Patent ID: 7325638

Claim:
A motor vehicle having a chassis, front and rear paired wheels, at least one of said pairs serving as driving wheels, and an improved power train comprising: a) a primary internal combustion engine mounted on said chassis, said primary engine being of suitable size and power to accelerate said vehicle to cruising speed in an acceptable acceleration rate and provide acceptable hill-climbing and load-carrying capacity, a speed change transmission interactive with said primary engine and associated means for transmitting power to said driving wheels, b) a secondary internal combustion engine mounted on said chassis, said secondary engine being of suitable size and power so that when operating at maximum efficiency it is capable of maintaining said vehicle at an acceptable cruising speed with maximal fuel efficiency, and associated means for transmitting power to said driving wheels while said vehicle is operated at cruising speed, c) an electric motor mounted on said chassis, an associated rechargeable storage battery which activates said motor, a generator which recharges said battery, and power transfer means for transmitting power from said electric motor to said driving wheels to provide supplemental power for cruising, d) means for shifting said transmission to “neutral” after said vehicle has been accelerated to cruising speed by said primary engine, and causing said vehicle to be maintained at cruising speed by power from said secondary engine supplemented, as needed, by power from said electric motor, and e) means for shifting said transmission to “drive” to supply additional power from said primary engine whenever more power needs to be supplied to said drive wheels beyond that supplied by said secondary engine and electric motor.