This has been a secret for far too long

[TheChopShop]

We have been working on this for 2 years now, and now we are asking for you to tell everyone.
Here is our campaign; the final project will be auctioned off for charity at Barrett Jackson early next year.

http://www.indiegogo.com/hybridhotrods

And here is our Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/hybridhotrod

Please go like and share. This is the way we can take risks and build and develop more for the FR-S. We have events and track days planned for next year, but we need your help getting the word out. If you have any questions, please ask.

And there is a trip to SEMA we will be giving away to one of our facebook friends and people who help us by sharing our campaign link.

[serialk11r]

Heh, older engines are easier to retrofit. In theory all you need is a few motors and appropriate controllers but retrofitting means getting the already existing electronics to play nice.

[TheChopShop]

We already have had the whole thing working in sync. We have the motors and the battery and controllers already figured out. We want to raise the awareness for the ability to do it to taxis, and fleets of trucks, etc. We are working the motor for semi trucks as we speak. The Hot rod is just to prove it works and to auction off for charity.

[serialk11r]

Oh that's good.
At this point my concern with electric powertrains is batteries, which are still "consumables" that die eventually. They also happen to be very expensive consumables. For durability in a hybrid powertrain a capacitative energy storage solution is needed. I don't know about the typical design of motor controllers these days but I suspect that not all or maybe none are able to deal with the wider voltage variance.

On a side note, rear wheel driven cars are better for parallel hybrid retrofitting since the front wheels have a higher load under braking, and have less traction under acceleration.

[TheChopShop]

The battery we use has a warranty and has proven to be well used for 10 years so far. At this same capacity, just not in our personal system.
As far as a better battery and a longer lasting system, we are discussing ideas for our semi application, seeing as they have a bigger area to use.
Thanks for the great replies.