Retrofit/Upgrade old ICE cars?

[21miDay]

What kind of retrofit might be possible for existing ICE cars? They will still be on the road for years. What if the original manufacturers were given incentives to develop and sell energy efficiency retrofits? I don't mean converting them to EVs, I mean a lower-cost change - like reprogramming the computer - that would improve the mileage or reduce the emissions. What is possible?

 

[TomT]

Unless it was a pure electric conversion, it would require an emissions re-certification and thus likely would not be practical.

What kind of retrofit might be possible for existing ICE cars? They will still be on the road for years. What if the original manufacturers were given incentives to develop and sell energy efficiency retrofits? I don't mean converting them to EVs, I mean a lower-cost change - like reprogramming the computer - that would improve the mileage or reduce the emissions. What is possible?

 

[adric22]

There are any number of scam artists out there trying to sell all kinds of rip-off devices claiming to improve fuel economy. 99% of them do not work and many of them make it worse.

The only upgrades that actually work (that I can think of) are:

• PHEV upgrades for existing hybrids
• Aerodynamic upgrades
• Better tires with lower rolling resistance
• Engine block warmers for those with short trips

There are also some aftermarket hybrid kits I've seen that add a belt-driven parallel hybrid drivetrain to regular cars. You can imagine the improvement in fuel economy is probably marginal.

In my opinion, the best thing we could do with old gasoline cars is convert them to natural gas. It would actually be pretty simple if the manufacturers released the source code to the computer systems so they could be modified to handle natural gas.

 

[21miDay]

There are any number of scam artists out there trying to sell all kinds of rip-off devices claiming to improve fuel economy.

That is why I think it should come from the original manufacturer.

 

[davewill]

That is why I think it should come from the original manufacturer.

Original manufacturers want to sell NEW cars, not give old ones new life. They have no incentive...hell they can barely be bothered to improve the new cars.

 

[mitch672]

You can convert your own... For interesting webcasts try:

Http://www.evtv.me" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Jack Ricard is the man... They are currently finishing up a conversion of a GM Escalade (yup, you heard that right.. Complete with its 76KW pack, dual electric moors and controllers, and using the existing automatic transmission)

(whoops just noticed you said not converting them to EVs, oh well)

 

[21miDay]

whoops just noticed you said not converting them to EVs, oh well

Yeah, I'm thinking about the general public that isn't comfortable with something that far from the mainstream.