Heat Energy Recovery

When compared with traditional gasoline cars, plug-in hybrids, like the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug-in Hybrid and the 2013 Chevrolet Volt are already capable of astonishing gas mileage figures. But how do you make plug-in hybrids even more efficient? One answer is to add a larger traction battery pack, but the larger a battery pack, the heavier it is, meaning gas mileage can suffer. A team of researchers at the University of Stuttgart and the Ohio State University think they have another solution, however: waste heat recovery systems. Using waste exhaust heat to improve efficiency isn’t new...