nope, not if you have clue #1 about math or engineering.

A well maintained roller chain is 98% efficient, so the final drive on an WLA hog knocks the spots off anything else that has come since.

You people who wibble on about hybrids forget that some of us have been working with hybrids our entire working lives, and the basic physics of the universe hasn't changed just because an ad agency found a new way to sell the same old ****.

Guess what WWII U-boats were powered by.

I read a great article in Popular Mechanics about a possible day in the life of a plug in car owner circa 2020 LA

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/electric/electric-car-future-test-drive

__________________
___________________________________________
'86 300 SDL '83 300D Astral Silver/Blue
354k miles.. 326k miles..

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...ine=1310252049

Ding ding ding, series hybrids. Aka, a mobile power plant. However, that was purely out of necessity since IC engines don't work very well under water.
Thanks for proving my point about why series hybrids are the best option for economy.

You're typical of the hybrid is best crowd, you don't know a damn thing about the subject.

the U boat diesel ran direct coupled to the props, in every instance when diesel-electric is used, from mine trucks through locomotives to u boats, economy was NEVER, EVER, EVER the reason, because they are all less efficient than mechanical drive methods.

Without exception, the lost efficiency was a price worth paying because of some other physical feature of the final electric drive component.

In U-boats it was the ability to run submerged, in locos it is getting power from the engine bay through the bogey car to the drive wheels, in mine trucks its because it does away with a vulnerable drive shaft and increases ground clearance while also allowing a deeper / larger bucket.

Look at this picture.



What do you see?

If you are an engineer, with a brain, you see that the driving wheels are fixed rigidly to the chassis, no choice, due to the mechanical linkages of the drive rods.

now look at this image



the driven wheels are on a bogey that is NOT fixed to the chassis, it has suspension AND it rotates with the curves in the track.

You CANNOT get a reliable mechanical drive system through such a linkage... that is why diesel - electric.

NOT because it is more efficient, it isn't, it is less efficient, but it is ****ing doable.

Incorrect.
A generator designed and tuned to operate at a single speed is more efficient than an engine that operates at a wide range of speeds and loads.

Incorrect.

FYI; those are not hybrids, they use electricity merely as a transmission. A series-hybrid uses batteries as the power source with a generator to charge them.

Please at least try to understand what you're talking about.

I see a very poorly educated troll. Welcome to the ignore list, mentally unstable garbage like you doesn't deserve to be seen.

You are proof that you can lead a horse to water....

VW had a Golf TD/Electric concept in '89 that was supposed to get 90mpg. I'm not holding my breath for this one to make it to the US anytime soon.

And thats using 80's technology and an IDI engine. The modern 3-cylinder Lupo is capable of nearly that on its own. Chop off another cylinder for a series hybrid and 100+ would be realistic.