Volvo Is Testing A Flywheel KERS With, Which Could Reduce Consumption By 20%

Volvo Flywheel tested KERS technology, an easy solution, cheap and makes a very efficient four-cylinder engine to feel like a 6-cylinder, but with lower fuel consumption by 20%. The technology could reach the market in several years.

This autumn, Volvo Car Corporation will be the first automaker in the world to test the potential of technology to fly on public roads. The company received a loan of 6.57 million kronor from the Swedish National Energy Agency for the development of next generation technology for recovering kinetic energy from braking.

"Our goal is to develop a complete system for recovering kinetic energy from braking. Tests with a Volvo car will start in the second half of 2011. This technology has the potential to reduce fuel consumption by up to 20%. Furthermore, the driver provides a power boost, so a four-cylinder engine could accelerate as one of six cylinders, "explains Derek Crabb, Vice President of Volvo Powertrain Engineering.

The new system, known as the Flywheel KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) - system of energy recovery from braking tie - is mounted on the rear axle of the vehicle. During deceleration, braking energy is the flywheel to spin up to 60,000 rpm (revolutions per minute). When the machine restarts, the rotation of the flywheel is transferred to the rear wheels through a specially designed transmission.

Combustion engine that moves the front wheels is stopped as soon as you start braking. The energy in the flywheel can be used to accelerate the vehicle continues its path when it reaches cruising speed.

"The energy stored in flywheel is sufficient to propel the car only for short periods of time but this system has a major impact on fuel consumption. From our calculations that the combustion engine can be stopped almost half the total time of travel measurement standards NEDC (New European Driving Cycle), "explains Derek Crabb.

Since the flywheel is activated by energy stored during braking - time as the flywheel spins - is limited, this technology is most effective when driving with many stops and starts, such as urban traffic.

Tie-assisted propulsion systems have been tested by Volvo since the early 1980s but at that time was made of steel flywheel and it was quite big and heavy. Now the Swedish manufacturer will use carbon fiber. Flywheel weighs only 6 kg and has a diameter of only 20 inches.

"We are not only car manufacturers to test the flywheel technology. But no one has applied to the rear axle of a vehicle equipped with a combustion engine and front wheel. If the tests go as planned and technical development, we expect that tie technology to reach showrooms in a few years, "says Derek Crabb. "The technology is relatively cheap to fly. Can be used on machines much larger volume than our leading-edge technologies such as plug-in hybrid. That means it has the potential to play an important role in our strategy to reduce CO2 emissions. "

Source: http://www.volvo.com/