Max Mosely is suggesting that new standards for F1 should be considered so the sport becomes the pioneers of envirnomental technology. OK. Nice concept. Any ideas how this would work?
he goes on to say . . . that by diverting just a fraction of their investment already committed to F1 towards engine development, energy-efficiency technology research would be hugely boosted. Mosley said research into super-capacitors and flywheel technology were the areas most likely to benefit from intensive research that would be immediately applicable to roads cars. There is time pressure for change to a direction where everybody believes we are moving from 20th century technology to 21st century-type technology. "Everybody is working on these devices, but if Toyota and BMW and Mercedes dedicate more research to it, then the effort and momentum would be completely different." * * * * * * * * FLY-WHEEL 101 well, I got curious and found out that Max's flywheel technology idea is about 50 years behind the power curve!!! The first flywheel-powered buses (gyrobuses) used in Yverdon, Switzerland in the 1950's. Proposed flywheel systems would eliminate many of the disadvantages of existing battery power systems, such as low capacity, long charge times, heavy weight, and short usable lifetimes. Flywheel systems have also been used experimentally in small electric locomotives for shunting or switching. In the 1980s Soviet engineer Nourbey Gulia had been working on flywheel energy storage. His work resulted in many original solutions for wheel suspension, sealing the vacuum chamber, rotation rate decline compensator and hydraulic transmission. However, the primary advance was the composite flywheel capable of rotation rates exceeding 40,000 rpm, running for up to a week when not loaded, and resistant to explosive destruction. Gulia's "super flywheels" were tightly wound of metal or plastic tape. These had tensile strength higher than that of molded steel, and in the case of failure simply unwound inside the chamber, filling it and grinding to a stop. Gulia's first wheels were made of steel tape, but the latest models used Kevlar filament, wound not unlike a bobbin of thread. Flywheels are not affected by temperature changes as are chemical batteries, nor do they suffer from memory effect. Moreover, they are not as limited in the amount of energy they can hold. They are also less potentially damaging to the environment, being made of largely inert or benign materials. Another advantage of flywheels is that by a simple measurement of the rotation speed it is possible to know the exact amount of energy stored. When used in vehicles, flywheels also act as gyroscopes, since their angular momentum is typically of a similar order of magnitude as the forces acting on the moving vehicle. This property may be detrimental to the vehicle's handling characteristics while turning. On the other hand, this property could be utilised to improve stability in curves. Two externally joined flywheels spinning synchronously in opposite directions would have a total angular momentum of zero and no gyroscopic effect. AFS Trinity has an invention called Extreme Hybrid (tm). They say it could deliver the equivalent of 250 miles per gallon of gasoline for a car or 200 miles per gallon for light truck. It's a plug-in-to-the-grid hybrid technology that would incorporate a battery pack, a flywheel, an electric drive motor and an internal combustion engine. In daily use an Extreme Hybrid would be connected to the grid each night via a wireless inductive coupler to keep the vehicle's battery pack fully charged. The battery would hold enough energy for 40-50 miles. For longer trips the internal combustion engine would kick in to generate electricity and the vehicle would get about 50 miles per gallon. The combination of battery power alone and gas/electric power would result in the 200-plus miles per gallon fuel economy. The difference between this technology and now-typical gasoline/electric hybrid technology is in the recapturing of spent energy. In a typical hybrid the vehicle's battery recharges slightly as the vehicle slows or brakes. (Recharging a battery is a slow process that takes hours, not the seconds it takes to slow from 65 miles per hour to a full stop.) With an Extreme Hybrid a flywheel (or perhaps a bank of ultracapacitors) would recapture nearly all of the energy the vehicle consumed when it accelerated to a certain speed. If nearly all the energy needed to bring a car to certain speed can be recaptured then, net energy consumption is dramatically improved. High fuel economy is the result. Trinity says its technology would include five subsystems: 1) Energy storage in advanced lithium batteries, 2) power storage in an advanced flywheel; 3) advanced power-conversion and electronics; 4) a high efficiency steady state engine; 5) an electric power train. This year the company says a bus hybrid/hybrid technology will be deployed and the development of a passenger car drive train will begin. A prototype of the car drive train will be ready in two years. Licensing the technology to car makers could begin in three. The company has spent more than $45 million over the past 10 years to develop advanced flywheel technology. The major problems with this technology? Price and complexity. There's one more expensive component than a typical already-expensive hybrid - the flywheel. Still fuel cells are far from commercialization, in part because their high price and complexity. But extremely good fuel economy even if it involved an occasional, but not always necessary, grid plug in, could add to this combination of technologies' appeal. * * * * * * * so perhaps this means that no fuel stops during a race? or could it mean that in order to make F1 look to be the "most technological advanced" of the motorsports they are attempting to capitalize on "old" technology? any ideas?? it's quite interesting reading and lots of articles available Carol
i believe F1 and the general public would benifit greatly if they were allowed to use regenerative braking. i remember about 6-8 months ago it was shown on formula1.com that they were proposing that teams use regenerative braking to power electric motors in the 09 season...(maybe 08, but i believe it was 09)
Take away the micromanagement of technology, and impose emissions standards on the F1 cars. Let the manufacturers figure out how to clean up the exhaust without killing the performance. Any number of cylinders, turbos allowed, no rpm limits, traction control permitted (because how can you do regen without it?), tire wars back on: but you have to run on pump fuel, and pass emissions. (And you're only allowed a 50 litre tank. Gas guzzlers have to pit more often.) That might produce some interesting machines. (You want spec series? Watch CART. Or A1)
How about forget it? It's a bunch of cars that get about 80 feet per gallon, no cats, and drive around burning gas for the fun of it. Nothing could be more anti-green. He needs to forget asskissing a tree hugger and just go race. OR how about just leave the cars alone and cut 10 laps off each race. That should save a few trees and then everyone will be happy.
Hit the nail on the head. I get the impression that most of this b.s.ing is just to keep us occupied while he and Bernie fleece everyone. Keep the fools (us) muttering amongst themselves while they go to the bank. ie, they continually make deals that are based primarily on their own financial gain and not in the interest of the fans (two sides which they see as polar opposites). The occasional ridiculous press release like this keeps them on the front burner, and us from walking away.
The way I see it, Max & Bernie will try to tap a new audience: ecologists. The true F1 afficionados are already a captive market, only interested in speed. Next, there will be competition on fuel efficiency, mileage per gallon and so on to convert the ecologists to F1.
If there were a way for these cars to be any more fuel efficient, it would already have happened. That is a significant competitive advantage in regards to pit stops. As for everything else, I agree firmly with Dr. Tom -- electric motors belong in other forms of racing. Catering to too many audiences (treehuggers) will spread the package thin.
usual Moosley. Only he knows how this is aligned with engine freeze and "everybody have to give cash to cossworth so Mosley will have F1 engine after he drives all manufactures out of sport" ideas.
