If Your Electric Car Runs Out of Power on the Highway ... - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 03:40:38 am
content: If your electric car runs out of power on the highway, do you walk to a charging station to get a bucket of electricity?Just asking!

author: bdunham7
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 03:43:42 am
content: https://newsroom.aaa.com/2023/07/update-electrifying-aaa-member-benefits/

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 03:44:46 am
content: Get the tow truck to pull your EV along to regenerative charge your battery

author: dobsonr741
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 03:48:13 am
content: Your Tesla makes quite a tantrum before it runs out of range. Plus, you might have range anxiety kicking in much earlier. So the scenario you depicted might never happen, unless someone chasing you on the highway.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 03:51:07 am
content: What if there's a grid blackout and you have an emergency?

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 03:54:48 am
content: Build a range extender

author: andy3055
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 04:52:36 am
content: Can we sell some flux capacitors to these guys?

author: dobsonr741
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 05:32:34 am
content: QuoteThat is the Zombie Apocalypse. A lot of good playbooks written for that case.

author: Someone
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 06:56:24 am
content: Quote from: dobsonr741 on December 31, 2023, 05:32:34 amAs people discover, petrol stations (mostly) rely on the grid for pumping and/or selling fuel. So either way so either way its supply your own or go without.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 07:06:42 am
content: 2 electric axles, 30 minute battery, an onboard diesel generator and regenerative brakes. Ideal for the Zombie Apocalypse.

author: woofy
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 11:23:50 am
content: You wouldn't need the bucket. Electrons are like little balls and they spin, so they could just roll down the road.The empty battery in the EV is depleted of electrons, so it will have a positive charge attracting the rolling electrons.All you need to do is point the charger plug down the road in the direction of the EV and it will fill up automagically.---Reminds me of the best description of an electron I've ever heard.Electrons are like little balls and they spin, except that they aren't and they don't.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 11:44:35 am
content: Quote from: Someone on December 31, 2023, 06:56:24 amNot really. You can always stick a hand pump into the storage tank and pump the fuel up into your car by hand. What you'll need most is cash to pay for the gas.

author: mendip_discovery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 11:58:13 am
content: C'mon remember covid, we will run out of loo roll in a few days. Then the world will just go to hell.I 2013 Channel 4 in the UK did a series called Blackout that covered 5 days without power. I remember that it raised a few eyebrows in the emergency planning rooms.I enjoy the dooms day prep types as they panic over everything, often over thinking the problem.Going back to the video, some people are rather stupid. Towing a car at 70mph on a rope. Sod that.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 12:29:34 pm
content: Quote from: mendip_discovery on December 31, 2023, 11:58:13 amHave you been living under a rock for the last 10 years? YouTube is full of people doing stupid things.

author: mendip_discovery
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 01:00:12 pm
content: This feeds I to people thinking it's cool. Darwin still at work today. I feel for the emergency services who have to clear this crap up.

author: wilfred
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 02:16:32 pm
content: Quote from: Someone on December 31, 2023, 06:56:24 amWhen I was a kid I can remember a petrol station had parked an EH Holden wagon about 2 meters from a pump, the pump had the covers removed and the Holden was on a jack with a bare steel rim. They'd fitted a long rubber belt from the pulley in the pump around the rim and ran the pump driven by the car. It was back in the days when pumps only had mechanical dials. You couldn't do that these days. And with cash going out of style you'd be stuffed trying to pay anyway soon enough.If your EV runs out of fuel you'd be getting it towed. If you had a car that ran on LPG you'd most likely get towed. Portable LPG refills are not readily available in Australia. Or it wasn't when I had one in the nineties. And I think LPG is diminishing in Australia and somethings got to go to make room for EV charging.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 03:45:47 pm
content: Quote from: dobsonr741 on December 31, 2023, 05:32:34 amI would be using my axe to fell trees to burn for my steam engine generator to charge my EV. Axe comes in handy for the zombies as well.

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 03:54:58 pm
content: Quote from: EPAIII on December 31, 2023, 03:40:38 amVery simple and easy: call for a tow with your cell phone and relax.A better question to ask "what if my cell phone runs out of power on the highway while driving my electric car and my car runs out of power?". Well connect the phone to your portable USB power pack.What if you forgot to bring the power pack? Then you shouldn't be driving a long way from home by yourself if you can't be prepared.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 04:01:06 pm
content: cary a trailer with a generator lollor do like the back to the future, add some antimatter converter some banana peels and other waste and have fun

author: schmitt trigger
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 04:16:09 pm
content: If my electric car ran out of battery on a deserted highway, it would be such a negative experience for me, that I would re-charge the battery with my excess free electrons.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 04:31:41 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on December 31, 2023, 11:44:35 amBut where can you get the gas needed to drive to a store where you can get a hand pump? I remember when gas stations actually had some backup facilities. Decades of ultra reliable public power supplies have lead to most of that being dropped. Do places with regular power problems (tornado alley, etc.) still have hand pumping facilities as a backup?

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 05:14:50 pm
content: OK. You keep a hand pump in your car and a Jerry can. You shlep your way to the gas station and use your lock pick set that you always carry to get access to the tanks (you don't think they are left unlocked do you?).So preppers, gas is better for short term emergencies. But unless you operate your own wells and refineries an electric car and solar cells will keep you mobile longer than scavenged gas

author: Homer J Simpson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 05:35:42 pm
content: 2025 Ram Ramcharger has a complete regular V6 Petrol engine to run the charging generator.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 06:23:05 pm
content: Quote from: Homer J Simpson on December 31, 2023, 05:35:42 pmYou don't *have* to use the V6. You can plug it in like any other plug-in hybrid. If you keep to short trips, you can survive on electric mode only.

author: CatalinaWOW
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 11:11:59 pm
content: So it's a hybrid, not a pure electric. Might be pretty good. 3.6 liters is small in this vehicle class, but should be enough to maintain speed except for fully loaded hill climbs. The electric provides acceleration and other heavy load help and does everything on short trips. So good performance, good range, fair to good mileage at the cost of complexity. Potentially a really good match for a lot of use cases. Same idea as the Chevy Volt, which a lot of people love, and which I would have owned if I could physically get into one. The Volts were definitely not for big people.Doesn't sound terminally dumb to me.

author: Homer J Simpson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 11:28:14 pm
content: Not a hybrid.V6 is for charging only.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 31, 2023, 11:39:01 pm
content: Quote from: CatalinaWOW on December 31, 2023, 05:14:50 pmI always pondered which car I would take if SHTF, the IONIQ with my 3kW battery and solar panels, or the ICE (assuming both had full charge/tank). I think I'd take the IONIQ even though it has half the range and it would take forever to charge back up. But at least it would charge back up given enough time.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 12:42:11 am
content: Quote from: coppice on December 31, 2023, 04:31:41 pmNever heard of a bicycle???

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 12:46:59 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on January 01, 2024, 12:42:11 amDo they store bicycles at gas stations ready for the Zombie Apocalypse?

author: xrunner
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 12:47:54 am
content: Dave you don't need the gas generator on that trailer ^^^ ! All you gotta do is attach the generator to the wheels of the trailer. The car pulling it can then have power from the generator as it is turned by the trailer wheels and re-charge it's own battery!

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 12:53:05 am
content: Quote from: coppice on January 01, 2024, 12:46:59 amNo, the bicycle is in your shed. But in case of the world going to shit, you'll be better off with a bicycle or a donkey / horse anyway. Forget about using cars.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 01:17:16 am
content: Maybe a wire could be installed above every road,then when your ev runs out of fuel you extend a pole with some sort of pick up on the end from your vehicle to make contact with the ovehead wire that then refuels your car,of course you'd another contact from the car to ground complete the circuit,maybe conductive rubber tyres would work for that.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 01:18:53 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on January 01, 2024, 12:53:05 amI don't have a shed. Even if I did, I might be miles away from my home when the Zombie Apocalypse strikes. I imagine my main urge to get gas after the Apocalypse would be to get back to my family.

author: coppice
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 01:22:42 am
content: Quote from: themadhippy on January 01, 2024, 01:17:16 amI saw pictures of a stretch of test road, probably in Germany, where they have put a railway style catenary above the highway, and made some electric trucks to use it. I assume they are battery electric, so they can could charge on the fast road, and get around local areas by battery.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 05:13:22 am
content: Quote from: Homer J Simpson on December 31, 2023, 11:28:14 pmThere are two different styles of hybrid topologies, series and parallel.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle_drivetrainToyota Prius is a parallel hybrid.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle_drivetrain#/media/File:Hybridpar.svgChevy Volt is a series hybrid.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybrid_vehicle_drivetrain#/media/File:Hybridpeak.svgRamcharger appears to be a series hybrid, with the facility for plug-in charging (i.e. short trips on battery only with regular mains charging topup, may not require use of the V6). Ramcharger has a 92kWh battery pack and mains charger (up to 400V DC fast charge)

author: .RC.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 06:45:20 am
content: Quote from: xrunner on December 31, 2023, 03:54:58 pmNO, you plug your phone into the car and charge the car.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 06:48:02 am
content: I suppose gas is harder to make. Ethanol is possible but time consuming. Electrical power can be made mechanically or with solar.

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 06:58:04 am
content: Quote from: nctnico on December 31, 2023, 11:44:35 amYes you can; then you can use that hand-pumped fuel to run a genset. What people don't realize is how much we rely on reliable grid. After a blackout longer than a few hours, our societies basically collapse to stone age. This is also the reason why it does simply not happen unless we are dealing with an actual freaking war: grid is repaired and brought back online within hours, always, leaving small localized outages which do not prevent getting gas, or charging an EV.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 07:09:57 am
content: Fuel reserves would be gone in no time. Alcohol and toilet paper would probably make good currency.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 07:34:00 am
content: Society running out of power is frightening.But a personal car running out of power is merely an inconvenience to yourself (you have yourself to blame for not planning ahead).

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 07:55:26 am
content: Quote from: Andy Chee on December 31, 2023, 03:54:48 amThere is another one now where this guy swapped in a diesel engine...I'm pretty sure this is bullshit, and he's just driving around a normal tesla with an engine running in the back doing absolutely nothing useful (except getting youtube views). They make zero mention of how this engine is putting energy into the car. It's not mechanically coupled to the wheels. And they don't have any electronics to boost a generators voltage up to pack voltage (400V) to charge the pack. I'm pretty sure the Tesla BMS would lose its shit if it detected the battery charging while the vehicle was moving anyway.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 07:58:43 am
content: Quote from: Andy Chee on January 01, 2024, 07:34:00 amAn EV aka battery pack, a means of charging it means a shop with tools and electronics that can save your life, that means a great deal.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 08:35:23 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on January 01, 2024, 07:55:26 amYou don't need 400V to charge the pack, you only need household 240V.I agree somewhat about the Tesla computer preventing simultaneous charging and movement, I realise that Tesla hackers have done all sorts of weird system bypasses, so charging whilst moving is not out of the realm of possibilities.

author: .RC.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 08:52:11 am
content: You be like this digger and just have your own electric power source to follow you around on your travels.

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 08:53:19 am
content: They had that in my home town. Actually they still do. They call them street cars.The St Charles line ran directly in front of my university and I rode them often to and from school. Probably been in the one in the photo many times. And these electric street cars were not new back in the 1950s. In fact they had been around NO for decades even then.New Orleans was way ahead of the times. Not only did they have electric street cars back in the 1950s but also ELECTRIC busses. I often rode on them too. Like the street cars, they got the electricity from a pair of lines that ran overhead. The street cars used the metal tracks for the return circuit and you could see sparks if there were leaves on the tracks. But the electric busses needed twin overhead lines. One of the electric bus lines ran near my grandparent's home and I rode them often going to and from there. The line pictured below ran in front of my then future wife's house. Again the photo is from the 1950s.A regular bus route is a great place for an electric vehicle back then. So I must wonder, if they had them and electric was so great, why didn't they completely take over? I suspect those electric busses are now all replaced with gas or diesel powered ones. If electric powered is so good, then WHY? A thinking man must wonder.Quote from: themadhippy on January 01, 2024, 01:17:16 am

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 09:07:55 am
content: Quote from: themadhippy on January 01, 2024, 01:17:16 amIn the 1993 movie flop "Super Mario Bros", in an alternate dimension where dinosaurs evolved to higher cognitive beings, and did not become extinct to become fossil fuels, all vehicles are EV and charged by overhead wires:

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 09:09:03 am
content: As for conductive rubber tires working for the return path, I think that neither concrete nor asphalt is naturally conductive. You would need to replace a lot of both of them with conductive versions. That's gonna be a lot of $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ $ or euros or whatever currency you want to use.Electric trains and the street cars I showed above run on steel rails, which are conductors. And those conductive rails cost absolutely nothing extra.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 09:17:10 am
content: Quote from: EPAIII on January 01, 2024, 09:09:03 amFor a rubber wheeled vehicle, you can have the return current returning back to a second overhead wire, though, it obviously presents a challenge in aligning the pantograph with the two wires.

author: .RC.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 09:18:17 am
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on January 01, 2024, 06:58:04 amJust went 23 hours of no mains electricity. Then 23 hours later it is off again and have the generator running.But you are right. Some years back a cyclone went through and the local city was mostly without power for a few days. A new term came about. Generator rage. People who did not have one were raging over the noise of those that did. Then there were the fuel restrictions and food restrictions. It was interesting how most people helped one another there was a minority who were just arseholes. If you want society to hold together in a rough time, then you need to concentrate on providing hope so people can see a way out. Once that is gone, watch society turn on itself as tribes get formed. Then a man named Max becomes the only beacon of hope for many.

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 09:22:44 am
content: OK, semi serious suggestion for charging while driving.Have TWO batteries. One in the vehicle and one in a trailer. Solar cell array on the trailer charges one battery while the other is used to power the vehicle. Switch back and forth even while moving.Of course, you could just make the vehicle larger and have everything on/in it.Or make the vehicle smaller and the trailer larger and have both batteries and the solar array in it.I made many trips along I-10 in Texas and across to the West Coast. The sun is a beast along that route so this should work like a charm most of the time.Quote from: Andy Chee on January 01, 2024, 08:35:23 am

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 09:31:25 am
content: Quote from: Andy Chee on January 01, 2024, 09:17:10 amThose old New Orleans electric busses had the panto-graph problem solved over 70 years ago. They just used a pair of shoes with grooves or perhaps rollers in them. The overhead wires just pulled the panto-graph left or right to follow them as the bus ran along. It could be a whole lane over from where the wires were with no problems with the panto-graph tracking properly. It was a rare instance where the panto-graph jumped off the wires.After watching the video, I have to wonder what's to stop someone in a car from having a panto-graph and stealing free power? Would the police have to ticket free-loaders?Or would the power just be available for everyone with no charge? Wouldn't that tick off the people who think they are going to become billionaires with electric vehicles. But free power for all would be true socialism instead of the oppressive type that most socialist leaders want to impose, wouldn't it?Now all we need is a way to get the cars for free too. And f.. the would-be billionaires. There could be some fun in this after all.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 09:48:17 am
content: wait 1 or 2 hrs for a recharge if you have a diesel generator in the trunk. or call a tow truck. if your still got cell phone coverage or a working CB radio?as always be prepared for anything, do not leave home on a long journey without fully charged batteries. go figure.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 09:53:54 am
content: Quote from: EPAIII on January 01, 2024, 09:31:25 amIt's no stretch of the imagination that they would have number plate recognition cameras along the route to catch people stealing electricity.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 10:29:12 am
content: Quote from: Andy Chee on January 01, 2024, 08:35:23 amIf your battery is at 400V then you need to make over 400V somehow to charge that battery (yes I know the battery is already fully charged at 400V, but the same holds for 350V, or 300V). The 240V(AC) from your house gets rectified and boosted/bucked by the internal charger so it charges at the right current. If that charger refuses to close the charge contactors, like for instance if the vehicle is on or moving, then you can plug whatever you want in but it's not getting into the battery.Yes, people have done some wacky stuff hacking teslas, but that guy in the video looks and sounds like an idiot.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 10:46:23 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on January 01, 2024, 10:29:12 amIf real, I would've presumed that the generator output 240VAC was connected to the internal charger, NOT directly to the battery pack.

author: Smokey
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 11:04:36 am
content: Quote from: Andy Chee on January 01, 2024, 10:46:23 amYes, I get that.https://teslastir.com/can-you-charge-a-tesla-while-driving/Quotehttps://teslamotorsclub.com/tmc/threads/drive-off-while-still-plugged-in.10785/So the best this dude did was park his car and level 1 charge off a generator .... forever.

author: themadhippy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 01:44:11 pm
content: Ive got it , solar sunroofs, this time next year i'll be a millionaire.

author: jmelson
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 01, 2024, 04:53:23 pm
content: Quote from: Someone on December 31, 2023, 06:56:24 am

author: .RC.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 04:13:22 am
content: A crazy thought, but why not carry a turbo encabulator in the boot and charge the car from that?

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 10:51:52 am
content: You obviously don't have a devious mind. A simple splash of mud takes care of license plate ID. If you get stopped, "Gosh officer, I didn't know that. I will clean it at the next charging station."Quote from: Andy Chee on January 01, 2024, 09:53:54 am

author: EPAIII
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 10:56:46 am
content: Quote from: Smokey on January 01, 2024, 10:29:12 amWell correct me if I am wrong, but UPS devices have been functioning with pass through mode for decades now. The wall power charges the cells and the cells power an inverter that then powers the equipment, like a computer. If the commercial power fails the inverter and equipment never even sees a blip.They charge most of the time and power the equipment all of the time. No down time for charging. No reason why a vehicle battery can not operate the same way.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 12:07:57 pm
content: Quote from: EPAIII on January 02, 2024, 10:51:52 amYou have no idea how authoritarian our police can be! They will ticket you for having dirty number plates! Ignorance is no excuse!

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 06:34:42 pm
content: There is no fundamental technical problem charging using the on-board AC charger while driving. It is just a rare enough use case with large enough consequences if it doesn't go right that for liability reasons, vehicle manufacturer has to prevent it. Doing it right and safely would be a huge task. If I were to design these vehicles, I would leave a simple-to-find backdoor so that enthusiasts can find it and share how to disable the interlock. (But not too trivial to find, so that the responsibility is clearly on user.)

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 07:05:58 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on January 02, 2024, 06:34:42 pmI'd say the problem with charging while driving, is getting a practical amount of charge into the vehicle whilst driving.For example, a household 2kW Level 1 charger will only add about 10km of range per hour of charging. An 11kW Level 2 charger would add about 60km of range per hour of charging. And then there's 100kW Level 3 chargers!There's a big difference between a 2kW generator and a 3-phase 11kW generator, and attempting to shoehorn the latter into the back of a Tesla would be an entertaining, if pointless engineering challenge!

author: .RC.
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 08:25:41 pm
content: Quote from: Siwastaja on January 02, 2024, 06:34:42 pmIt is not even a new idea. There are countless videos of ICE cars driving around by women with a fuel filler handpiece and attached hose hanging out the cars fuel tank spout.

author: pickle9000
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 09:29:30 pm
content: Quote from: Andy Chee on January 02, 2024, 07:05:58 pmThere are savings to be had. Lets say you design a hybrid electric drive, smallish battery, smallish charger. Compared to a regular ICE, Regen, No transmission, smaller motor to offset the weight of the batteries. In a regular ICE vehicle the power plant has to account for the worst case situation driving up hill loaded.

author: Halcyon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 10:43:31 pm
content: Quote from: EPAIII on January 02, 2024, 10:56:46 amOnly the online models operate that way. Most (all?) cheaper and smaller capacity UPSs are generally the line-interactive type. The batteries are only brought into the circuit when mains is out of spec.

author: jonovid
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 02, 2024, 11:15:01 pm
content: smells like business opportunities in selling compact lightweight liquid fuel generators for the trunk of EV's on long interstate journeys.-profiting from EV range anxiety. a 1 or 2 hr emergency suitcase style of recharge generator with an EV recharge adapter .the engineering challenge is in safety removing the gasoline smell from the generator unit when not in use.

author: Andy Chee
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2024, 03:48:02 am
content: Quote from: pickle9000 on January 02, 2024, 09:29:30 pmThe savings are imaginary. The effort and expense spent on re-engineering an existing EV into a series hybrid, would be better spent on purchasing a hybrid vehicle in the first place!That being said, personal vehicle preference and customisation does come into play here. If your dream vehicle model only comes in EV version and you really need a hybrid for practical purposes, then a custom conversion could be an option. After all, there are performance modifications and engine swaps done with ICE all the time, so why not EV and hybrids?

author: Siwastaja
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 03, 2024, 08:43:37 am
content: Quote from: Andy Chee on January 02, 2024, 07:05:58 pmWell, in summer conditions for a moderately good car driving at say 50km/h, consumption is closer to 100Wh/km than 200, so a 2kW mini genset could sustain nearly 20km/h average speed, if it runs 100% of the time. However, don't forget the contribution of the battery. If you know beforehand that you are not going to make it, and start the generator already at, say, 50% SoC, and start conserving energy for the last two hours of drive on the battery, then you have already charged 40km worth of extra range. So it becomes nearly manageable way to extend the range in unusual conditions - e.g. an unexpected trip to some area with insufficient charging network. This all totally falls apart if you have to stop to charge at that measly 2kW, then your average speed will drop even below that 20km/h.Of course, this is all unnecessary speculation. Nearly no one would realistically ever do this.