How Chrysler's Battery-Less Hybrid Minivan Works

thecarchik writes "Chrysler announced Wednesday that it would partner with the US Environmental Protection Agency to build and test prototypes of a different kind of hybrid vehicle, one that accumulates energy not in a battery pack but by compressing a gas hydraulically. The system in question, originally developed at the EPA labs, uses engine overrun torque to capture otherwise wasted energy, as do conventional hybrid-electric vehicles. The engine is Chrysler's standard 2.4-liter four-cylinder, the base engine in its minivan line. But rather than turning a generator, that torque powers a pump that uses hydraulic fluid to increase the pressure inside a 14.4-gallon tank of nitrogen gas, known as a high-pressure accumulator."

Re:Boom!

[Brett Buck]

If it's holding 5000 PSI it will be pretty difficult to crush.

Re:Boom!

[Anonymous Coward]

A two-ton SUV moving at 80 miles an hour agrees with you, but doesn't give a fuck

Re:Pointlessly small amount of storage.

[c0lo]

Dear GOD please learn about units. kw*sec = kJ.

Given the prayer, I'd say you have an unusual relation with your GOD.

Re:Boom!

[PPH]

CNN describes the tank as a "bladder".

Damn! Now that's two bladders I'll be emptying when an accident occurs.

Re:Compressed gases aren't *too* bad

[seanvaandering]

Is it discovery channel that everyone migrated over to? Dammit! I'm still watching "The Learning Channel" and learning that having 19 kids is suicidal.