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keynsham1 said:Going back to the lights issue, the only source of energy a car has is petrol. All other forms come from burning it (potential energy, kinetic energy, etc) So it follows that whatever you do, whether it is putting lights on (electrical power is required) or leaving the window open (more aerodynamic drag), you will use more petrol.
True, but there are more efficient ways to get the energy you need, and there are a lot of losses involved in some of the conversions. All the heat we have to dissipate in the rad, exhaust and brakes is all wasted energy, plus we use even more energy to get rid of the heat by running the fan and water pump etc.
Regenerative braking helps to prevent loads on the alternator by charging the battery rather than generating heat in the brake disks. How about installing a steam turbine to generate electricity from the heat of the exhaust manifold ?