New Electrical systems using 42v??

[dschleicher]

I have heard rumors that the automotive industri is headed into using 42v for electrical systems in the future.

Is this true?

Why 42v?

 

[evelrod]

So I've been told. I wouldn't get too excited over it , even if the bugs are worked out, quite a ways off for everyday cars. Military vehicles and small aircraft have been using 24v systems forever, (50 or 60 years) as have many over the road diesel trucks. Passanger cars are still largely 12v. Higher voltage systems are on the horizon but JUST. Probably end up with some kind of hyprid multi voltage system to run both the engine and all the electronic gizmos.


Rod

 

[carnage]

42v is the voltage needed to charge a nominal 36v lead acid battery. (kindof like 12v is really 13.8 or 14.4)

 

[jons999]

Originally 42V systems were going to be adopted this year but they decided to push it back a little while longer. The reason for 42V systems is a good one. The higher the voltage that is used, the lower the current that is necessary to power accessories. Therefore if we switch to higher voltage systems they can use smaller gauge wires to carry the power since they don't need to pass as much current through them. If you've ever seen some of the wiring harnesses behind the dash of a fully loaded luxury vehicle you can see why we need to do this, those hundreds of wires take up a lot of space and there relativly heavy. If a manufacturer can remove 10 pounds of wires from there vehicles and gain .10 mpg, it might not seem like much, but to them it is a big deal. I think some high end foreign luxury cars are already using 42V systems and all the Hybrid cars are using 288V electrical systems, at least for the drive motors.

-Jon

 

[gcaudill]

You should look into the SAE 42v initiative. They have lots of information on how and why. Here is a link to papers.

http://www.sae.org/servlets/Inktomi...&ql=&jsp_name=simplesearch.jsp&qt=42v&x=2&y=8