As small-displacement turbocharged engines become increasingly commonplace, automakers are working hard to eliminate turbo lag.
In some cases, that means compound turbocharging—multi-turbo setups that pair small, fast-responding turbos with larger, high-pressure units.
For some automakers, even that isn’t enough. That is where electric superchargers come in.
Also, read :
- Why You Should Never Stop Turbocharged Engines After Driving?
- 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy A Turbocharged Car
- TURBOCHARGER: COMPONENTS, WORKING PRINCIPLES, AND TYPES
An electric supercharger performs the same function as an exhaust-driven turbo or an engine-driven supercharger, cramming high-pressure air into the engine’s intake to maximize power output.
But unlike a conventional turbo or supercharger, an electric blower responds instantaneously, eliminating the delay required to build up RPMs or exhaust flow.
YouTube’s Jason Fenske of Engineering Explained has an excellent breakdown of how these systems work.
Volvo and Mercedes both use electric supercharging in various applications; here, Fenske uses Audi’s electric-blower-plus-twin-turbo setup as his example.
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So why can’t you just slap an electric blower on your conventional car?
It turns out, incorporating an e-supercharger requires extremely complex engine management.
And building up a no-lag boost with an e-blower requires plenty of electric power—far more than your conventional car’s 12-volt system can provide.
Check out Jason’s full deep-dive into electric supercharging right here.
With systems like these, turbo lag could soon be a thing of the past.
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