[ausev] Small On-Board Generator

[Sarah & Erik]

Hi Casey,

There are a couple new things to take a look at before you use a
generator to run your EV. Generators can have messy electrical outputs
that can fry your charger (unless you can get one to straight DC
output which is great, but hard to find off the shelf). They can have
voltage spikes or not a true sine wave which your charger counts on.
Some are fine, you just have to check. Some generators are really
nasty smelling too - I understand Honda generators run fairly clean. A
cheap generator can put out the emissions of dozens of cars in a short
time. Another thing is that if you have a generator powerful enough to
keep you driving for a while you need to keep an eye on your motor
temperature. My motor can get pretty warm in the summer after a run,
but I only go so far at once.

One of the things I really like about my EV is that there isn't any
gas to be found. It smells good, but it's pretty hard to keep that up
with a generator around. Imagine a lawnmower in the trunk =) I
understand the concern about running out of juice. It takes a pretty
stout generator though to be useful for anything but a true emergency
and those get heavy. One of the handheld ones will take a good while
to charge you up full.

Erik

On Nov 24, 2007 6:55 PM, John Penry at Texrocks <jpenry at texrocks.com> wrote:
>
> I ran across a website a while back that listed some common gas generators.
> http://www.e-volks.com/hybridconversion.html
> Beware of the noise and emissions created by these.
>
> John in Seguin
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Casey Martinez
> To: ausev at austinev.org
> Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 8:23 AM
> Subject: [ausev] Small On-Board Generator
>
> Dear EVers,
>
> I am in the market to buy an EV soon and I would like to know if there are
> any for sale that this group may know about. I am considering all options
> right now.
>
> Also, how practical would it be to keep a small generator in the trunk of my
> future EV so that when my batteries are low on juice I could stop and get
> some hydrocarbons and charge my battery bank? I understand the charge may
> take some time and that it would be stupid to store liquid fuel on board due
> to weight factors but I wanted to hear what this group would have to say
> about this idea.
>
> Thanks everyone for reading and have a happy holiday season. I have enjoyed
> reading these messages over the last year or so and I look forward to seeing
> yall at the Sustain A Ball on the first.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Casey Martinez
> 512-797-7518
>
>
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