Peugeot tests Israeli range-extender technology in electric car push
PSA Group is preparing to test battery-powered cars that recharge with an on-board generator, industry sources said, as the French carmaker hunts for a breakthrough in mass-market electric vehicles to catch rivals Toyota and Renault-Nissan...
Aquarius Engines, an Israeli startup, said a major European carmaker had agreed to fund further development and road tests of its single-piston generator design, declining to identify the customer. But Paris-based PSA, the maker of Peugeot, Citroen and DS cars, confirmed its involvement...
In a rethink of engine fundamentals, Aquarius has pared the range extender down to a single piston that blasts to and fro inside a valveless 600cc cylinder, generating power from electromagnetic coils with each stroke. It delivers more than twice the overall energy efficiency of a typical combustion engine, according to simulations by German engineering firm FEV...
According to Aquarius, several prototype vehicles using its free-piston generator will be road-tested by the carmaker client early in 2017.
At an estimated $17,000 per vehicle, costs should undercut both conventional hybrids that come in closer to $25,000 and pure-electrics at around $40,000, the private company projects...