Pulled from...
Pulled from Jalopnik-http://oppositelock.jalopnik.com/f1s-hybrid-turbos-are-awesome-and-you-want-one-in-you-1464497196?fb_action_ids=652273084812430&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map=%5B201683156683143%5D&action_type_map=%5B%22og.likes%22%5D&action_ref_map=%5B%5D "Meet the e-turbo. Turbos spend a lot of time dumping excess exhaust overboard to stop from overboosting the engine. Rather than use the wastegate (valve that bypasses the turbo) to do this these turbos turn the bearing section into a generator that harvests this energy and stores it for later use (by holding the shaft RPM constant and absorbing the excess energy trying to spin the turbine faster.) This may or may not be combined with a traditional hybrid vehicle drive system. What gets exciting is when you reverse the flow. Put your foot down at 1500RPM with one of these and rather than waiting for the whole system to work itself up to a high enough exhaust energy to spool the turbo and develop power - the generator reverses roles and spools the compressor. Your turbocharger briefly turns into an electronic supercharger. This rapidly increases exhaust energy/mass flow and after a second or two exhaust power takes over and the motor becomes a generator again. Net result? Turbocharger power and efficiency with 0 lag and fuel economy savings. Combine this system with a hybrid drive and prolonged high power operation can harvest serious waste energy from the exhaust that would otherwise be dumped overboard by waste gate and store it in the hybrid system for use as actual wheel torque. This is exciting stuff as this is exactly where most hybrid systems fall flat on their face - during cruise. The ability to actively capture this exhaust heat energy even during steady state operation is a huge boon both on the performance and the efficency fronts." Should make for an exciting season as the F1 engineers push the cars to the limit and figure out the best way to take advantage of new design.
