Automotive Engineering - August 2022 - 32

READER
FEEDBACK
EV, give me heat!
Excellent editorial by editor Brooke on the heat-delivery dilemma
in electric vehicles that the industry continues to
downplay in its ongoing EV promotion. Range or heat?
Currently you can only have both in one of the $100,000 luxury
EVs that have an overabundance of battery. Heat pump
tech isn't new, but further development is needed in this critical
area if the public living in the cold-climate regions of the
world are expected to " go electric. "
Robert Oakes, E/E
The automakers seem to be building
in the solution to the EV heater challenge:
enormous batteries! Oversized
energy storage in many of the latest
electrics is not being engineered-in
simply to provide a bottomless well
of electrons for stoplight drag races
and trailer towing. I've attended systems
planning meetings where the
question of " do we have enough battery
for winter heat? " has been a discussion
point.
Miriam Lang
Austin, Texas
It is indicative of the insanity of our
times that all these " hi-tech " methods
of providing heat in electric vehicles
are being explored when a
ready solution almost 100 years old
is available: the gas-fired heater. A
very small gas tank would suffice to
provide heat for days and the resultant electric drive-gasheat
hybrid would solve the range anxiety issue when turning
on heat.
I can't be the first or even the ten-thousandth person to
think of this. The fact that such a hybrid design is discarded
out-of-hand while gas/electric hybrid drives are swooned
over goes to illustrate that engineering is being driven by insane
social dicta.
Ken Javor
Editor's note: Well-known technical journalist and SAE contributor
Paul Weissler, also a veteran of SAE's HVAC Standards
committee, reminded me that the liquid-gas separator made
its debut on the Toyota Prius Prime, a plug-in hybrid. - LB
Long-term quality
Ford has been in the news a lot lately concerning recalls. Back
when they were still affordable, my parents bought a new 1969
Mercedes-Benz 230 sedan from a Pittsburgh, Penn., dealer. In
its first two years, it suffered through two automatic transmission
replacements (under warranty) and a shortage of qualified
Mercedes-Benz factory-authorized mechanics.
32 August 2022
The first transmission failure began on the way from
Morgantown, West Virginia, to grandma's house in Uniontown,
PA. We called the [Mercedes] dealer who luckily was open on
a Sunday who told us to bring the car in. By the time we arrived
at the dealer, only 1st gear was operable and the trans
was slipping badly. It was 21 calendar days later before a new
transmission arrived and our vehicle was fixed. Years later at
80,000+ miles, the engine self-destructed on Interstate I-79
and left my dad stranded.
Stan Serpento
The following note was received from
an SAE reader in Australia who is developing
a technology called CITS
that is aimed at extending the emissions
capability of internal combustion
engines. He encourages interested
readers to contact him at the
link below. - Ed.
I am hoping that you and or Jim
Szybist, senior research staff scientist
at Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
might help in getting the CITS technology
to the eyes and ears of the
leading engine developers. As detailed
in the synopsis [www.citsengine.com.au],
we have taken it to a
running prototype, as far as our limited
facilities will allow. Now it needs
the latest fluid dynamic modelling
and then to DFI and then to commercialization,
being scalable from 50 to 2000+ kW in any V format
from V-twin to V16. I look forward to hearing from readers
and any questions.
Basil van Rooyen
Director, CITS Engineering PL.,
Sydney, Australia
Phone +61 (0)414494472
http://au.linkedin.com/pub/basil-van-rooyen/38/326/908/
www.basilvanrooyen.com
www.citsengine.com.au
READERS: Let us know what you think about Automotive
Engineering magazine. Email the Editor at Lindsay.Brooke@
sae.org. We appreciate your comments and reserve the
right to edit for brevity and clarity.
AUTOMOTIVE ENGINEERING
https://www.nxtbook.com/smg/sae/22AE06/index.php http://citsengine.com.au http://au.linkedin.com/pub/basil-van-rooyen/38/326/908/ https://www.basilvanrooyen.com http://www.citsengine.com.au
Automotive Engineering - August 2022

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