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A step in the right direction
The goal is to give a substantial improvement in gas mileage on full size GM pickups and SUVs . The reason for this target group, is there are 5.5 million such trucks on the road produced from 2002 - 2007. These models share much of the same drive train and body components. Because these trucks/SUVs use so much gas, each conversion would save significant amounts of oil. We hope to produce a kit one can install in in about 2 days and obtain at least a 25% improvement in gas mileage AND add a 20% boost in torque and towing power. We can now see a 20% boost in MPG for Ford and Dodge trucks and 15% for GM trucks and SUV's. Hopefully there will be some software changes so GM vehicles will also see the 20% improvement. See a video of the project. taken at work at Eastman Chemical by our AV team. After about $9500 and 20 months of effort the system is in and working. The 15% improvement in city mileage only. On a strict city loop of 3.2 miles with 3 hills and 12 stop signs I now get 18.4 mpg with electric assist versus 15.9 with the system off. See the chart below for a summary of the first 18 test runs over 3 days. Since those tests I have replaced the lead batteries with new lithium batteries which has helped noticeably. The brains of the system is the EMIS (Engine Motor Interface System) made by NetGain technologies. The EMIS reads your speed, throttle position, battery voltage and several other factors and powers the Altrax controller to send up to 500 amps to a TransWarp7 electric motor, also from NetGain. The motor sits between the transmission and driveshaft. The battery pack and charging system is along the frame between the wheels. I hope one would gain a faster, more powerful car, which plugs in at night to reduce gasoline consumption. Think of it a green turbo charger. The system drops my 1/4 mile time from 17.9 seconds to 17.4 seconds. While electric power is not free it appears that one can get a 1/2 "gallon" of energy for about $0.60. When the batteries are depleted (after about 45 miles of city driving) the gas engine provides all the power. A normal recharge takes me about 5 hours. I am not the only one working on this technology see www.salidaconversions.com. They modified the gas tank so they could put a larger 9" motor in place. A larger motor would help but I am not willing to make such an extensive modification. There was also nice feature in our local paper about the conversion. EMIS test results with 600lbs of lead batteries.
The EMIS has an aggressiveness factor one can set. With the EMIS off I average 14.9 MPG with these early tests. With the aggressiveness set at 2 mileage increases to 16.5 and with the aggressiveness at 9, I reach 18 MPG. But with such a high aggression the lead batteries did not last long, less than 15 miles before needing to be recharged. I now have lithium batteries and the aggressiveness set at 7. The lithium batteries last for about 45 miles of town driving giving me about 18 mpg and the base mileage is now 15.9 with the lighter lithium batteries. If the EMIS unit can be modified to read the accelerator rather than the throttle body position we should be able to get an extra 5% in performance on GMC vehicles and gain a smoother ride. I have been given hope such a modification could be made.
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