Just pulling my 4'x4' solar power trailer (about the smallest trailer there is) and only 10" high plus the wheels decreases my Prius mileage by 10 MPG at least. That is a 20% range reduction right there...
Bob -----Original Message----- From: EV [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Dube via EV Sent: Wednesday, February 17, 2016 1:10 PM To: EVDL Administrator; Electric Vehicle Discussion List Subject: Re: [EVDL] Leaf range extender Trailer range extenders have the severe limitation of adding drag to the EV. The drag added by a trailer is quite significant and can negate a large fraction of the added kW-hrs of whatever you may be hauling with the trailer. It tends to be a "two steps forward, one step back" type situation. The two additional wheels plus the aerodrag tend to be more than you would initially think. In practice, I have found that pulling a small trailer will increase the W-hr per mile usage of an EV by as much as 50%. It is an eye opener. If you think about it, hauling a trailer is a lot of like dragging half a car along behind you. Bill D. At 10:25 AM 2/17/2016, you wrote: >On 17 Feb 2016 at 16:36, Peri Hartman via EV wrote: > > > There have been a lot of past discussions on range > extending. Trailers, small > > onboard chargers, etc. In my opinion, they are rarely justified > >A battery trailer isn't exactly elegant, but it works. It lets you >have a small, light battery in your EV to handle your everyday needs, >but still have lots of range (only) when you need it. > >The big downside is that a trailer is a royal pain to back. It also >makes the car longer. Forget parallel parking. > >Team New England's Solectria Force ran a battery trailer for 3 years >(1999- >2002) in the Tour de Sol. It got 156 miles on a charge, about 3-4 times >the typical range for a lead-battery Force. They had a total of about 26kWh. > >http://drmm.net/images/tne_super_force.png > >The battery trailer is a kid's sandbox on wheels! The shape not only >improved the aerodynamics, it also got a lot of smiles from onlookers. > >I wonder how a Leaf would fare with a scheme similar to the plug-in >Prius conversions of several years ago, where the aux battery is set up >to just keep charging the Leaf's onboard battery. > >David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA >EVDL Administrator _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
