that another few thousand for a state-of-the-art battery pack to be able to store significant power from the grid. To that add the additional cost of a diesel engine, two thousand or so. All together the price might be what, five, six, seven thousand dollars or more above the price of a conventional car? That’s a bit much for many people.

But there may be another approach to building a plug-in diesel hybrid. Consider from scratch all the associated costs and find ways to reduce them. Zytek of the UK has built what it calls the world’s first affordable diesel hybrid drivetrain and has installed it in a Smart ForFour as an entry in the UK Government’s Ultra Low Carbon Car Challenge (ULCCC).

For the vehicle Zytek developed a dual-mode hybrid system that uses two electric motors that allow a three-cylinder diesel engine to operate only at its peak efficiency. Cost was kept under control by using many off-the-shelf parts and eliminating as many parts as possible. For instance, the starter is also the vehicle’s generator. There is no conventional battery either.

Aside from the small diesel and low-cost two-speed transmission the car has a 288-volt lithium-ion battery pack, supplied by GAIA, a subsidiary of Lithium Technology of the US. With its plug-in capability the car can be recharged in about seven hours from the grid.

Zytek chose a lithium ion battery pack since they expect the cost of the technology to drop below the other leading technology, nickel metal hydride (NiMH). Lithium-ion batteries are well known for their typically high power to weight ratio needed for electric vehicle and hybrid applications.

Overall the Zytek diesel plug-in gets as much as 88 miles per gallon and can drive up to 20 miles in all-electric mode.

Zytek has considerable experience in electric and hybrid drive conversions. In the 1990’s Zytek converted a small number of Lotus sports cars to electric drive. Currently the company is under contract from DaimlerChrysler to build a small fleet of all-electric Smart ForTwo coupes. Lithium Technology, is committed to the revival of all-electric, battery powered cars using lithium-ion technology.

Visit Zytek at http://www.zytekgroup.co.uk/ Smart UK at http://www.smart.com/uk Lithium Technology at http://www.lithiumtech.com/