first off let me say im not selling anything. i would like readers opinions on our companies new product, called the electrocharger what it is is a retro fittable hybrid electric drive system. it replaces the stock alternatot with are SR motor, which is hooked via a drive belt to the crank shaft it provides low RPM torque to the motor. it doesnt drive the motor but gives a significant assist to the motor. all info can be found at our website. http://www.alphamaleperformance.com like i was saying this product is not for sale at this time i would just like readers feed back an to answer any questions. thanks for your time al

 

The older I get the weirder the performance aftermarket becomes - I am certain that I will not recognize performance vehicles in the future!

Weird as it may be, it is plausible. I find it interesting and disconcerting that at the same time that claims of reduced acceleration are being made, that there is no actual verified track results. Or when talk of equivelent horsepower increases are being made that there are no verified engine or chassis dyno result.

Makes me suspicious, thats all.

Thomas

 

green rocket.

all actual dyno numbers and charts will be published soon. we are not some fly by night company, we are working and have been working with texas A and M university on this venture. A and M will be dyno ing complete engines and we will have various chassis dyno results for varing vehicles. the electrocharger is a retro fittable hybrid system like whats currently out there from honda and toyota and soon to be GM, the only difference is ours fits all makes of cars and trucks. and another major difference is that our system can also be dialed in to what the customer would like, IE a fuel effiecient mode or performance mode. i am just here to get some feed back and answer questions. thanks alot al

 

As a long time, old school, low tech, hot rodder, being dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21st century, *I* don't see much high performance potential for powerful V8 cars like our Corvettes. Fuel mileage? Emissions? An added kick for a too small engine? Very possibly. In MY opinion it will have little attraction to the majority of the Corvette contingent.

RACE ON!!!

 

well your almost right on a big engine like whats in a vette top end you wont notice really anything. but bottom low RPM torque you ll notice a kick in the pants and i dont know any one who could nt use more low end torque. and also help with fuel economy. but thats just me thanks for the input keep it coming.

Al

 

Let's just say I'm skeptical that the amount of power (torque) that my serpentine belt will transmit to my crank will be very noticeable in actual performance. At 24 mpg, this IS my economy car. Keep my name on file, if you end up looking for an unbiased and fair evaluation, down the road. I race every weekend and keep a log book, so all of my "adjustments" are documented. As many of these forum members will attest, I am brutally honest. Often to a fault. Good luck, and...

RACE ON!!!

 

well first we dont use the stock belt, we attach our own kevlar reinforced belt from our motor directly to the crank. if you check out our site theres pics and a FAQ section that might help any other questions i would be glad to answer. http://www.alphamaleperformance.com

al

 

I didn't go to the web site. I only took your original post: At "face value". Since it replaces the stock alternator... I probably made some false assumptions. Frankly, I'm not THAT interested in such a device. I only chimed in initially, because you wanted some feed back. But good luck with it, and...

RACE ON!!!


[Modified by CFI-EFI, 6:27 PM 5/4/2004]

 

I went to your web site and seems to me there is some extra stuff needed to make this thing run..the High Cap Capictor Cell...48 VDC...so does the rest of the car draw of that instead of the battery once installed....i.e. trade out the battery for that cell?? As racers are concerned...power to weight..getting me to put a bunch of extra battery type stuff in my race car just sounds like weighting it down.... I have a hard time believing that such a system is capable of delivering enough torque at the bottom (via a belt) to mak a dent in my performance levels I have no doubts that new engineering and designing a drive system such as the hybrids is viable and does aid in fuel economy however the performance side as a power adder I don't know about that... Your website claims 3 seconds in a quarter mile!!! :bs :nono: The amount of power required to push a car like the corvette to even 1 second faster in the quarter isn't coming out of that little gismo..maybe for some little sport compact rice burner..of course stickers seem to make them go faster so pull what you want from that...
:rant:
Sorry about the rant... I'd buy the fuel economy side to the arguement and would consider it for my street cars to help save $$$ for more real go fast parts for my Corvette...but I'm not buying the performance claims I would love you to prove me wrong though.......I'm interested in learning more about the design and test results as it is developed.
Jason
email me at work: wooldridgej@enterprise.navy.mil :flag

 

I think they are on to something here. What interests me is the concept of storing energy when you have excess, say while cruising, then releasing it when you have a shortage, when accellerating at WOT. Why not an electric motor/generator and batteries?

It looks to me that the electric motor and drive belt shown in the photos is too small to provide significant horsepower or torque, but if you upsized everything, maybe built the motor around the driveshaft, a huge bank of batteries and caps you could have 300 to 500 hp assist. Certainly enough to offset the weight of all that extra equipment. Now that would get my attention!

 

total weight for the whole system is 70 pounds. that little motor has more than enough power to give a kick in the pants even to a corvette. the thing is people have the mind set that electric motors are weak. therse motors are by no means weak. this is the most advanced SR motors out there. and for the batteries they are lithium ion. i understand where you guys are coming from and all i can say we will have all the proof very shortly. we are doing a wide range of testing ( chassis dyno, 1/4 mile track, fuel economy and just beating the crap out of the system) we are also going to have third party testing by well known magazines and the southwest research institute to confirm all data and not to mention test vehicles available for the public to drive at certain cars shows. the big one being SEMA las vegas towards the end of the year.

PS if any of have any testing suggestions let me know, public opinion means alot to us so feel free to talk to us.

thanks AL

 

What is the rated output of the electric motor?

 

Intersting! I presently have over 500 fp of tq and I would like something that would turn on and off with throttle position. Coming out of high speed turns and extra 50 foot pounds would really be fun. Off throttle an extra amount of engine braking is always good. If it would turn on at say 75% of max throttle.

 

The FAQ says that the Ultra Capacitor is 30Kw (40hp). They would benefit from the gear ratio for torque multiplication, though. Belt drive motorcycles seem to be able to handle the torque don't see why they wouldn't be able to make it work. If I were in the market I would definetly take a look at it.

 

I built an electric car in college.
Hybrids work, take a look at all the new models that are comming out.

The key component is the storage system.

Chrysler tried it at LeMans with thier Patriot
http://www.allpar.com/model/patriot.html
Unfornately it didn't fair that well.
It stored energy mechanically with a flyweel.

 

AObrian exactly, thats how it works. i think people dont realise how far we have come with this technology, mainly because main stream auto makers have refused to work on it, but they are at the point now where they have to play catch up.

and briancunningham your right too the storage is a big part we have the most up to date lithium ion batteries out there and are working to get them as small and light as possible. thanks for getting it

AL

 

Your 3 second claim is (unintentionly?) misleading. I do not think that you mean that the 3 second improvement applies to the case where the motor is driving the crank. Themath does not support that case. I suspect that you mean that it is for the case where the motor is driving a supercharger, which you imply in one of the FAQ.

Assuming they can get 30 HP out of the motor, a supercharger could be driven with this. Advantages:

- Recovers the HP lossed to drive a typical installation....small benefit.
- Boost can be made to come on much sooner than a typical installation where boost is a function of engine RPM....very big advantage for smaller engines.
- May be able to electronically switch between boost profiles to quickly adjust for fuel octane (i.e., day at the track with race fuel)...very cool.
- May buy you the capability to remotely mount the supercharger.

Disadvantages

- Adds significant cost above the supercharger
- Adds weight
- Requires more engine compartment space, unless remotely mounted.


I'll be interested to see your outcome.

Watch out on your claims...the forum is unforgiving...vendors who deliver on good claims are gods.






[Modified by Carl90, 8:25 AM 5/7/2004]

 

I've read through the website and FAQ and here's my thoughts... It seems a good idea if it replaces the alternator, battery and starter. You cover two of those but didn't talk about the battery. Does it replace the car battery with yours? I can see how you use the wasted power drawn by the alternator into usable power when u need it which is great! But the problem is that at 2800$, I could very well buy something else that could increase my engine power more than your electrocharger... heck I could possibly get a small roots blower for that price and get WAY more power. Like I said, the idea and concept if great, the price is not.

 

ok the 3 second claim will vary depending on the vehicle, second the price is $2500 .

i think your missing the point yes a supercharger is a great thing, but it does nt start producing power at 0 RPM this does. so you have this for low RPM torque and the super charger for the upper end.

you do not need to change fuel with this product . the motor is about the same as a stock alternator so you are not taking up really any more space.

this is just a quick post ill be back to answer more questions thanks AL

 

Like I said before... 3 seconds!!! :skep: Come on man, every body and their sister knows that at a high level of competition even 0.3 seconds faster is a world apart a 3 second claim from a 40 hp rated motor
:nono: :bs
The acceleration that adding "instant torque" from "0 RPM" from a 40hp motor isn't going to deliver that...drive a super charger okay fine. Lets compare apples and apples though..put a charger running the same boost driven off the crank as a base line and then drive one with yours ...claim 3 seconds improvement and I'll still :bs flag you as a lair because I'm positive it ain't there...
I admit 60 foot times could be improved with the 0 RPM torque increase but my 60 foot times are only 1.6 seconds! Claiming 3 second performance improvements is outragous.. claim something reasonable..better yet don't say anything until you have hard line data to back it up..lets see some time slips. I've heard guys on other forums claim 10' second cars listing a none power adder small block running pump gas..I'm not buying that with out seeing it.
I believe in the technology. I also think that it is needed. I have great hopes that the push for "cleaner emissions" or even alternate fuel vehicles brings a whole new performance level with it. The technology today is incredible and just keeps getting better but the laws of physics haven't changed and 40hp is still 40hp...nothing in the REAL world is 100% efficient and that means this little motor might be cool and help out in fuel economy..maybe even add a small amount of acceleration by "flattening out the torque curve" down at the bottom of the band ...but lets all be realistic about what we say... :rolleyes:
All these performance claims and no data..in fact I would expect it easier to show fuel economy numbers as the selling point and use the "performance" boost as an extra incentive :thumbs: