I've also been thinking about my hybrid project.
A. Today's engines were built for stationary and marine applications not automobiles. We've never had an engine that was designed for handling transient loads just steady state loads.
B. Cheap fuel retards innovation.
C. Grinding brake pads up to stop pisses me off. It gets dust everywhere and its wasteful.
D. Vehicles need two engines one for the high loads and one for the low and idling loads.
E. Brake recovery should be handled by the front wheels mostly with a hydraulic accumulator. A flywheel generator could be connected to the rear wheels as a supplement and when conditions allow. The brakes could also power the compressed air tank for the engine which uses Variable Valve actuation.
1. Get a ’02 Duramax four wheel drive pickup.
2. Put in a two wheel drive standard transmission.
3. Design a Steam Hydraulic Waste Heat and Brake Recovery (SHWHBR) Unit in the differential cradle. This will be lighter than the transfer case which is no longer needed to drive the front wheels. The SHWHBR has a small steam engine that's connected to the front differential with an inner shaft. The outer shaft is also connected to the front differential and its connected to a hydraulic pump. Two clutches connect and disconnect hydraulic and or steam power to the differential. The two prime movers are sandwiched together.
4. a.There power sources will be a diesel fuel combustor for when the vehicle is idling with the A/C or cement mixer on. This will make heat for the steam engine which in turn could power the hydraulic pump for short trips without starting the main engine. Warming the main engine up will also be its function. b. Waste engine heat from the main engine. C. Kinetic energy from the wheels when stopping.