why couldn,t the diesel/electric locomotive principles be applied to cars? I think that a
small constant speed dieselgenerator w/solid state variable voltage control might work or just vary rpm, like trains do. Probably be too thirsty.
because of peak power useage… just think about a hill, going 45mph… you might draw 400A at 50% throttle on a 72V pack in a motorcycle…thats 14400 watts. Thats NOT a small generator, and thats for a motorcycle. Some of the motors in cars need 50kw+ peak energy for going at speed/up a hill. I don’t know of any constant speed generators that are SMALLER than a car that would produce 50Kw of energy needed for going up a hill/down the highway.
Basically, there’s not enough energy for the peak power needed. You could do a hybrid of sorts, with diesel/bats/Electric motor… they call that a series hybrid. I don’t think you can do it with a small-ish generator, unless you want really poor performance.
Think about a car, cruising down the highway at full speed of a 144V pack, at 150A or so. Thats over 25Kw. Thats not a small generator either.
That is exactly why I abandoned my thoughts of converting my Jeep into a hybrid (my daily drive is over 70 miles at highway speeds.) The Jeep requires 39.7 hp for steady state at 60 mph. That’s almost 40K watts !! That sized generator will not fit under the hood of a Jeep, much less leave room for batteries and the like.
take a look at the xr3 hybrid it is simular to what you are talking about. over 200 mpg and runs on diesel with electric backup. like a prius but running diesel. maybe give you ideas from there
He has always designed good do-it-yourself projects. Remember a similar car he did in the late 1970’s with a motor cycle rear end? Same idea here… This one weighs 1480 pounds and is MUCH more aerodymanic than the Brick I drive (Jeep) so the little 25 hp diesel will do just fine. Personnally I’d use the diesel Briggs & Stratton makes now - liquid cooled and a newer design.
My son wants to make one of these with me 
Or something close to the XR3.
Gm makes diesel / electric busses!! Not sure how they work.
the trains have also been diesel / electric for years. They don’t have batteries nor regen, but the diesel spins a generator that goes through controllers to power motors. Some makers are going to this idea but with hydraulic pumps / motors and an accumulator reservoir for regen and smoothing out the peeks and valleys.
they’ve been doing it for years… but they also have a HUGE ASS genset, 50kw or more… and as you’ve noticed, those locomotives are HUGE!
I know you’d scale it down, but for a small car, you’d need at least a 10k genset, and the efficiency would drop because you’re converting gas, to electric, and electric to motion. Sure generators run the generator in its most efficient range as well as the gas engine, but you’ve got losses in the conversion from AC to DC, then DC to whatever your car is (ac or dc). Then there’s the added weight.
you’ll HAVE to have some batteries, because when you DO find a generator to put in that fits inside, it won’t be enough to push the car all by itself. It can however be used to provide range exdending.
My ideas are a little different on the subject. I welded a hitch on the back of my car and now can tow a small trailer behind it. Yes it does cut down on mileage, but now I can haul a generator and power it with HHO. My generator needs to be able to make 30 amps at 115 volts. It will not power the car going down the road but it will charge the battereis as if I plugged it in at home.
I have a liquid cooled slow turning ( = quite and long life) 7500 wattt continuous rated cummins diesel gernerator I could sell you I was going to use it for a veggie oil power plant at the house, but could use the money for a machine tool now.
When using the concept of hybrid & electric, then we no need of batteries. But we can’t ignore batteries because it’s play important role like no noise or air pollution because of idle running. No air pollutants are emitted directly by the vehicle.
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