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http://www.graphics.cornell.edu/~v/pics/tph.jpg

What's that pump/blower looking thing in front of the oil dipstick? And that throttle body looking thing it's connected to?

I wonder where the other end goes?

Hmm... maybe it has to do with the cooling system. I know the Prius stores a bunch of hot coolant in an insulated container when the car is parked, and pumps it back into the engine at startup, thus greatly reducing the amount of time spent running the engine cold. Maybe this is something similar; it does kind of look like the throttle body looking thingie is about where the rear the water manifold would be.

I remember reading a blurb about it. I think it's some form of electric motor that is creating electricity....or at least that's what I read. I think it was posted over on the USMB. I'll see if I can find it, and post it over here.

Hmm. It looks to me like the electric motor is that thing that's where the torque converter usually goes -- the big orange power cable is going to the brushes and the outside of the flywheelish thingie would act as the commutator.

this is from the OUtback Mailing list .. thought i would pass it on

From: x@SUBARU.com
Subject: Subaru Hybrid Technology
Date: October 24, 2005 10:27:10 AM MDT

Hello,

Thanks for your message, and I sincerely apologize for the delay in
responding to your original inquiry. You are among a list of customers
that I needed to respond to regarding our hybrid technology, and I
simply hadn't taken the time to do so since receiving the new
corporate information last week. I appreciate your patience and
understanding. Hybrid vehicle development involves many new
technologies and design. Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), our
manufacturer, is currently developing alternative fuel engines for
future environmental measures, focusing on a compact and mid-sized
vehicle and aiming to commercialize it within the next few years.
While there are no specific dates or schedules available to us now,
please be assured that Fuji is currently working on advanced
technology vehicles.

For example, FHI recently released information on its two new
technological projects for future environmentally friendly vehicles:
one is the Turbo Parallel Hybrid (TPH), a revolutionary powertrain
system to be applied to a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) that the
company plans to experimentally launch in the Japanese market in 2007.
The other project is the Lithium-ion capacitor (Li-ion), which is
anticipated to broaden the possibilities for batteries for future
automobiles.

The TPH is a strategically important technology for the power source
of clean energy vehicles and will be incorporated with Subaru's core
technologies: the Horizontally-Opposed Engine and Symmetrical AWD
system. The TPH system places a thin, 10-kW motor generator between a
vehicle's engine and its automatic transmission. The combination of
the motor generator and the boxer turbo engine creates a system that
not only provides powerful and pleasurable driving in the mid-speed
ranges when the turbocharger is active, it also delivers excellent
acceleration and fuel economy in practical use.

In order to bring out even better driving performance from the TPH,
FHI is planning to equip the system with high-performance manganese
lithium-ion batteries, which are currently under development at NEC
Lamillion Energy Co., Ltd. That company was jointly established by NEC
and FHI in 2002 for development of secondary batteries.

FHI is committed to the development of power storage technologies as
the key to further promote the use of hybrid vehicles, fuel cell
vehicles and electric vehicles. The automaker recently indicated that
they are aiming to market a hybrid gasoline/electric car in 2007 using
a high-performance battery, which lasts with a target life of 15
years, or about nearly twice as long as those used in today's hybrid cars.

Just recently, Fuji Heavy Industries and Tokyo Electric Power Co.,
Inc. (TEPCO) announced the beginning of joint development of an
electric vehicle (EV). The two companies plan to spend approximately
one year designing and manufacturing the new EV for TEPCO's commercial
uses, basing it on the Subaru R1e concept car. FHI envisions that the
corporate fleet vehicle market is a promising growth area for EVs. By
accurately understanding the needs of such vehicles at TEPCO and
accumulating additional know-how, FHI will continue improvements on
EVs, strive to market them to other companies and expand the use of
EVs. The partners aim to develop less expensive and more efficient
technology to meet several conditions, including a minimum driving
range of 80 km (50 miles) and a recharging time of 15 minutes for 80
percent of the battery's capacity.

Not only does Fuji Heavy Industries recognize the importance of that
hybrid technology, they realize that clean air is just one component
of a clean environment. You might be interested to know that the
Subaru of Indiana Automotive (SIA) plant in Lafayette, Indiana has
worked hard to attain "zero landfill" status. In doing so, it has
become the first auto-manufacturing plant in the country to recycle or
re-use all of the waste that it generates. The paint sludge that used
to be thrown away is now dried to a powder and shipped to a plastics
manufacturer, which uses it in parking lot bumpers and guardrails.
Even the plant's burned-out fluorescent light tubes are ground up and
sent to a company that uses the glass in reflective striping for
highways. The small amount of waste that the plant generates is sent
to an incinerator where it helps to produce steam used to heat some of
Indianapolis downtown buildings. There are plans in the works to
reduce even this minor amount of refuse.

We appreciate that you took the time to inquire about our vehicles and
give us your comments. We hope that this information gives you more
insight as to our efforts in the hybrid area. Please feel free to
re-contact us in the future for updated information.

Sincerely,

x
Subaru of America, Inc.
Customer Dealer Services
E-Contact Team
__________________

Wow.

Cool, thanks for posting that, Josh.

So it looks like my guess about that thingie being the electric motor was correct... 10 kilowatts... that's just a little smaller than the motor used in the IMA Accord.

I love the idea of using AVCS to permit the Miller cycle with a turbo instead of a supercharger. Go Subaru! Hopefully this project will be successful and they'll go on to make much more aggresive hybrid drivetrains.

I stared at this thing with some other subie guys in Detroit last January. We made some assumptions, but no one could answer our questions...

Miller cycle with a turbo? Awesome!

I think that fan in the front just blows air through the electric bits to make sure they don't overheat. It looks like the air might also cool something that is not shown in the photo.

electric motors like an air stream because it blows away the little bits of carbon brushes and such that tend to build up. of course I don't even know if this electric motor has carbon brushes...

my wrx has the exact same cover over a little thinner housing. my guess is that it's part of the egr system. do i get a donut?

FG!! - Maybe, if you take some pictures to show us detail.

I got a picture. Can someone help with some hosting?

I does appear to be part of the cooling system now, most likely a water pump. There's a metal motor housing attached with a red/black heavy gauge connector. It's got a soft cooling hose attach. The hose tees off to two housings. It's mounted on some squishy vibration mounts. Made by denso.

email it to me, I'll host.

here's the pic
http://www.main.experiencetherave.com:8 ... _stuff.jpg

Hm. Can't see much in the picture... But, yeah, maybe it is something along the lines of what I was thinking.

Or maybe it actively pumps coolant through the turbo after you park?

Where do the hoses go on your car?

PM me an address for the donut.

Can't see much in real life either. The hoses terminate under the IC.

I'll buy a repair manual one of these days.