New Type of Gas-Electric Hybrid Car???

[crash_uni8]

so heres my idea.

we take a 40-50hp gas effiecient engine and hook up maybe 6 or more (30 volt)alternators to the engine and then you hook them up in series to an AC electric motor that is connected to the tranmission of the car.(note the 40-50hp motor is not hooked up to the transmission)

would this be enough to power  a 1200 pound Car?

[ResinRat2]

I remember something similar to this idea that was posted way back when I was a freshman in college and was working a part time job in the nuclear lab at Atlantic Richfield.(1984 or thereabouts). Only back then they were talking about using only a 5 hp lawnmower engine to power a generator that would charge a bank of batteries in an electric car. So you would have the 5 hp gas engine going at a constant ideal speed and you would drive using the electric motor at whatever speed you desired.

I think it was published in Popular Science or Popular Mechanics or maybe Discover Magazine. Don't remember which. Touted as a "hybrid vehicle". Gas was a great deal cheaper back then, LOL!!!  That's probably why it died.

Thought it was a great idea back then, but never saw it materialize.

[hansvonlieven]

G'day Dave and all,

I remember these designs, there were a spate of them all around the same central idea.

The main problem with this type of arrangement, if I remember correctly, was the enormous weight such a car had to carry around using the standard lead-acid batteries of the time. In order to get any range and performance at all you had to have quite a few of them, which then required a larger motor which then required a bigger generator, which then required more batteries........ ad infinitum. It never really worked with anything bigger than a golf cart.

Today with advances in battery technology and improved efficiency of internal combustion engines it may well be worth having a second look at this.

Hans von Lieven

[crash_uni8]

I was kinda thinking that this type of design wouldn't need any batteries. So the alternators feed directly to the Electric motor.(assuming their would be some kind of potentiometer to lower or increase voltage in between them.)

[hansvonlieven]

G'day crash,

If you do that you lose the advantage of the design. By having the generator operate at a constant speed and torque you can optimise fuel consumption. Acceleration and deceleration costs disproportionately more fuel. That is the whole idea. Also during periods when the vehicle is at a standstill the generator can still provide an energy reserve to the batteries. This means a smaller generator than would otherwise be required.

Hans von Lieven