First, This is just me wishing for a new lightning but it could happen.
I have been doing research on the new hydraulic hybrid system that is supposed to be introduced by ford in 2008. UPS has already started test driving hybrid trucks http://www.nytimes.com/2006/06/25/au...erland&emc=rss and this article got me to thinking. It says "The U.P.S. van has four "accumulator tanks" of 22 gallons each which can be pressurized as high as 5,000 pounds. When fully charged, the system holds 2,000 horsepower-seconds of energy or 100 horsepower over 20 seconds." Although the UPS truck can hold more tanks, an F-150 could probably hold 3/4 of that and be good for 75 horsepower over 20 seconds(maybe more as time goes on). SVT could also install the supercooler that was on the concept lightning that was good for 40 - 50 horsepower for over 20 seconds. All of this put around the new DOHC 5.4 in the Shelby would make for one hell of a fast stock truck that would get better gas mileage(when your not racing) than most V-6 sedans. It would be the best of both worlds with approximately 625 HP stock.

 

and probably heavy as *****! i don't know what is in the tanks, but water weights 8.33 lbs. per gallon, so it would potentially add 733 lbs. or more.

 

Some test vehicals have used nitrogen gas with a fluid which would be lighter in comparison to the whole tank being full of water. It will still be heavy do to everything else, but if the HP is high enough to compensate for the extra pounds it can be a high performace truck, that is fun as hell to drive, that will save you money at the pump.

 

I don't know about you guys, but this, "At the introduction of the U.P.S. truck, Eaton announced that by next year it would commercialize a related technology, a "hybrid launch assist," which could be retrofitted on existing vehicles. It would capture braking energy and deliver it to the wheels again when it was time to accelerate." got me wet in my pants. I've got 10g's in my F150...and I would love to be able to retrofit it with this system so I can drive it more without feeling guilty (for not driving my effficient focus).

 

Interesting idea, but those heavy tanks and the fluid are only the means to store the energy. You still have to have heavy duty (which means heavy) hydraulic motors for the drive system in addition to the traditional motor to drive the hydraulic pump that drives these motors and fill the surge tanks. A few gallons of fuel or a bottle of NOS weighs a lot less and takes up a lot less space.

In addition, Hydraulic drive systems are extremely inefficient. On the order of 30-50% at best vs 85% for traditional gear type drive systems. That's why you see the new hydrostatic drive type lawn mowers with 20+ hp engines that don't perform as well as the 10hp mechanical drive ones. However, I will say that they are smoother and tend to be more reliable, due to less drive impact and fewer mechanical connections.

 

It's actually called "Hydraulic Launch Assist." Ford has it on the Yellow 350 "Tonka" truck Toby Keith drove in a commercial awhile back. My brother-in-law works at the University of Idaho where they've implemented the same technolgy in the small SUV (Ford Explorer). As a matter of fact, they are putting the HLA on their towing vehicle. Mitsubishi uses the technology on city busses. Here is more news on Ford's use of the HLA:

http://www.designnews.com/article/CA220671.html