real electric supercharger?

BlackVert · Feb 12, 2004

i'm thinking about designing an electric supercharger that would still be able to use the stock maf, computer, and injectors. i figure the stock maf/injectors could probably handle up to about 3 pounds of boost or so without needing to be modified.

if it doesn't cost too much, it may be worth it.

no, i'm not thinking about some stupid little fan or leaf blower thing; i'm thinking about a real blower, but powering it off the battery or maybe using another alternator to provide the juice it needs.

am i nuts?

302cobra97 · Feb 12, 2004

They have one it just came out. I saw it in a magazine i cant remeber which one. It has got to suck bad though its just a blowdryer for your car.

Dan_Soprano · Feb 12, 2004

Black96VertGT said:
i'm thinking about designing an electric supercharger that would still be able to use the stock maf, computer, and injectors. i figure the stock maf/injectors could probably handle up to about 3 pounds of boost or so without needing to be modified.

if it doesn't cost too much, it may be worth it.

no, i'm not thinking about some stupid little fan or leaf blower thing; i'm thinking about a real blower, but powering it off the battery or maybe using another alternator to provide the juice it needs.

am i nuts?

the fan motor you would need would be too large and draw too much juice to make it worth while.

JonJon · Feb 12, 2004

3#?
is that even worth it

billyfe390 · Feb 12, 2004

There is one out that uses batteries and drives a centrifugal style supercharger. The downside of it is your car charges the batteries which allows the charger to provide boost for only a short period of time like nitrous. I saw one of these systems at a car show last summer and it does work but it is only for small displacement engines I believe 200CI and under.

BlackVert · Feb 12, 2004

Dan_Soprano said:
the fan motor you would need would be too large and draw too much juice to make it worth while.

i'm talking about a real supercharger blower, but running it off an electric motor, probably hooked up to a dedicated alternator just for that.

JonJon said:
3#?
is that even worth it?

i am guessing it would add enough hp to be noticeable in the sotp.

if it could work with the stock computer, maf, and injectors, the cost could be kept pretty low. basically the cost of the blower plus maybe $100 for the other stuff. if it added 20 hp and was less than $500, then it might be worth it.

billyfe390 said:
There is one out that uses batteries and drives a centrifugal style supercharger. The downside of it is your car charges the batteries which allows the charger to provide boost for only a short period of time like nitrous. I saw one of these systems at a car show last summer and it does work but it is only for small displacement engines I believe 200CI and under.

how about if it got its juice from a dedicated alternator?

Dan_Soprano · Feb 12, 2004

Black96VertGT said:
i'm talking about a real supercharger blower, but running it off an electric motor, probably hooked up to a dedicated alternator just for that.

i am guessing it would add enough hp to be noticeable in the sotp.

if it could work with the stock computer, maf, and injectors, the cost could be kept pretty low. basically the cost of the blower plus maybe $100 for the other stuff. if it added 20 hp and was less than $500, then it might be worth it.

how about if it got its juice from a dedicated alternator?

You are still going to need a motor to run the impeller blades. it's going to cost you alot to buy, and fabricate another alternator setup to run the thing. Not trying to shoot you down bro, but I'm sure it's been tried before, and you don't see any on the market today that are worth anything or not a scam. There are engineers out there that are better with this stuff then any of us. If it was effective then it would be out there trust me. But hey, anything is possible. If you put your heart and mind into it then who knows.

NitroDuck · Feb 12, 2004

it takes too much electric draw to produce a pound or two of boost. if you add in another alternator then you're reworking the serpentine system, or adding another belt, just like a traditional supercharger does. so essentially it comes down to the addage that you get what you pay for. i'm sure you could create something that would work, but by the time you got it to produce as much boost as a base supercharger kit it would probably be as expensive and complicated as a traditional belt driven supercharger.

again, this is not a shutdown, just playing devil's advocate.

Slider · Feb 12, 2004

Ok, I understand what you are thinking, but you have over looked something. The concept of using a electric motor to drive a compressor is done all the time. The problem is that it requires a significant amout of power to creat any type of pressure that has enough CFM to produce power on a large 4.6L engine. I have heard that a centrifugal supercharger can require in excess of 50 hp to turn it. Do you know how big a 50hp electric motor is? In caase you don;t know it is huge. Now I have no quotable facts to back up how much hp is required, but do to the fact that electric supercharges are not every day items I would tend to believe it requires a noticable amount of hp. Since a fair amount of power is need, why bother with using electricity at all when you can attach the supercharger directly to teh power source, the engine. To run an electric super charger you would have to get a huge alternator/generator to make enough power to supply the electric motor in the supercharger. Basically, that means that you are adding to huge motors to you car since a generator is nothing more then a motor that generates power rather then absorbing it. In the end the only benefit to an electric super charger would be the fact that you can have boost all the time. However, a well designed supercharger running directly off the engine when coupled with a car that is properly geared will be just as fast. It is just 100x easier and more efficient to just drive the supercharger directly from the engine.

BlackVert · Feb 12, 2004

Slider said:
Ok, I understand what you are thinking, but you have over looked something. The concept of using a electric motor to drive a compressor is done all the time. The problem is that it requires a significant amout of power to creat any type of pressure that has enough CFM to produce power on a large 4.6L engine. I have heard that a centrifugal supercharger can require in excess of 50 hp to turn it. Do you know how big a 50hp electric motor is? In caase you don;t know it is huge. Now I have no quotable facts to back up how much hp is required, but do to the fact that electric supercharges are not every day items I would tend to believe it requires a noticable amount of hp. Since a fair amount of power is need, why bother with using electricity at all when you can attach the supercharger directly to teh power source, the engine. To run an electric super charger you would have to get a huge alternator/generator to make enough power to supply the electric motor in the supercharger. Basically, that means that you are adding to huge motors to you car since a generator is nothing more then a motor that generates power rather then absorbing it. In the end the only benefit to an electric super charger would be the fact that you can have boost all the time. However, a well designed supercharger running directly off the engine when coupled with a car that is properly geared will be just as fast. It is just 100x easier and more efficient to just drive the supercharger directly from the engine.

wow i didn't realize it would take that much power run it. the main idea was that it would be a direct bolt on without having to change all the things a normal supercharger install would require. you know, just force some more air in, but still use everything else stock (computer, maf, injectors).

CuddaWuddaShuda · Apr 4, 2004

I saw this issue addressed in a magazine once. It boils down to a physics problem... every time energy changes form, there's an efficiency loss. An electric supercharger would involve changing mechanical energy (from the crank) to electrical energy and then back again. That results in large efficiency losses, which is a big part of the reason this doesn't work.

But I have always wondered why electrical fans are more efficient? Couldn't one apply the same argument used against electrical superchargers to electrical fans? I have though a great deal about this, and I think the answer has something to do with the battery storing up electrical energy (something that's not possible with mechanical energy), and with the fact that the alternator can "make up" for the energy used by the fan at any time (not necessarily right when the fan is running). But does this mean that electrical fans are only more efficient if they cycle on and off? I don't think that's true.

If someone could enlighten me, I'd appreciate it. I strongly believe that electrical fans save power, and that an electrical supercharger is highly impractical. But in certain ways these arguments seem contradictory.

Dan_Soprano · Apr 4, 2004

Like I said a few months ago in this thread, the size of the fan you would need to produce the speen and torque needed to make the blower even a little practical would be too big and draw ALOT more current then the charging system of a vehicle could possibly provide.

real electric supercharger?

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