Across the Pacific over in Japan Honda has been putting in extra effort on the hybrid initiative as they push to knock the Prius off its pedestal by 2010. Along with an improved hybrid image in their designs, Honda is also looking to provide their hybrids with something the Prius and no other hybrid on the market today has achieved: improved highway mileage. While the Prius and other hybrids are great around town and under 40 mph, their highway miles, when the car is running solely on its gasoline motor, are not as compelling. Honda is exploring the use of the Rankine System as a means of harnessing the heat that is typically lost via the cars exhaust and turning it into electricity, and thus electric motor horsepower.
The Rankine System is rather complex and would easier be explained by a Science Professor than a car junky, but here is the nutshell version. The heat produced by the internal combustion engine passes through a cylinder that recaptures that heat and uses it to create steam by passing it through water. The steam is then captured and rotates a turbine that generates electricity. The electricity is then harnessed to produce horsepower for the electric hybrid motors of the car (very nutshell version). (more…)
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