Electric turbo

[trackdemon]

Does anyone know why we don't have electrically powered forced induction aids? It strikes me that in its simplest form an electrical blower pumping compressed air directly into the intake manifold could eliminate turbo lag, while not introducing the cranking losses inherant with a supercharger.
I suspect it would be somewhat cheaper to manufacture than a 'normal' turbo / supercharger too....
Is this a great example of thinking 'outside of the box' or am I being dumb? I need to know...

[trackdemon]

domster said: The whole point of a turbo is 'something for nothing', anyway. ie all those exhaust gasses get put to good use. If you have to put energy in, might as well be with a supercharger belt driven off the engine.

Maybe an elastic band powered turbo would be good, or get a few hamsters in the back spinning up the turbine I can see it now, the Volvo S40 HamsterTurbo

Otherwise, what about a big bottle of compressed air? You know, diver's bottle. Assuming weight wasn't a problem it could give you A LOT of boost for a limited period ie the energy is put into the charge beforehand. If you're doing bottles, makes as much sense to go for NOs, though, eh?


>> Edited by domster on Wednesday 26th March 17:02

Maybe what you could do then is to have a passenger continuously pumping up the air system (using a bicycle pump). This could be released under full throttle. MPV's would then be the fastest things around, as you could have say 6 passengers pumping away as you drive, which would generate massive boost & power. Although I'm not sure of the legal standing on having 6 people pumping away in your car while your driving....