Quote:
Originally Posted by Ohighway
Probably not a bad idea. Diesels are efficient, and they're getting "cleaner" with the proper fuels and engine development, etc.
Maybe it's even time to re-visit the turbine engine? I know they didn't pan out for use as a straight substitute for a regular engine, but maybe if used in "hybrid" mode they could be an answer. They could be used in a more efficient RPM range, and could make use of a variety of fuels.
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Absolutely. Rover (UK) had experimental gas turbine cars in the 1950's. They were reliable enough to put a small number out for road testing plus as you say, they could run on virtually any liquid fuel. Problem was they were very inefficient; best mpg was about half that of petrol. They kept on with research until the early 1970's (the P6 was designed with an oversize engine bay so it could take a gas turbine engine) but they couldn't crack the problem with fuel efficiency.
The idea of a hybrid running at most efficient turbine rpm driving a generator is interesting. But there would be the complexity of a three stage drive train instead of just one.