Market mature 1998 hybrid electric vehicles

Beginning in 1990, the major automotive passenger vehicle manufacturers once again re-evaluated the potential of the battery powered electric vehicle (EV). This intensive effort to reduce the battery EV to commercial practice focused attention on the key issue of limited vehicle range, resulting from the low energy density and high mass characteristics of batteries, in comparison to the high energy density of liquid hydrocarbon (HC) fuels. Consequently, by 1995, vehicle manufacturers turned their attention to hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). This redirection of EV effort was highlighted finally in 1997, at the 57th Frankfurt Motor Show, the Audi Duo parallel type hybrid was released for the domestic market as a 1998 model vehicle. Also at the 1997 32nd Tokyo Motor Show, Toyota Hybrid System (THS) Prius was released for the domestic market as a production 1998 model vehicle. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the key features of these two 1998 model year production hybrid systems. Among the conclusions, two issues are evident: one, the major manufacturers have turned to the hybrid concept in their search for solutions to the key EV issues of limited range; and, heating/air conditioning; and two, the focus is now on introducing hybrid EV for test marketing domestically     

ASPS-American suborbital passenger system 2005

With the evaporation of funding support for the National Aero Space Plane (NASP), realization of a single stage to orbit night system has been deferred. With the resource down sizing of the NASP management and technical team, development of the NASP concept appears to be delayed beyond the year 2030. To fill this gap for shorter flight times to remote destinations over 8,000 km, it is now proposed to convert the existing NASA shuttle to a passenger configuration and air launch horizontally from a Boeing 747 aircraft as the first stage carrier after climb to launch altitude. This US Shuttle concept may permit the transport of 100 passengers to destinations 10,000 km distant during a flight duration of 90 minutes, and during flight durations of about 120 minutes to any commercial destination on the planet Earth. This long distance system takes advantage of the existing shuttle and Boeing 747 airframe and propulsion technology, and can be implemented within the next decade     

TWA800 fuel tank flammability-an analytical investigation

The mission was to identify the conditions of atmospheric pressure and ambient temperature under which a so-called empty-fuel-tank, containing residual fuel, could contain hazardous air/fuel mixtures. The issues are limited to two applications: explosion safety concerns in gasoline fueled automotive vehicles and explosion safety in jet fueled jet aircraft. In general, we concluded that flammable mixtures, under certain conditions, may exist in an empty fuel tank containing residual fuel, at ambient temperatures ranging from -51°C (-60°F) through 93°C (200°F), at or below atmospheric pressure. However, in the case of a gasoline automotive fuel tank, at normal ambient temperatures above -18°C (0°F), it is absolutely certain that the fuel tank head space contains an over-rich mixture, which cannot explode, unless the automotive fuel tank is completely drained of liquid fuel. Further, in the case of a fixed wing jet aircraft, a combustible mixture also does not exist in a fuel tank containing JetA type fuel at ambient temperatures below 38°C (100°F) which is about the lean limit flash point for commercial jet fuel at sea level. Nevertheless, this study identified six highly unlikely, but rationally possible critical conditions which can occur in a combination which may permit a combustible mixture to exist within a jet aircraft fuel tank and pose a potential hazard. While the scope of this summary paper is limited to fixed wing jet aircraft fuels, details of the automotive vehicle gasoline fueled application are contained in the original paper     

Ultra light electric vehicle parameters

A comparative assessment of the applications of ultralight technology to electric vehicles (EV) under development since 1990 has been made. The general nature of the mathematical model permitted EVs of all types, including bicycles and magnetic levitation vehicles, to be evaluated and compared for acceleration levels, elapsed time, and elapsed distance performance in a standardized framework, with acceptable accuracy in comparison to the performance results published in the public domain. The aerodynamic coefficients and the skin friction component of the total aerodynamic drag coefficient could be estimated     

Hybrid electric vehicles: year 2000 status

In the year 2000, the automotive manufacturers turned their attention to Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEV). This re-direction of Electric Vehicle (EV) development effort was highlighted at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS 2000), where, the World's major automobile manufacturers displayed twenty three HEVs. Thirteen HEV were configured with an internal combustion piston engine and electric traction motor, while, ten additional HEV were configured as fuel cell and battery pack hybrid vehicles (FCHV). Furthermore, the FCHV were fueled with hydrogen (H₂) from H₂ absorption metal hydride fuel tanks, or, from liquified hydrogen cryogenic fuel tanks. One conclusion for HEV was that the preferred configuration includes a compression ignition engine paired with an electric motor, and, four speed manual transmission with automatic shift. A second conclusion for FCHV was that the fuel of choice is H₂, and furthermore, these H₂ fueled FCHV were the precursor vehicles foreshadowing deployment of a hydrogen fuel infrastructure within the first quarter of the 21^st Century     

Heating and cooling battery electric vehicles-the final barrier

Battery electric vehicles (EVs) present a particular challenge to the development of more efficient and effective heating and cooling systems for automotive applications. Because heating-ventilating-air-conditioning (HVAC) systems are electrically powered, vehicle range is reduced when the HVAC system is operating. The alternative solutions to HVAC battery electric vehicles are identified and evaluated. These include a basis for determining HVAC boundary design assumptions and showing mathematical methods for estimating the HVAC load and energy requirements, and evaluation of the new European and Japanese approaches to wintertime heating, such as NaS battery, motor and component waste heat recovery, electric seat warmer, radiant foot warmer, electric windshield and backlight defrost, molten salt latent heat storage, metal hydride hydrogen storage and catalytic heater, and liquid fueled heater