[ausev] Series hybrids

[Roy Holder]

At 05:54 PM 12/3/2007 -0600, you wrote:
>On Mon, 2007-12-03 at 17:26 -0600, John Penry at Texrocks wrote:
>> Thanks for the information.  I have a 36 mile trip each way to work, and
no 
>> way to plug in while at work.
>> I was thinking that creating a series hybrid similar to the GM Volt, would 
>> be easier to do using a pickup, and I had thought that the engine 
>> compartment could be used to place a motor from a motorcycle,
snowmobile, or 
>> small diesel.  After going by and taking a look at the Ford Rangers on 
>> display this weekend, I'm beginning to wonder where all that electronic 
>> stuff is going to go.
>> 
>> I have read the work on the AC Propulsion Long Ranger, and thought that it 
>> could go under the hood, and the batteries - only needing a 40 mile range 
>> there would be a savings in weight and space required for the batteries,
and 
>> that could be used for the generator.  Maybe I'll have to wait for some of 
>> the electronics to get miniaturized.
>
>The electronics are not really your problem. Based on lead-acid, a
>typical conversion filled with batteries with no space for a generator,
>usually gets about 35-40 miles.
>
>Using lithium (at 10 times the price for the same energy capacity)
>reduces required volume for the same energy by at least half, and weight
>by a factor of 4 or more. This would allow room for the generator, but
>probably not one large enough to allow arbitrary range (just guessing
>here) if you're limited to options available off the shelf today.
>
>The only way to do this in a small/light enough package is with a small
>engine running at very high RPMs (as the Long Ranger did) and a
>generator head capable of generating the appropriate voltage at that
>speed. As I understand ACP used their (very expensive) AC150 motor for
>that purpose. I have no idea what the Long Ranger sounded like, but I'm
>going to bet that it screamed, and would not last long in normal use.
>High power density in a generator is a pretty tough nut to crack. That
>Ossa manages it with diesel in under 600 pounds is pretty impressive in
>my opinion, but that's still over 15 cubic feet.
>
chris, 15 cubic feet is not that big. a 3 foot cube is 27 cubic feet.