Thought experiment: manually operated phev
Discussion
I've been looking at the current phev vans, and the thought occurred to me to do it the other way round. Rather than a small battery and a large range extender, why not a large battery and a small range extender.
So, if I were to buy an electric van (say VW Transporter/ Merc Vito size ish) and put in a small generator could it work? I'm only seeing two problems here at the moment.
1. The vehicle would refuse any energy from the generator, especially while moving.
2. A generator with enough power to extend the range by even 25% would be too big to be feasible.
Could something like this be possible? Even if only to provide a portion of the power needed to trundle along at 55mph and not actually charge the batteries?
So, if I were to buy an electric van (say VW Transporter/ Merc Vito size ish) and put in a small generator could it work? I'm only seeing two problems here at the moment.
1. The vehicle would refuse any energy from the generator, especially while moving.
2. A generator with enough power to extend the range by even 25% would be too big to be feasible.
Could something like this be possible? Even if only to provide a portion of the power needed to trundle along at 55mph and not actually charge the batteries?
Jzinsky said:
I've been looking at the current phev vans, and the thought occurred to me to do it the other way round. Rather than a small battery and a large range extender, why not a large battery and a small range extender.
So, if I were to buy an electric van (say VW Transporter/ Merc Vito size ish) and put in a small generator could it work? I'm only seeing two problems here at the moment.
1. The vehicle would refuse any energy from the generator, especially while moving.
2. A generator with enough power to extend the range by even 25% would be too big to be feasible.
Could something like this be possible? Even if only to provide a portion of the power needed to trundle along at 55mph and not actually charge the batteries?
Aren't you describing a range extender?So, if I were to buy an electric van (say VW Transporter/ Merc Vito size ish) and put in a small generator could it work? I'm only seeing two problems here at the moment.
1. The vehicle would refuse any energy from the generator, especially while moving.
2. A generator with enough power to extend the range by even 25% would be too big to be feasible.
Could something like this be possible? Even if only to provide a portion of the power needed to trundle along at 55mph and not actually charge the batteries?
It's feasible to have any combo of battery ICE hybrid, so having a small ICE to provide enough power to run a car at motorway speeds is doable. You need very little power to keep a car at a constant speed on a reasonably flat road.
Similar plan from Mazda for their low power wankel engines hybrid.
The problem with these cars, at least so far as the UK and Europe are concerned, is that they're attempting to solve a problem that is rapidly disappearing - a simple BEV is already perfectly suitable for the majority of motorists. Those that can't home charge can stick with plain old ICE.
The biggest reason most people choose PHEV'S is that they want the security of being able to put petrol in and have it run like a normal car... Which a tiny engine doesn't really provide.
The problem with these cars, at least so far as the UK and Europe are concerned, is that they're attempting to solve a problem that is rapidly disappearing - a simple BEV is already perfectly suitable for the majority of motorists. Those that can't home charge can stick with plain old ICE.
The biggest reason most people choose PHEV'S is that they want the security of being able to put petrol in and have it run like a normal car... Which a tiny engine doesn't really provide.
As above, this has been done - it's called a range extender hybrid.
Whether you can convert any individual EV will depend on its ability to accept charge while driving which would be an odd thing for them to support really! To make it useful, you'd probably need about a 20hp generator which is a fair bit but certainly not impossible.
Whether you can convert any individual EV will depend on its ability to accept charge while driving which would be an odd thing for them to support really! To make it useful, you'd probably need about a 20hp generator which is a fair bit but certainly not impossible.
A few years ago, a friend had a Honda CRV hybrid.
That was very economical, over 50mpg for something that's the size of a small van.
I think that was a convoluted serial/parallel hybrid?
Add a bigger battery to that kind of powertrain and you'd have a lot of flexibility.
I think the OP was talking about a DIY effort though?
I reckon the software would not be trivial.
The engine and alternator would not be a big deal?
A diesel van doing 30mpg cruising at 70 is using 70/30 gph = about 10 litres per hour.
That's about 35kW at most?
But a genset of that power is very heavy, being designed to run at low rpm for years on end.
That was very economical, over 50mpg for something that's the size of a small van.
I think that was a convoluted serial/parallel hybrid?
Add a bigger battery to that kind of powertrain and you'd have a lot of flexibility.
I think the OP was talking about a DIY effort though?
I reckon the software would not be trivial.
The engine and alternator would not be a big deal?
A diesel van doing 30mpg cruising at 70 is using 70/30 gph = about 10 litres per hour.
That's about 35kW at most?
But a genset of that power is very heavy, being designed to run at low rpm for years on end.
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