"Tiffani" wrote in message ...


Jim Weir wrote:

So why was there 12 volts to begin with? Because Detroit started making
cars
with a much higher compression ratio and to turn the starters over, the
old 6
volt batteries weren't cutting it. Bingo. Two 6 volters in series
gives 12
volts and that was close enough for Detroit gummint work.

Actually the auto industry is moving to a 42 volt system in the future to
handle
increasing electrical requirements, plus more accessories (e.g. oil pump)
may be
electric in the future. Where can you find more information on this?
Why
http://www.42volt.org of course.


A 42V DC? shock could be pretty bad. The new Toyota Prius uses 273V for the
traction motor, but that is very local to the hybrid system. Maybe a low
voltage higher frequency AC system might be a solution as someone suggested
earlier in the thread. Conversion efficiencies are pretty good these days
with more advanced controllers. Then individual components could step up the
voltage and convert to higher DC voltages as needed.