[ausev] Series hybrids

[Chris Robison]

On Sun, October 21, 2007 10:16 pm, John Penry at Texrocks wrote:
> MessageI went by the Maker Faire section for EV's on Saturday and snapped
> a few photos.
> Some of the AustinEV folks had cars displayed there.
> I talked to some great folks.  I posted my snapshots at:
> http://www.texrocks.com/MakerFaire.html

Thanks for the pics, John!

>
>
> My plan is to build a Serial Hybrid Pickup.  Does anyone know if this has
> been attempted in the past?

The most frequently discussed method of achieving a serial hybrid is to
make a "generator trailer". This allows you to operate the vehicle as a
pure battery-powered EV (BEV) for usual driving (commuting) and then
attach the trailer for longer drives. While I've seen this done a few
times, but the only example I can think of that is practical and clean is
AC Propulsion's "Long Ranger" trailer, based on a 2-cylinder motorcycle
engine:

http://www.madkatz.com/acpropulsion/longRanger.html (from old archive)
http://www.acpropulsion.com/reports/Low_Emiss_Range_Ext.pdf
http://www.acpropulsion.com/vehicles/images/hybrid%20trailer_JPG.jpg
http://www.acpropulsion.com/vehicles/images/red%20long%20ranger%203_jpg.jpg

AC Propulsion used to sell these as a custom-ordered product, but they
seem to have stopped production (I'm not sure if they ever sold any).

What most people think of when they consider a "generator trailer" is a
light duty residential or commercial backup generator (such as you might
find at a big-box store) mounted to a small trailer from Harbor Freight,
etc. The problem with this approach, or mounting such a generator in the
bed of an EV pickup truck, is emissions. These small generators are far
dirtier than any car sold today, including the generators that are
currently permitted for sale in California. They do not have a catalytic
converter like an automobile engine, and emissions laws for small gas
engines are not as strict as those for automobiles.

The better way might be to use a motorcycle or small car engine (e.g.
early Geo Metro 3-cylinder) and retain the existing emissions controls,
and attach a large generator head to it. Northern Tool used to sell a 20kw
generator head, but they appear to have removed it from their catalog. The
result would likely be larger than you'd want to put in the bed.

Then there's the microturbine idea, as produced by a company called
Capstone for series hybrid buses. Every once in a while you find one of
these units on eBay.


  --chris




>
> John Penry
> Seguin, Texas
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