Quote:
Originally Posted by turtle
You know, that isn't the kind of hybrid I would want. I want an electric car with a gasoline generator. It shouldn't power the wheels at all. I'm guessing that isn't an option though. Maybe the generator would have to be too large to actually power the drive train.
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Turt, you're looking for a serial hybrid. A parallel hybrid has the gasoline engine and the electric motor both drive the wheels, and IMO they're a horribly over-engineered solution looking for a problem. Problem being "how do we keep our ICE engineers employed?".
A flat out electric vehicle with a cogenerator is a serial hybrid. Generator charges battery, battery drives car. Simpler. Also, because you can have the ICE run at a fixed RPM optimized for its efficiency and longevity, it ends up being vastly simplified, and more robust. The ICE never drives the car, so it doesn't have to have a lot of oomph, it just has to create juice, constantly, regardless of what the EV is doing, until the battery is full. If you're draining the battery faster than it can charge *who cares*? It's extending your range as you go. If it's charging faster than you're using, yay, you're getting towards 100%. There's no downside.
Dream setup:
An EV with a drop-in/removable cogenerator package. Small motor, fuel tank, in one more or less sealed unit that can dropped into place (electrical connections, cooling, and air/exhaust vents mate up on insertion), or removed to save weight and gain cargo space. Make it under 200#, packaged with proper handles, and it's liftable by two adults. Open the frunk, slide it in, and voila. Range extension for long trips. Running around town and need more groceries space, or just want your car to use less juice? Open frunk, pull it out. A rotary engine is actually well suited for this application - fixed RPM, simple design.
Sell the base car for less, cogenerator as an add-on for folks who want it.