i would put this in the “for sale” section…
i would put this in the “for sale” section… in addition to this thread 
It is relevant here and I would have missed it in the “for sale” section.
http://www.acpropulsion.com/vehicles/pages/red%20long%20ranger%203_jpg.htmJust the other day I was surfin the net and found a pic of a guy with an Li Ion EV a little like the tzero and it was yellow and was pulling a small trailer that housed a generator. He was filling up the generator at the pump. I can’t seem to find it again. If you have an idea==anything can be done==the possibilities are endless.
Here is a pic of AC Propulsions Red Long Ranger
Here it is:
http://www.acpropulsion.com/vehicles/pages/hybrid%20trailer_JPG.htm
[QUOTE=Pylot135;1410]http://www.acpropulsion.com/vehicles/pages/red%20long%20ranger%203_jpg.htmJust the other day I was surfin the net and found a pic of a guy with an Li Ion EV a little like the tzero and it was yellow and was pulling a small trailer that housed a generator. He was filling up the generator at the pump. I can’t seem to find it again. If you have an idea==anything can be done==the possibilities are endless.
Here is a pic of AC Propulsions Red Long Ranger
Here it is:
http://www.acpropulsion.com/vehicles/pages/hybrid%20trailer_JPG.htm[/QUOTE]
awesome, thanks i was looking for those pics but couldn’t find them.
Adding a long distance trailer to an EV that can already do 250 miles on a charge seems a bit excessive. But hey for a car that can smoke a 200K Ferrari why not pull the trailer in the race too. I just wish it had some windows…
[QUOTE=Pylot135;1412]Adding a long distance trailer to an EV that can already do 250 miles on a charge seems a bit excessive. But hey for a car that can smoke a 200K Ferrari why not pull the trailer in the race too. I just wish it had some windows…[/QUOTE]
meh, if you are using it as a primary car (yes it should have windows then) but in one day if you wanted to travel from say San Diego to Vegas or something… you would need the extra range or at least somethnig to charge the vehicle while your not somewhere readily available to plug it in…
It has already done a 300 mile trip. Diego to Vegas is about 330 miles. I think it could make it. But I agree it just looks cool. With the new technology in batteries I hope things change for the better fast. I would also like to see other states other than CA get into the EV game.
[QUOTE=Pylot135;1414]It has already done a 300 mile trip. Diego to Vegas is about 330 miles. I think it could make it. But I agree it just looks cool. With the new technology in batteries I hope things change for the better fast. I would also like to see other states other than CA get into the EV game.[/QUOTE]
you and me both…
and as for the extended range i would just use something like a honda generator they use to power houses and stuff and then just plug my system into that… i dont see why that couldn’t work?
Absolutly it will work! 
You could even have the generator self-start when pack voltage is <x volts. It takes a bit of know-how and circuit design to build it safely. You can run the ac from the gen into a bridge rectifier and build a feedback circuit to control the charge rate via. engine rpm. A current sensing circuit (shunt) is easy enough to make, and a small servo on the govenor spring to pull up the rpm from idle. Then use a PIC to control the servo bassed on the voltage from the charge current sensing shunt. Oh I wish I had money and a shop. I have so many plans already to go and no money to build it. :rolleyes:
Hi there!
I joined today because I wanted to ask a question similar to this. I do not have an EV, or know the first thing about them. But this question was bugging me so I hunted down an EV forum to try to find intelligent folks who know what they’re talking about.
I have never used a generator, but it is my understanding they are (usually) powered by oil in order to spin, and from that spinning motion they produce electricity. I’ve been looking a little into windmill electricity and am quite fascinated by it.
Looking to my car, and any car, I know there’s a belt attached to the engine that runs through about 5 different things, like my water pump and a/c and all that good stuff. So I’m wondering, why couldn’t someone in an EV run a belt from their engine to a generator, which would spin the generator and create/store energy to run back to the engine? Would a generator produce enough power to run the car? And could it work like a windmill, simply using the already spinning engine (from battery) to turn the belt?
It seems to me that if this is feasible, someone would have already thought it up; so maybe the generator wouldn’t produce enough power to power the engine. But I would like your thoughts on this.
Thanks.
Joseph
[QUOTE=charlienylund;1628]
It seems to me that if this is feasible, someone would have already thought it up; so maybe the generator wouldn’t produce enough power to power the engine. But I would like your thoughts on this.
[/QUOTE]
This is what the alternator does/is, only the alternator is only big enough to recharge 1 car battery and power the vehicle’s electrical system. I believe it is also how GM’s mild hybrid system works.
Instead of using a belt on the front of an engine though, why not drop the transmission and put a generator on the crankshaft output?
What crankshaft?
A small generator may not produce enough power to run an EV traction motor. That would obviously be less efficient the driving the wheels directly with the gas engine. The idea is to extend your range using a gasoline generator. It may be that below XXmph the vehicle draws less power then the generator can produce in which case the batteries will recharge to some degree. It IS more efficient to opperate a gasoline engine at a fixed rpm where the engines ve is highest. If it’s all about saving the planet and money, then a diesel generator (running at a fixed rpm) into a small battery pack (to be used during acceleration) would be ideal.
the thing with this idea is is that when you intend to recharge a vehicles battery system you have to meet the power of the battery cells then anything above that is the actual charge… otherwise it isn’t doing anything.
Hmm, I kinda like this idea I have a Honda 5.5kw gen that would work perfect on long trips . Gotta think about this. cool idea for those longer trips. I wonder If I could plug my charger in it as Im motoring down the road LOL
http://www.polarpowerinc.com/products/generators/ev.htm
Could easily be converted to a trailer. My idea:
Convert a Toyota pickup and mount a VW beetle transaxle in the back…typical VW conversion setup. I like the full frame truck for batteries though. I may even extend the frame.
KEEP the engine up front for AC/brake vacuum/heat, and mount the generator from the above polar generator on the stock toyota motor and run the stock toyota motor at 1500 rpm or so…in the stock location. A small 5 gallon fuel cell or something. I think gas mileage would be pretty low because of the reduced load, though still not perfect. I have a feeling the circuitry for the generator needs a higher rpm though.
Hi, new member here, found this site when looking for info about doing a truck conversion.
My own idea has been to not use batteries to power the truck, but to use a diesel generator, or perhaps a multifuel generator, to power the truck. I would only have in enough batteries to act as a buffer for smooth operation, so I’d be using smallish batteries to make the voltage up, but not enough battery power to drive any great distance. This would make the vehicle a lot lighter than it might be, not take up the entire cargo area with batteries, and give it unlimited range as long as the gas tank is filled. My thinking here is to not go green, but to go greener as some of the smallish generators capable of powering almost an entire house are able to do this on as little as a quart of fuel per hour. Surely a generator capable of running large household loads can manage a single electric motor. If I can stick in a generator that will run at a quart an hour and go 60MPH, this works out to 240 miles to the gallon, far better than the 17MPG I get now.
My interest in this was REALLY spurred hard after seeing a fellow who put a forklift motor into an S10 pickup, then ran the quarter mile in 7.55 seconds at 180MPH. :eek: I don’t plan to try and beat his record, but anything that can push a truck faster than a lot of top fuel drag cars can surely be built to drive me to work and back at highway speeds.
I’m by no means an expert on electric vehicles, but I hope to be one soon!