Kawasaki is working on a motorbike with hybrid tech & electric supercharger

All that whines & stustututu of a supercharged motor are about to gain more pitch.

Kawasaki is working on a motorbike with hybrid tech & electric supercharger

Last year Kawasaki has made a announcement that they're working on a hybrid machine. Recently, the company patents a design for a supercharger. We all know that high end Kawasaki motorbikes like H2, H2R, H2 SX & ZH2 are equipped with superchargers in which the compressor is driven by the engine's crank itself. But, this new patent is related something with electric that is a electrically driven supercharger along with a motor which is capable of driving both the bike and the impeller of the supercharger.

But as I said previously, its not like the patented idea should be released compulsorily. Maybe the manufacturer reserves the idea for the future. Recently, Kawasaki has also trademarked a name "E-BOOST" in their home turf for many uses including scooters & motorcycles. Now, this trademarked "E-BOOST" suits perfectly for a electronically assisted supercharger. First of all why we need super & turbochargers? For getting extra boost.. Right??? I mean, for sucking in more air and delivering fuel according to that to produce more combustion power. But any available superchargers these days are actuated with the help of engine's output power which also reduces the output efficiency of the engine slightly. In this article, let's see something about the patented pictures and what Kawasaki is really cooking under the roof of the factory.

Kawasaki is working on a motorbike with hybrid tech & electric supercharger

Kawasaki is working on a motorbike with hybrid tech & electric supercharger

As per the patent, there are totally three different parameters such as a conventional gasoline engine, supercharger and a electric motor. The output shaft of the electric motor is connected to the supercharger. The output shaft of the motor is also connected to the input shaft of the transmission system with the help of one way clutch. In normal hybrid mode, engine along with the motor propels the vehicle by driving the input shaft of the gearbox. In pure electric mode, a actuator disengages the main clutch of the engine thereby stopping the engine and allows the electric motor alone to propel the vehicle. In both the modes, batteries can be charged when the vehicle is decelerating which we calls as regenerative braking system. But, we have to notice one thing here. Unlike any other e-bikes, we can still able to change gears in the pure electric mode also.

In both the modes, the motor rotates at the speed about 5,500rpm or even slower and also runs the compressor in which the patent describes this as weak supercharging. When we need more boost, electric motor's clutch disengages from the input shaft of the gearbox in order to provide its max output to drive the supercharger that is from 6,000 - 15,000rpm. The above mentioned modes can be switched manually by the rider or automatically with the help of referring various parameters like engine's RPM, vehicle's speed and battery level. There are also chances for the manufacturer for testing a already built prototype. But, we have to be clear that all patented ideas must not be implemented for sure.

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