Electric Alternative Components

[treegump]

There is a discussion on the 6.5 board regarding cooling intake air and it sparked a conversation starter that I thought I'd split and place here.

With the rise in electric vehicles, electrical parts are becoming more available. What all, in our engine compartment has an electric alternative? If someone has a dual alternator setup - would that be sufficient to run an electric a/c, electric cooling fan, electric aux air compressor, or other electrical components - and still be ahead on the hp/mpg?

 

[MrMarty51]

Dual alternator setup, with a power invertor, might be a good alternative rather than running a engine fired generator plant in the back of the truck, for a freezer unit to haul game kills for long distances ? IDK LOL

 

[Will L.]

Most of what is used in electric vehicles is existing technology, just optimized for electrical efficiency.

The a/c system was what started it on the other thread but using it as cooling means for the intake plenum in place of water to air or air to air post turbo cooling. Getting smaller, more efficient systems from companies like honda or Toyota is probably better for out applications. Components coming off all electric vehicles wouldn’t work in many cases- like the a/c compressor. Tesla leads, and will for the next decade, the electric vehicle industry. It uses a hermetically sealed compressor like the one in you refrigerator, except the Tesla unit runs on 400 volts. By the time you create a charger and battery for the even power supply it needs and the parts, you will be 5-7 thousand into it.

Getting more efficiency from an old truck is not hard to do. It takes a lot of up front money then you have to wait for the return, and hopefully it will be a net gain. Often it is not.
Warwagon’s account of the ATT paying for itself for him really fast was a good one because he was putting on a ton of miles towing. Someone with a 1/2 ton grocery getter that doesn’t see 5,000 miles a year and city driving would take a long time if ever to pay for itself.

More efficiency is mostly properly matched equipment for its use. The a/c system in gmt400 trucks is underpowered for the southwest. So they are constantly on high and the compressor almost never cycles off. Coating the condenser and evap to raise the thermal conductivity by roughly 35% condenser and 25% evap(cant get to the coils as easy) can make a big difference and let the compressor turn off and quit sucking power from the engine as much. But in my Hummer, the rpm is much higher going down the road and the power loss at that point is negligible- so I could run my a/c compressor nonstop and never see a change in mpg. Having a custom built condenser and evap using the new smaller tubes and more accurate charge rates would be more efficient, but would set you back $3,500 (I already prised it for my hummer and slight changes in sizebarely moves the price a couple hundred dollars). It would improve efficiency 20% at most. No way you would ever recover the cost. The long term costs are higher on those too.

you need to pick a component to look at and figure investment cost first