Since an EV doesn't need gears nor clutch, would it be viable to replace the gear box and clutch by an electric engine and use the ICE just as a generator, that kicks in when the batteries run low ? Necessary extra batteries under the rear seat and part of the trunk result in added weight, of course.
Maybe someone good with numbers could see what an average ICE could produce as regards electricity.

Hi All...good subject 

I looked at converting an Chevy S10 project back in the early '90's but back then the cost was really high at about 10,000 US $ for a short run of 80 miles per charge.

I always wondered if you couldn't extend the mileage by adding a diesel generator to assist the batteries, long before hybrid's came to being I might add The other day my brother said he seen that kind of setup on the news or some show    but I haven't found it online yet....

The thought I originally had was to reduce the amount of batteries needed as compared to a normal EV which would reduce the weight of the EV.

Since sometime now I've been dreaming of a day where I could afford to get enough money and time to put together a GEET style setup in the back of my S10 with a small diesel/generator to reduce the amount of fuel and lower emissions. 

The aim would be to ditch the ICE/Transmission/Alternator in order to reduce friction and drag by using either a AC or DC motor, maybe even use super/ultra caps as a possible means of lowering weight even further. 

Does anyone think this type of setup could work and if not why not?

Regards,
Paul

Well, I was just thinking of easy and low-cost  conversion. Of course lots of improvements are possible, but just to change the cars that we now have, I wondered if it was doable.
The ICE is probably far too heavy for its purpose of generating electricity, but it saves time and money to leave it where it is, if at all possible, assuming that removal of the gears and clutch provide enough room to install an electric engine that's powerful enough.

Ok someone asked for someone good with numbers, ok i am here.

Simple answer, can you replace all the mechanical crap tranmission with electronics in an ev, YES ford did it with their ranger. There was no transmission no driveshaft just an electric motor between the two back wheels. They controlled motor speed with 3 phase ac frequency, the motor would do from 1rpm to 14000.

Can you make an ev with a diesel or gas or propane range extension system, YES. It is quiet simple really, build an ev with 40-60 mile range, then drop in a 15-20kw generator (500-800cc engine) and at freeway speeds the generator can keep up with the electrical demand (weight depending) this would give you around 100mpg.

It can be done, but it isnt being done because they want your money. If I can calc the math (and I have many times) then so could the engineers. it is done by design.

if you add some heat reclaimation of the engine to the system the range becomes rediculous.

I currently have an f150 truck with a bad engine just for this purpose. And as I stuff into saving I am building it. The f150 is one of the most prolic and useful vehicles around if it can work, then ALL can work end of story.

Put an aluminum ladder rack with 1.4kw worth of solar (which is the area of the rack) and now it extends even further, and can charge itself. Yes it would take a long time to fully charge the batteries, and the solar would not keep up with the drive speed usage. But if I had 40 miles range, and drove 30 miles to work and it charged for 8-10 hours i would get 11.2-14 kwhr for free, which would be more than the power it took me to drive to work (roughly 35-45 miles).

WE HAVE THE ABILITY NOW, but the prices are kept high so it is not finacially cheaper to do it, which means none of us will do it because we always use the price as the most important factor.

I got an old Land Rover Discovery 1996 just for that purpose. I want to convert it to an EV, but its automatic, I will see what I will do later because automatic is not really good for an EV.

Right now I need to repair the garage before playing with this project

And one of my wish is ZENN release their new EV with the EESTOR capacitor, so we can buy this capacitor for our own EV.

With a Tritium Beta Voltaic Capacitor I can power an electric full sized car, full sized electric truck under full power for 12.3 years after that the system would have to be flushed into a recycler and then refilled to go another 12.3 years of full power run time.

If you want to store unused energy from the Beta emissions then you need a superconductive capacitive system that stores the charge for when ever it is needed.

it has no run down time as in standard electrical or chemical systems and I can run a full sized truck full speed for 12.3 years Half life of Tritium, I would not have to stop for that period without any mechanical failures, it would be concidered a civilian Nuclear Capacitor system and is legal and Tritium is not that expensive. the only high cost would be to impliment a superconductive electrical storage system and that's mainly what you would be paying for, that and upgrading the superconductors from time to time to more High Tc materials that don't require cooling, the Beta emissions can power the cooling system when not in use to activate Tc in the SC but will eventually be upgraded to the point where cooling is no longer required.

Since the Superconductive plates are placed together in parallel at Tritiums Capillary gap the Tritium is pretty efficient at delivering every bit of energy possible for it's half life.

The only pollutent is Helium which under certain nuclear conditions be reconverted back into Tritium and never leaves the Pressure Chamber because the chamber is pressure reinforced for Helium and not Tritium. Helium is the only true inert substance that has no reaction to any known substance chemically.

Jerry

sure guy, go build one and tell us all how it works.

Try staying within the confines of the real universe.

This is why nothing gets done.

Hi d3.

Why do old men mumble?

Jerry

that or they eventually went nuts.