# Diesel Hybrid



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Large diesel hybrids have been in use for years. Locomotive engines are diesel hybrids because the electric motors make even torque laden diesel engines look like gutless wonders. Once they get to speed the diesel engine drives the train directly.


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## Rivergoer (Mar 30, 2017)

I’ve often wondered the same thing. 

Diesel locomotives aren’t exactly ‘hybrids’ but they do utilize diesel engines and electric drive motors.


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## Rivergoer (Mar 30, 2017)

obermd said:


> Large diesel hybrids have been in use for years. Locomotive engines are diesel hybrids because the electric motors make even torque laden diesel engines look like gutless wonders. Once they get to speed the diesel engine drives the train directly.


I did not know that...thought the electric motors did all the work, interesting.


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## pjdvd24 (Feb 28, 2018)

obermd said:


> Large diesel hybrids have been in use for years. Locomotive engines are diesel hybrids because the electric motors make even torque laden diesel engines look like gutless wonders. Once they get to speed the diesel engine drives the train directly.


OK, point taken, but I can't afford a train and while tracks go by my house they don't go to my office. So, even renting space on a commuter train (if there was one here in Ohio) doesn't work.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I think the issue is the size of the diesel engine plus the electric motors is simply too big for a passenger car. This combination might be a good one in something like the Silverado but I don't think you could fit it in a passenger car. My Volt's engine bay is packed.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

obermd said:


> I think the issue is the size of the diesel engine plus the electric motors is simply too big for a passenger car. This combination might be a good one in something like the Silverado but I don't think you could fit it in a passenger car. My Volt's engine bay is packed.


I can't imagine trying to cram anything else in there. I imagine a diesel engine in there would be something along the lines of the amount of space you get in the 1st gen CTD...**** near close to a negative amount.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Small 1-1.2L turbo diesel might get the job done. Plenty available overseas, but American emissions standards are much more difficult to comply with. The added complexity of the emissions systems would inflate the cost of a hybrid as well. 

We have hybrid city buses. The electric drive gives them a nice shove off the line or getting started on hills (as does a smaller turbo on a diesel), and then the diesel engine spools up past 15 mph or so. The Allison hybrid systems are a bit noisy and jerky, though. 

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## Barry Allen (Apr 18, 2018)

obermd said:


> Large diesel hybrids have been in use for years. Locomotive engines are diesel hybrids because the electric motors make even torque laden diesel engines look like gutless wonders. Once they get to speed the diesel engine drives the train directly.


Diesel locomotives almost NEVER drive the train directly. There isn't a gearbox robust enough to handle 3,000-5,000 horsepower. The overwhelming majority of locomotives from the big manufacturers (GE and EMD) are all electric drive.


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## johnmo (Mar 2, 2017)

There are lots of small, diesel-powered generators in service... in RVs, so it's not because it's impractical to make electricity with a diesel engine. Most RV generators put out somewhere between 3.5k and 7.5k watts. Not sure how much juice it takes to keep a hybrid's electric motors happy.

No doubt the emissions laws are very different for power generation in an RV installation versus on-road transportation vehicles, which I would say is the main reason we don't have small diesel hybrid vehicles.


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## JDH (Dec 24, 2014)

Audi ran diesel/electric hybrid race cars at the 24 Hours of Le Mons for almost a decade.


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## BodhiBenz1987 (Jan 13, 2018)

There have actually been diesel-electric hybrid passenger cars in Europe already ... can't remember specific models but I know there was a Mercedes C class. Also Mercedes is introducing PHEV diesels. Kind of makes sense since it solves diesel's biggest drawback, the city smog factor. I don't think anyone would dream of it in the US ... both diesel and hybrid/electric are still niches here ... trying to get people to buy a double-niche car that would certainly come with a double-niche price premium would be hard. Maybe if fuel rises to $8 a gallon here.


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## pjdvd24 (Feb 28, 2018)

I hadn't considered engine size being an issue. I figure if they can it a V6 and a motor in an accord hybrid then they could fit a diesel and a motor in a malibu or cruze even.

I don't think a diesel block itself is that much bigger is it? Maybe all the ancillary stuff required with a diesel adds up but, only maybe. 

I am really hoping the truck market picks up the diesel hybrid and gives it a good push toward the car market.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

> I hadn't considered engine size being an issue. I figure if they can it a V6 and a motor in an accord hybrid


There wasn't much "hybrid" to those Accords. 

It was a tiny electric assist motor like the Malibu Eco, and an electric A/C compressor. The new Accord hybrid is MUCH more of an actual hybrid.



> I don't think a diesel block itself is that much bigger is it? Maybe all the ancillary stuff required with a diesel adds up but, only maybe.


Haha, ever seen the ones in the Cruze engine bays?

Granted 2 liters is a little large for the size of the bay, but here's a 2.0 TD compared to a 1.8.




















The 1.4T looks hilariously small in comparison, and the Gen 2 gives up a lot of engine bay space.


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## MP81 (Jul 20, 2015)

jblackburn said:


> Haha, ever seen the ones in the Cruze engine bays?
> 
> Granted 2 liters is a little large for the size of the bay, but here's a 2.0 TD compared to a 1.8.


I'm convinced it doesn't actually fit in the engine bay, but they shoved it in there anyway - this is very likely given the amount of curse words - old and new - that were thrown towards the vehicle when changing the trans cooler lines.


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