Here is a video demonstrating a (possibly less elegant) electrically controlled CVT called the D-Drive: https://www.youtube.c...

Here is a video demonstrating a (possibly less elegant) electrically controlled CVT called the D-Drive: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6zE__J0YIU The concept is straightforward if you visualize mechanical advantage. A high torque at low RPM is the same power output as a low torque at high RPM. If you picture an asymmetric differential with primary power going into it where one wheel is geared higher than the other, then a weaker motor on one of the wheels could control the torque and RPM of the other wheel. So we probably could have been using electrically assisted CVTs decades ago where a small fraction of the power could have gone into a generator/motor pair at about 90% conversion efficiency to control the output RPM. I can't help but feeling that most of the gains in things like 6 speed automatic transmissions to increase fuel economy have largely been a waste of time. We could have gotten rid of traditional transmissions and gone with a design like the Prius that are simpler, more efficient and more durable. By now economies of scale probably would have made them less expensive as well. I’m actually a little curious why this hasn’t happened with supercars.

Posted by zackmorris on Feb 15, 2015, 10:44 PM

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