Original subtitles

[car engine revving]

- [Narrator] From a fire-breathing

fastest cars on land,

[car engine revving]

and some of the most extreme engines on water,

to the cutting edge technology

of today's hybrid automobiles,

horsepower has defined the way we move for two centuries.

Is there really the power of 200 horses under your hood?

Find out now, as we rev up our maximum horsepower

on "Modern Marvels."

[car engine revving]

[upbeat music]

[exhaust pipe powering]

For some, faster has always been better.

[exhaust pipe powering]

- Speed's very addictive.

It can make you do things that some normal people

wouldn't wanna do.

- When they step on the accelerator pedal,

[car engine revving]

they want the vehicle to move.

They want it to go fast.

They want a feel of raw horsepower.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] And nowhere can you find more raw horsepower

than on a Sunday afternoon at the Drag strip.

[car engine revving]

These are among the fastest accelerating vehicles

on the planet.

Top fuel Dragsters and their counterparts known as

Funny cars can walk at the speeds

of more than 300 miles per hour

[car engine revving]

while scorching a quarter mile track in under five seconds.

They are powered by supercharged engines

of up to 11,000 horsepower.

[car engine revving]

In the recent history of this testosterone field of sport,

one of the top handlers of horsepower is a woman.

Former Drag racer, Melanie Troxel.

- A car doesn't know whether there's a male

or female in the seat,

it's, you know, equal all the way around

for all the drivers.

[car engine revving]

when you're talking 330 miles an hour, 8,000 horsepower.

I mean, it's such an animal these cars.

[car engine revving]

everything out here is about horsepowers, speed,

elapsed time, it all stems down to horsepower.

- [Narrator] Astonishingly, once stripped of their massive

air take funnels and exhaust pipes.

At their core, these engines aren't much different

than those of the high-performance

eight cylinder sports cars on the road today.

The difference is what goes into the engine.

[fuel pouring]

- The secret to making between seven and 8,000 horsepower

on one of these eight-cylinder engines is the fuel.

We pour nitromethane into the fuel tank.

We distribute it with a mass of a fuel pump into the engine.

We put the air into the engine through an injector,

which has got a supercharger under it.

It sucks all the air into the engine.

We mix those two in each cylinder.

We light it with a big magneto,

and that's what makes all the power.

[car engine revving]

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Nitromethane is like gasoline on steroids.

To give it an explosive boost,

the fuel supplies its own oxygen atoms

to make it burn at an accelerated rate.

[upbeat music]

15 pounds of air is needed to burn one pound of gasoline.

Nitro needs less than two pounds of air

to burn one pound of fuel.

[upbeat music]

This means eight times more nitromethane

can be pumped into a cylinder.

The more fuel burned, the higher the horsepower.

[car engine revving]

In one quarter mile, five-second run,

a Dragster will burn up to 15 gallons of nitro.

That's a 60th of a mile per gallon.

If you're looking for a fuel economy, this isn't it.

- Nitromethane over the years

has proven to be a very powerful fuel.

We've learned to tame it and put it into these engines

to make the maximum amount of horsepower

with the air ratio that we have.

- [[Narrator] But nitromethane is also extremely volatile.

[dramatic music]

As Melanie Troxel discovered when her engine exploded

during a race.

[dramatic music]

Luckily she escaped without injury and even won the race.

[dramatic music]

In their heyday, Drag racers like Melanie

and Tommy Johnson Jr. backed up their bravado

by harnessing as much horsepower as possible.

But oddly, like a lot of us,

they have trouble defining what horsepower actually is.

[upbeat music]

- Horsepower is a tough question to answer.

- Well, it's the power of one horse, right?

[horse neighing]

- Most people don't realize it,

but there is an exact definition of a horsepower,

which is 33,000 foot pounds per minute.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] If you didn't quite get that, don't worry,

just remember that horsepower is work done over time.

[upbeat music]

- I've got about a hundred of you under my hood, yeah.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] But you may wonder where the horse comes in.

[upbeat music]

In the late 1700s,

James Watt was the struggling inventor

of a new type of steam engine,

[upbeat music]

and also a savvy salesman.

- And since his customers were basically

using horses to do their work,

he needed to be able to tell his customers,

"Look, I have a steam engine here,

that'll replace two of your horses or four of your horses."

In order to do that

he had to actually go out and watch a horse.

- [Narrator] There are a few theories

about how James Watt created the concept of horsepower.

According to the most popular one,

he observed a horse on a grinding mill wheel.

It was something like a horse on a device we know today,

a hot walker used to cool down horses after a workout.

However, the horse Watt saw met resistance

when connected to the grinding wheel.

Watt calculated that the horse pulled

with a force of 180 pounds.

He multiplied that by the horse's speed,

which he determined to be 181 feet per minute.

[upbeat music]

After rounding up the number,

Watt arrived at nearly 33,000 pounds.

Lifted one foot per minute.

And voila, he defined horsepower as worked done over time.

How does this translate into horsepower for a car engine?

[upbeat music]

Here's how it works.

An internal combustion engine

ignites a combination of fuel and air.

The explosion drives a piston downward.

The pistons movement turns the crank shaft.

The amount of turning force on the crank shaft

is known as torque.

An example of torque

is when a wrench is used to loosen a nut.

The more force or torque applied to the nut,

the easier it is to unfasten.

So horsepower is the turning force of torque

measured in foot pounds,

combined with a number of crankshaft rotations per minute.

This is work done over time.

And again, one engine generated horsepower

equals 33,000 foot pounds per minute.

[man closes jacket zip]

How do human stack up in horsepower generation?

[man panting heavily]

The average person can sustain only about

1/10 horsepower when riding a bicycle.

Even world-class cyclists have their limit.

- When we get tired, we go slower

and eventually come to a stop.

[man panting heavily]

We just don't have the stamina.

We don't have the endurance of a mechanical machine.

[upbeat music]

- Mechanical horsepower became a key selling point

for many car makers, from the early 1900s

with a Ford model T at 10 horsepower.

[playful music]

[horse neighing]

To the muscle cars of the '50s

[playful music]

like the 283 horsepower Corvette

to today's Bugatti Chiron, and a monstrous 1,578 horsepower.

The car industry has sold customers

an ever increasing amounts of horsepower.

[car engine revving]

And yet, there was a problem.

From the beginning,

manufacturers measured their own horsepower.

So who was keeping the auto industry honest?

[upbeat music]

In 1917, an organization called

the Society of Automotive Engineers or SAE

provided a set of horsepower testing standards.

[upbeat music]

- Back in the early days,

they used a very different process from company to company,

from tester to tester.

What SAE standards tried to do

was to establish one formal way of running the test.

- [Narrator] From its inception until today,

the SAE has tried diligently to make horsepower

a measurement car buyers can believe in.

[upbeat music]

- We look at horsepower.

If a number is stated as SAE certified power,

that customer has a level of assurance

that that's the real number as tested,

and as tested properly.

- Here at a General Motors facility

outside Detroit, Michigan,

technicians are testing an engine

to ensure it performs up to the 310 horsepower

they'll advertise to the public.

Millions of dollars are ridding on the results.

- It's a little nerve wracking.

There's a lot of responsibility involved

and there's a lot of things at stake.

So I hope everything runs smoothly.

And I look forward to running it.

- [Narrator] An instrument known as a dynamometer

is used to measure the horsepower of the engine.

[car engine powering]

- The engine is mounted to the test stand.

It is then connected through a drive shaft

to our engine dynamometer.

The dynamometers is what actually measures

the output of the engine measures in horsepower.

The parameters of the dynamometer are then measured

and recorded in the engine control room.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The dynamometer measures horsepower

by recording the torque and rotations of the crankshaft.

The crankshaft is attached

to a rotor inside the dynamometer.

As the rotor spins, an electromagnetic field

makes the outside hole of the dynamometer

want to turn in the opposite direction.

To measure torque, an arm exerts resistance force

on the dynamometer hole, keeping it from turning.

- Out here on the outside

we have the dynamometer torque arm.

The torque arm is nothing more than a load measuring device.

This load cell down here at the bottom

measures the force exerted,

which resists the twisting of the dynamometer

as it measures the power.

- [Narrator] Car manufacturers still test their own engines.

But since 2005, SAE has required that horsepower tests

be carried out under the watchful eye

of an official witness

if a manufacturer wants to earn the society certification.

General Motors does this on a voluntary basis.

[indistinct chatters]

- I'm the conscience of the manufacturer.

I'm ensure that the test is run correctly,

according to the procedure.

And that's the certified numbers

will be the numbers that will be reaching the public.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] With everything in place,

this all important test begins.

- Everything looks pretty good,

and we're ready to start the test.

Let's go.

[car engine running]

- [Narrator] Only a few minutes into the test,

technicians detect a problem

and stop the procedure to investigate.

- A slight rattle at certain speeds, which isn't normal.

Could be a loose pin, something wrong with the prop.

- With a witness watching,

the GM engineers need to fix the problem fast.

- After inspecting the prop shaft,

we noticed that the guard was a little bit loose.

We then made sure all the bolts were tightened

on the prop shaft, make sure all the bolts are tight,

and now we're ready to go.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] With the problem solved, the test continues.

[upbeat music]

For the next five hours,

the engine undergoes an exhaustive examination.

- Okay, that was the last test point.

Everything looks good.

You gotta go ahead and start the engine shut down sequence.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] With the test completed, the question is,

did the engine make the targeted 310 horsepower

the manufacturer wants to claim?

It's a tense time as the engineers and the witness

pour over their calculations.

- It was a valid test.

All the test parameters were within spec.

We have good horsepower numbers.

So it was a valid engine power tests then we can certify.

[upbeat music]

- Thank you very much.

- [Narrator] This is just one of the many engines

General Motors has tested under SAE standards.

[upbeat music]

They are three-ton boat-beast, careening across the water

at speeds exceeding 200 miles per hour.

[dramatic music]

Their powerful turbine engines

generate up to 3000 horsepower.

This is the world of hydroplane racing.

[dramatic music]

[Dave zips up his jacket]

Dave Vilwock holds one of the world's

Hydroplane speed records at 220 miles per hour.

[dramatic music]

- These are a 3000 horsepower bucking Bronco.

Everything about it's difficult to control.

And a lot of times you're not in control.

[hydroplane engine revving]

We just try to do the best we can. [dramatic music]

- [Narrator] Since the 1980s, most hydroplane races

have been won by boats using a turbine engine

originally designed for Vietnam era Chinook helicopters.

These craft half skim, half fly

across the surface of the water.

Only the propeller is underwater

as they throttle to full speed.

- A hydroplaned is part airplane, part boat.

On my right foot we have a throttle pedal

that controls the engine throttle.

[pedal beeping]

On the left side, we have a flight control pedal,

which controls a forward flap,

that made or makes the boat go up or down.

[hydroplane engine revving]

So we're flying the boats like we would an airplane,

just very, very close to the water, hopefully.

- [Narrator] Hydroplane racing is a summer sport.

[hydroplane engine revving]

[dramatic music]

During the off season,

the boats and engines go through a complete overhaul.

[upbeat music]

At the turbine engine warehouse near Seattle Washington,

this engine is fired up to assess that all 3000 horsepower

will function for the next season.

[turbine engine powering]

They don't call them thunder boats for nothing.

The extreme noise is deafening,

although it may sound like a jet engine,

it doesn't provide thrust, but rather rotation.

- We have rotors that are spinning

anywhere from 18,000 revolutions per minute to 15,000

revolution per minute for the power turbines.

[turbine engine powering]

The turbine engine makes horsepower in four stages,

intake, compression, combustion, and exhaust.

That makes a very efficient engine.

[suspenseful music]

- [Narrator] In stage one, the turbine engine takes an air

at 300 cubic feet per second.

[energetic music]

Stage two, the air goes through a compressor

which pressurizes it to 90 pounds per square inch.

Stage three, the air is combined with fuel in the burner can

and is ignited.

And finally stage four, the supercharged hot gases

spin the main turbine assembly.

- This is the power turbine assembly.

This is where the horsepower is made.

Hot gases that are about 1500 degrees Fahrenheit

push on all these little blades.

There's lots of gas, lots of little blades.

This wheel is just like a pinwheel.

All these little blades are at an angle.

It spins this power turbine assembly,

15,330 revolutions per minute.

It turns the shaft the same speed.

The shaft is attached to the propeller,

which pushes the race boat forward.

And that's what gives the hydroplane

its tremendous speed and horsepower.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] But all this explosive horsepower,

you might think the engine needs highly combustible fuel.

[dramatic music]

- Everybody thinks that we use exotic fuels

in these engines, but we don't.

What we have is basically home heating oil,

which is essentially kerosene.

[upbeat music]

We use kerosene because they're very stable fuel,

the risk of fire in the boat is very low.

And also we can extract a lot of energy

out of every gallon of fuel versus a lot of other fuels.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] It's one thing to harness 3000 horsepower

on land, but it's quite another

on the ever-changing surface of water.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] Drivers are put to the ultimate test.

- You're essentially an accident waiting to happen

when you're going so fast,

you cover a football field in a second.

So when you're looking for something to happen,

you're looking way down the track.

- [Narrator] Ken Muscatel is a hydroplane driver

who lost his battle with horsepower

in a spectacular crash.

[audience indistinct chatter]

- The boat was going good, about 185, not super fast.

And all of a sudden it just starts lifting

and it's not coming down and it goes higher and higher

and higher.

Probably, it ended up 60 feet in the air,

flew all the way around 360, land on it's tail,

slapped down back on the water, broke the boat in half,

but it was kept going, so I had to shut it off,

and I just waited for people to come.

[audience indistinct chatter]

I felt lucky, lucky to be alive.

[audience indistinct chatter]

Lucky not to be hurt and still disappointed

because we weren't going to be able to race the boat.

[energetic music]

- [Narrator] With all the speed and danger,

have hydroplanes reached the outer limits of horsepower?

[energetic music]

- Bottom line is, in the future of hydroplane racing

I see more technology

[turbine engine powering]

more power,

[turbine engine powering]

faster race boats.

[hydroplane engine revving]

- [Narrator] But high horsepower on water

doesn't always mean high speed.

It can also determine sheer muscle.

The motorboat engine operating at around 90 horsepower

can hold your average water skier,

but for the heaviest loads on earth,

you need a heavy duty engine.

One of the most powerful diesel engines in the world

when it first launched, the Wartsila RTA96-C

Has an astounding 95,000 horsepower.

[energetic music]

This behemoth was designed to power mammoth ships

like the 72,000 ton cargo container ship

originally built by the Cosco Shipping Company.

Manufactured in Korea, the Wartsila engine is 76 feet long

and 44 feet high, as large as a three story house.

- I've been working on big engines all my life.

This is the biggest,

it's amazing.

It's a challenge.

It's a lot of horsepower to look after.

It's a big engine, massive.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The total engine weight is 2300 tons.

[energetic music]

The crankshaft alone weighs 300 tons.

It's over 1000 times more powerful than many car engines.

Each of the Wartsila's 12 cylinders

delivers 8,000 horsepower.

- This is a spare piston for this main engine.

It's 20 feet tall and it weighs five and a half tons.

Just imagine this piston

moving up and down the engine 102 times per minute.

That's incredible.

- [Narrator] Inside the 12-assembly units

where the pistons are connected to the crankshaft,

technicians inspect the engine parts.

Running at full power,

the Wartsila would be far too dangerous

to approach this close.

So it slowed down to a fraction of its normal speed.

- We are slowly turning the engine at the moment,

just to give you an idea of this massive piece of steel

coming up, driven from the pistons.

When this machine is on operation,

you will never be able to stand in this area.

- [[Narrator] However, using time-lapse photography,

we're able to speed up the process

and bring the engine to life.

With each stroke of the five and a half ton assembly,

it covers more than eight feet.

These enormous massive metal drives the crank shaft,

which generates the 95,000 horsepower.

[energetic music]

The engine consumes up to 250 tons of fuel a day.

It can propel this massive vessel at up to 24 knots.

A blazing speed for a container ship this size.

[upbeat music]

- This gives you a feeling like a car driver.

If he has a fast car on a good road without speed limit

where you can use this horsepowers.

So it's a nice feeling.

- [Narrator] Because of the rising demand

for global shipping,

bigger and faster ships are sure to follow.

[upbeat music]

Propulsion isn't the only use for tremendous horsepower.

It's also harnessed to generate electric power.

When the lights go out,

people's lives depend on these monstrous engines.

[upbeat music]

Welcome to Waukesha, Wisconsin,

a tranquil unassuming town in middle America.

However, it's also home to incredible horsepower.

[upbeat music]

Here at Waukesha Engine.

- Many people have maybe never heard the name

of Waukesha Engine, but it's out there producing power

throughout the world.

- [Narrator] Today Waukesha Engine

uses its Wisconsin facility for research and development,

but not long ago, this one million square foot factory

had more than 800 workers, design, build, and ship,

mammoth engine generators

that deliver essential electric power around the globe.

Waukesha Engines are painted bright orange

and roar while operating.

These features have earned them the nickname,

thunder pumpkin's.

Among these is the Advanced Power Generation system

or APG 3000, which produces 4,400 horsepower.

[upbeat music]

- Waukesha Engines are about horsepower, pure and simple.

The way that we get that horsepower

is we throw a lot of iron at it.

The pistons are bigger. The block is bigger.

The connecting rod, everything just bigger, beefier

to handle the durability and reliability

that the customer's demand.

In a blackout, a portable seven-horsepower generator

can help get the lights back on.

But a bigger outage requires a vastly bigger engine.

This APG engine is 11 feet high and 25 feet long

and weighs in at a massive 40 tons.

[upbeat music]

It's a big engine with an even bigger job to perform.

- The customers that buy these engines

are in very critical applications.

And a lot of places, we are their only source of electricity

being it in foreign countries

where there is no electrical grid,

be it in hospitals where if there's a power outage,

they cannot go down because people's lives often depend

on these engines operating reliably

for as long as they can.

- [Narrator] These engines use an internal combustion system

that employees pistons connected to a crankshaft

much like in a car.

Besides the size, the biggest difference is the fuel.

Instead of gasoline, the APG runs on natural gas.

- Natural gas is a very clean burning fuel

and very friendly to the environment,

much more so than gasoline.

It's very plentiful around the world in remote locations.

So it's easily available.

- [Narrator] The APG can draw natural gas

straight from ground deposits,

or even draw methane gas from a garbage landfill.

It always has a steady supply of power

and never has to be refueled.

This combination of engine and generator

is known as an enginator.

- The enginators are designed to last for years and years.

Most of the major components lasts

for the lifetime of the engine.

- [Narrator] Construction of the APG begins

when raw stock from an iron foundry is delivered.

It'll take up to four weeks before the 8,700 pound

crank case and 3,700 pound crank shaft

reach what is known as engine tolerance.

- Tolerances are how close these parts fit together.

They have to seal a lot of pressure from combustion

and there's a lot of moving parts.

And because you're going through so many cycles,

it's important that their fit be extremely close.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] The crankshaft is hold

onto a computerized lathe

where almost a quarter of its size will be shaved off.

[dramatic music]

- We'll be removing 600 pounds from his crankshaft

as it's processed on the line,

we'll be finishing those diameters

down to the width of a human hair.

We need his exacting tolerance

in order for the engine operate properly in the field.

- [Narrator] The main part of the engine,

the crank case undergoes a process known as machining

in which computer assistant cutting tools,

drill cylinders for the pistons

that will eventually be installed.

- We machine off over 1500 pounds

to get that piece of iron into the dimensions

that we require for quality.

- [Narrator] The 42-pound pistons

also go through the machining process

until they shine light Jewels.

[upbeat music]

- These are aluminum pistons, and we machine them

they get the shiny appearance,

but don't let that fool you.

When these are an operation in the engine

is a very harsh environment.

When you have this combustion,

this huge explosion that goes on in this cylinder,

this piston has to withstand that pressure,

which can be as high as 2000 pounds per square inch.

And that's what creates your horsepower

that's transmitted off the crankshaft.

- [Narrator] When all the main engine parts

are ready for assembly, they're placed on a rollover.

It's something like an enormous engine rotisserie.

- On the rollover that you see on the assembly line,

where the crank cases first made it with the crankshaft

and the other major components,

you're really looking at the birth of an engine.

That's where it all comes together.

And that's where it starts its life.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The last stage for the APG engine

is a break in test.

- It's a five-hour test.

We gradually increased the speeds and loads.

This allows us to break in the components.

Remember there's many tight tolerances

that need to be carefully broken in

so the product will last a long time.

- [Narrator] And maybe there's still great horsepower

to come from these Waukesha giants.

- Horsepower will get higher in steps,

but in order to get there,

the engineers will have to look at things

such as new metals, new controls,

new emissions technologies,

to get that horsepower up to say 15 to 20% higher

out of the same weight of iron.

- [Narrator] Although technology promises

to squeeze more horsepower from gas-fueled engines,

This is the Falcon Heavy rocket ship by SpaceX.

Its engines generate over 5 million pounds of

thrust to take off.

Capable of lifting eighteen 747 aircrafts.

But that pales in comparison to the most powerful engine,

ever built, the Saturn V rocket.

[suspenseful music]

This behemoth flew a generation ago

and sent American astronauts to the moon.

The Saturn V produced 7.5 million pounds of thrust,

which converts to an unbelievable

160 million horsepower.

[energetic music]

This enormous horsepower

was used to break the bonds of gravity.

But if we turn the equation around,

gravity itself can be used

to unleash an astronomical amount of horsepower.

At Hoover Dam on the Nevada Arizona border,

falling water has been harnessed

to produce more than 2 million horsepower.

[upbeat music]

- Water is heavy, and when gravity tries to pull water down

I think about 3,200 cubic feet per second

dropping from the top of Hoover Dam to the base of the dam,

and most people can see that

that's kind of like the energy of a freight train.

[dramatic music]

[explosion]

- [Narrator] Completed in 1936,

Hoover Dam stands at 726 feet,

and it's still the tallest concrete dam

in the Western hemisphere.

[dramatic music]

- It's 45 feet thick at the top.

It gets a little bit thicker at the base.

It is 660 feet thick at the base,

thicker than two football fields long.

3,250,000 cubic yards of concrete in the dam.

And it weighs in at a 6.6 million tons.

Enough concrete to make a two lane highway

from San Francisco to New York city.

- [Narrator] By holding back the mighty Colorado River,

the dam generated Lake Mead

which has close to 500 feet deep

and holds over 9 trillion gallons of water.

- The big picture is the water starts out in Lake Mead,

high up on this structure, right near the top.

The deeper down in that water we go,

the higher the pressure.

We deliver the water to the turbines

at a pressure of 250 pounds per square inch.

[dramatic music]

- [Narrator] At the bottom of Hoover Dam

are 17 reaction turbines.

Each turbine produces between 150 and 180,000 horsepower.

- The way a turban works

is like one of the old fashioned sprinklers

that brings the water up the center column,

and then across the top of the sprinkler,

when the water shoots out of the angled nozzles,

the sprinkler spins the other way,

and that's identical to a reaction turbine.

- [Narrator] A massive steel and copper shaft

delivers the horsepower from the turbines spinning below

to the generator, which produces the electricity.

- I'm standing on top of a generator.

This generator raised 1.2 million pounds,

and you can see it spinning.

That shaft is spinning 180 RPM

or three times per second.

So as you watch that shaft spin,

you're watching the top end of 1.2 million pounds

of rotating copper and steel.

The purpose of this generator that we're standing on

is to convert that horsepower

and the water that's flowing into the turbine

into electricity so that we can send that electricity

out on the wires to our customers in the cities.

- [Narrator] The horsepower that drives the generators

can produce more than 2000 megawatts of electrical power

at full capacity.

- That's enough to power anywhere from 300,000 homes

to a million homes.

- Most of our electricity

actually goes to Southern California.

We're one of the main reasons that Los Angeles

is able to keep its lights on.

- [Narrator] Thanks to horsepower created

by falling water, the city of angels glitters.

[tap water spilling]

But to quench the thirst of Los Angeles,

California requires enormous horsepower

to drive water in the opposite direction.

- It's called the big lift.

And what it does is it moves that water 2000 feet,

a third of a mile over the Tehachapi Mountains.

- [Narrator] The Edmundston Pumping Plant,

North of Los Angeles moves 2 billion gallons of water a day.

It's the largest water lifting system in the world.

- The plan essentially takes the water

and through 14 pumps at 80,000 horsepower for each motor,

pumps the water over the mountain range.

[upbeat music]

- But why expend all that power to lift water?

- Oh, the problem is in the Northern portion of the state,

we get a lot of rainfall and the Southern part of the state

we don't have much rainfall.

In addition, there's a lot of people in Southern California

hence the need to deliver the water

from the North to the South.

- [Narrator] Before a drop of his water

falls from a tap in Los Angeles,

[water dripping]

it must travel more than 600 miles

through a labyrinth of federal, state

and regional water systems.

- It is here, bam, that the water hits a dead end,

and we've got to get that water over those mountains.

And to do that, we'll utilize the big lift.

- The water begins its big lift upward

at the base of the pumping plant.

- This is the four bay, the size of a football field

where all the water accumulates and down 72 feet,

are intake structures,

that's where all the water goes to each of the pumps.

[upbeat music]

- [Narrator] The electric pumps

work on the principle of centrifugal force.

As the water enters, a massive solid steel shaft

is attached to four impellers that lift the water.

The impellers drive the water up

with close to a thousand pounds per square inch of pressure

enough to lift it a third of a mile up

and over the Tehachapi Mountain range.

In all, this rotation mass weighs 140 tons.

Horsepower, and lots of it, is needed

to drive this mammoth pump.

- This is the heart of the system.

Behind this door is an 80,000 horsepower motor.

You can just feel and hear the energy that's here.

[horsepower powering]

- [Narrator] The key to the 80,000 horsepower

is the amount of electricity that is supplied.

Each motor uses about 60 million watts of power

enough to light up 600,000 100-watt light bulbs.

When all 14 pumps are working,

the electrical power use is enormous.

- The total plant capacity absorbs enough energy

to actually light up a city the size of Sacramento

in terms of residential households.

- [Narrator] The Edmundston plant

can pump up to 140,000 gallons a minute

over the Tehachapi Mountains

to millions of thirsty consumers.

- Because of this motor and its high efficiency

Southern California does receive

fresh drinking water every day.

In one year,

the United States consumes over 140 billion gallons of gasoline.

With gas prices spiraling upward,

the specter of diminishing oil supplies and global warming,

new sources of fuel and engines

may provide necessary horsepower.

Hybrid cars are one way to squeeze more horsepower

from less fuel.

- The basic definition of a hybrid

would be using of two power sources

to power the vehicle or move the vehicle down the road.

- [Narrator] A hybrid system uses an electric motor

to power a car from a standing start.

When a driver needs more speed,

a gasoline engine provides acceleration.

With these dual power capability,

engines use less gasoline.

In the past, most gas sipping hybrid cars

have shown themselves to be amazingly efficient,

but still have not been able to match the horsepower

many consumers want.

- When they get in a vehicle

they're always gonna wanna go fast.

They're going to wanna step on accelerator pedal,

they want to feel that surge of horsepower

under their seat.

- [Narrator] Well many of today's hybrids

offer both impressive gas mileage and high horsepower,

one of the first to achieve this feat was the Lexus G 2450H.

[car brakes screeching]

It boasts 339 horsepower.

[car tires screeching]

- We're combining both gas, V6 engine power,

as well as the electric motors.

The gasoline engine is rated at 292 horsepower.

The electric motors are powered by the battery,

which is rated at 47 horsepower.

And we add those two together

to get a total combined horsepower of 339 horsepower.

- As we raised the hood to see all the engine panels,

all the covers that's over the engine compartment,

and actually is directing air flow

in and around the engine to keep it nice and cool.

We have a cover over the engine.

As I removed that,

you're able to see a typical 3.5 liter V6

that you'll see in most, any vehicle.

The difference in this is the two bright orange cables

that is actually directing power to and from

the electric motors that drives the vehicle.

[car bonnet closing]

And the back is where we have

the rest of the hybrid horsepower story.

This is the hybrid high voltage battery

that contributes to the engine horsepower

and gives us the overall horsepower rating

of the 339 horsepower.

This is where it's stored.

- [Narrator] What kind of fuel efficiency

do you get for your 339 horses?

28 miles per gallon on the highway

and 25 miles per gallon in the city.

- The reason we get such good gas mileage on this vehicle

is the fact that we can only operate the gas engine

when it's needed.

We can operate solely on electric power,

which conserves the gas.

Here we start the car by just simple push of the button.

We may not hear the engine running

because we start out on electric power most of the time

once the vehicle's warmed up.

- [Narrator] Out on the road,

a computer monitors and controls the hybrid power system

for maximum efficiency.

- As we begin to accelerate,

you see the electric motors come in,

and we're running solely on electric power at this point.

To get the maximum horsepower output,

we need to get both the engine,

the gas engine and the electric motors fully engaged.

And we just simply step on the throttle

and they automatically come to life.

- [Narrator] With a top speed of 131 miles per hour

and a zero to 60 acceleration rate of 5.2 seconds,

the Lexus hybrid rival most contemporary high-performance

sports cars.

And modern hybrids have cranked things up exponentially.

With some models hitting nearly a thousand horsepower.

Technology continues to provide improved

and more efficient engines,

but it's safe to say the way we measure their performance

will be the way we've measured our engines

for close to two centuries, with horsepower.

[car engine revving]