Jamie Holmes is a reporter for WPTV in West Palm Beach Florida. Back in July, he tested a local company's Hydro 4000 device by having it installed on his TV SUV. The test results showed the truck was getting 9.4mpg before installation of the hydro 400 and 23.2 after installation. That's over double. But there was some question about the mechanical condition of the van since the 9.4mpg was below the manufacturer rating. So a new test was devised with the help of Florida Atlantic University's Dr. Amir Abtahi. This time around on a 2001 Chevy Tahoe, the test took the vehicle from 11.8 mpg to 13 mpg.
I think this is a great story whose relevance is that is shows more research is needed. The makers of the Hydro 4000 say they are going to submit to govt testing soon. That's fantastic if true.
My opinion is that a test needs to be done that simulates typical driving loads for both city and highway driving. If end users are reporting more torque, this implies they are probably also accelerating more with these devices which in turn reduces fuel efficiency. I believe a test should identify to like vehicles of the same make/model. Calibrate both vehicles using the dynamometer to make sure they both have approx the same MPG. Then install an hho generator on one unit and rerun the tests. Again, do this for city and highway loads.
Eventually, this type of scientific analysis is going to be done. What these universities should be doing is applying to the National Science Foundation for research grants to do the tests correctly.
No comments:
Post a Comment