I recently learned that train engines have been using electric motors powered by diesel generators since at least the 30’s, which surprised me. It made me wonder why cars or at least trucks and busses don’t do something similar, and why “parallel” hybrids are the only type of hybrid engine widely available.
I assume it has to do with the size difference, but what specifically? Needs to carry too much liquid fuel? Generator or electronics can’t be miniaturized? Or is it a purely economic problem and not a technological one?
In: Engineering
The reason train locomotives have been using diesel electric in this way is because they produce too much torque for any gearbox that could fit to handle. Diesel electric is able to produce a lot more torque then a traditional gearbox but there is a lot of power loss though the generators, wires and motors. In cars the torque is not that big of an issue for a gearbox. So the electric motor in a hybrid car is not primarily there to replace the gearbox but instead to provide additional performance through the use of batteries.
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