Hacker News Reader

Comment by teeray | Hacker News Reader

I remember reading somewhere that electric compressor stages are apparently getting used to reduce input lag on automotive turbo chargers.

View on HN

> lectric compressor stages are apparently getting used to reduce input lag on automotive turbo chargers

Yup, E-Turbo [1].

[1] https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/e-turbo-electric-assist-tu...

In F1 they also recover energy and charge battery or help power the electric motor (as explained in the article)

Until the new engine rules when it will be removed because it was deemed to expensive, complex and the technology didn't translate to road cars enough for them to justify the R&D.

Which is a shame because it's the most fun part of the F1 engines to me.

And the only thing that would justify this kind of global waste.

Even that’s not interesting. It’s just an electric version of an antilag system, first developed in the 80s.

Rockets were first developed 1,000 years ago. Nothing is interesting, by your reasoning.

The liquid fuel rocket motor was only invented 98 years ago (https://www.nasa.gov/history/95-years-ago-goddards-first-liq...)

Though borderline possible, it is very hard for solid fuel rockets to make it to orbit, and they have horrible payload to total mass ratios. It all has to do with the specific impulse of the fuels, no solid fuel provides as much as hydrogen/oxygen.

It's not so much just the Isp -- rockets can easily get to orbit on LOX/RP-1; LOX-LH2 is not needed -- but also dry mass of the stage. Basically the entire solid rocket motor is a thrust chamber, and must be strong enough to withstand that pressure. In a pump fed liquid propellant rocket, this is not the case: the tanks need only withstand a pressure high enough to avoid cavitation in the pumps.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com