Future motor vehicles & caravans maybe 36
In years to come, vehicle electrics may become more complex. It is intended that in the future motor vehicles may have 36 volt electrical systems (42 volt alternator regulation running voltage), there are many reasons why this is being considered, just to give a few;
Vehicle manufactures in the future must reduce materials used in manufacturing, this is due to saving the environment etc, so by upgrading motor vehicles to 36 volts the copper content within a vehicles wiring loom maybe reduced by up to two-thirds as ohms law says in simple terms; The higher the voltage the less amperage is required for the equivalent amount of power consumption (watts), in other words, the electrical wires within a vehicles wiring harness, in theory, would be allowed to be up to two-thirds thinner without the risk of electrical overload.
Another example; If air conditioning within a vehicle were to be totally electric and not powered by a running vehicle engine this would save the excess burning of vehicle fuel. We often see in summer time, motorists driving into a McDonald's drive through and obtaining a takeaway meal, then sitting in the car to consume said meal with the engine running to power the vehicles air conditioning.
If air conditioning was to be totally powered by electric with our current 12 volt vehicle electrical systems this would require somewhere in the region in my estimation of around 30 Amps electrical current. If this was to be powered from a 36 volt vehicle electrical system then the required estimated electrical current would be around 10 Amps, so running a vehicle's air conditioning with the engine terminated should be no problem for an hour or so.
It has been mentioned that in this scenario, when the vehicle's engine was restarted the alternator would have to work overtime to recharge the vehicle battery requiring more energy and fuel from the vehicle engine as the more electrical power an alternator produces the more energy is required to revolve the alternator's rotor. Highly qualified electrical & mechanical engineers have done their mathematical sums and say that introducing 36 volt vehicle electrical systems; all, including electrical air conditioning and power steering just to name a few, would be a saving to our environment.
One big positive in my estimation; In winter sub-zero conditions, a 36 volt vehicle electrical system would give much better vehicle cold starting as volts are the electrical unit of pressure.
Would like to hear your comments on what you may think about the posibility of 36 volt systems in the future, many thanks.
I'm not an electrical expert, I'm just plain Snowy.
Kind regards
Snowy