Hybrid Power Systems

Imagine your car's mileage suddenly increasing to over 100 mpg, without any apparent loss in performance. Imagine eliminating over 200 lbs of lead acid batteries in golf carts. Hybrid Power Systems will make these advances possible in the near future. SymPowerco intends to develop and market Hybrid Power Systems through our majority-owned (70%) subsidiary, Polygenic Power Systems. A hybrid power system has two or more power components performing cooperative power-supplying functions.

Jeep's concept Renegade is a hybrid electric vehicle with each axle driven by its own 268hp electric motor. The lithium batteries are recharged by a small diesel engine with only 115 hp. The Renegade's mileage is estimated at over 110 mpg.

Almost all vehicles must have a means of storing onboard energy. Vehicles that use internal combustion engines must store energy in the form of gasoline, diesel fuel or alternative fuels like alcohol or natural gas. Of course, the internal combustion engine produces polluting emissions and noise and most engines burn non-renewable hydrocarbon fuels.

Electric vehicles store electrical energy in batteries. They are quiet and electric motors are very efficient. However, to store enough electrical energy to be practical, these vehicles must carry huge batteries. The typical golf cart, for instance, has lead-acid batteries weighing as much as 350 lb! The batteries have barely enough capacity for two rounds of golf before they must be recharged. And when the batteries run down it takes several hours to recharge them.

Imagine a power system in an electric golf cart or other electric vehicle that:

• Eliminates over 60% of the battery weight and cost.
• Reduces vehicle structural weight because of less battery weight.
• Requires far less energy to run due to the reduced weight.
• Recharges its own batteries while it’s running, never needs to be “plugged in”.
• Eliminates the large charging stations where the vehicles are “plugged in”.
• Converts readily-available and environmentally-friendly methanol into electricity, onboard.
• Operates in a quiet, clean and safe manner.

A hybrid power system is a combination of a power producer and the means to store that power in an energy storage medium such as lead-acid batteries or other battery types. In a golf cart or other such vehicle, peak power demand is satisfied with batteries while the batteries are continuously charged with a power supply such as a fuel cell.

The average power demand in most vehicles is only 25 to 35% of peak demand. For instance, an automobile with a 200 hp engine requires only 50 hp or less while cruising on flat ground. Peak power capability is only used during acceleration, climbing hills or pulling larger loads.

In a hybrid electric vehicle, the batteries store sufficient energy to supply the peak demand but the average demand is only 25% to 30% of the peak.

The fuel cell therefore needs to be capable of producing a steady “trickle” charge at or slightly above the average power demand. For example, preliminary calculations show that a 0.25 kW fuel cell with a 0.75 kWhr battery pack hybrid system would provide more than the equivalent power of the 3kWhr lead-acid battery system currently used for golf carts indicating a 75% reduction in required battery capacity (and weight). And because peak demand is supplied by the battery, the output of the fuel cell needs to be 70% less than the vehicle's peak power requirements.

So, because the batteries can be charged “on the fly”, far less weight in batteries can be used and the power supply needs to produce only slightly more than the average vehicle demand, together resulting in a far lighter, economical and environmentally friendly vehicle while still maintaining superior vehicle performance.

SymPowerco, through its majority owned subsidiary Polygenic Power Systems, has acquired the rights to an advanced power producer, a Flowing Electrolyte Direct Methanol Fuel Cell and the rights to use advanced battery technologies in hybrid applications.