valhalla360 wrote:
For hill climbing, the low end torque won't help significantly. Climbing a hill, you should select a gear that keeps the engine in a range where it produces peak torque/HP.
Where the low end torque helps is in stop & go traffic starting from a standstill where the diesel has to wind up to get into it's peak torque range before it puts out it's rated torque.
More importantly, to provide 250hp for 30min would require a battery bank of around 1.5tons with standard deep cycle and 3/4 of a ton if you go with much more expensive lithium batteries.
Quite true (although no one in their right mind would suggest using Pb batteries in a modern hybrid system). Of course, after spending 20 minutes using batteries to get extra power while climbing the hill, you then recharge them on the downside. What's the advantage? You can then use a smaller, more efficient, engine. (If they do run out, you just climb slower.)
It's hard to say exactly how many HP I'm using when climbing (there's no meter in the car for that) but I suspect it's usually substantially less than the engine's rated maximum of 266hp.
The only time I really have to wind up the engine is when climbing a 9.5 percent grade with the trailer. I do that climb once a year and it only takes about 5 minutes.
