On 1 Feb 2021 at 15:26, Mr. Sharkey via EV wrote: > By the time the energy contained in the fuel reaches the road, you'll > have lost a ~lot~ more of it than if you just drove a regular ICE > vehicle of a similar size and weight.
Ever heard of Alan Cocconi? He designed the inverter for the original GM Impact EV, which became the GM EV1. His T-Zero roadster EV was the inspiration for the original Tesla Roadster. If memory serves (correct me if this is wrong), Tesla actually licensed the Roadster drivetrain from Cocconi's company, AC Propulsion. Something close to 25 years ago Cocconi was driving his EV conversion of a 1993 Honda Civic hatchback. He wanted to take it on long trips, so he designed a genset trailer for it. He used a motorcycle engine, Kawasaki I think. The engine was tweaked for efficiency and emissions, and the trailer was highly aerodynamic. Cocconi did everything right. So it can be done. However there are some things to consider before you try to do as he did: First, Cocconi is a highly educated, experienced, genius engineer. Not many of us here could even come close to that kind of efficiency in a homebrew range extender. Second, he was powering a relatively light, highly efficient, reasonably aerodynamic car. You want tp power a heavy, inefficient pickup truck (basic design barely changed in 70 years) with much worse aerodynamic qualities. Finally, Cocconi's EV and genset got 32 mpg on the highway. That sounds pretty good until you realize that a Honda Civic VX ICEV of the same era got 56 mpg on the highway. When one of the world's best EV engineers built a series hybrid, he couldn't match the fuel efficiency of a reasonably well- designed similar production ICEV. There's another BIG problem with putting a conventional genset into (or behind) an EV - pollution. Your vehicle goes from a zero emissions vehicle to one that pollutes far more than any other passenger vehicle on the road. That's especially true if you try to use an off-the-shelf commercial grade genset of the type you'd find a a construction site. EPA regs for them are much less strict than for cars, and it shows. I ran the calculations on this back in 2007, so it's far from up to date, but I think my conclusions are still worth looking at. I based it on a fairly modern commercial grade genset from a reputable manufacturer that met EPA 2000s portable equipment emissions regulations, not dubious Chinese junk from Harbor Freight or Ebay. My example had the genset powering a highly efficient conversion EV of the time at highway speed. I assumed that the EV could sustain 60mph with a 10kW continuous input. That's quite a bit less than your truck would need, and amounts to about 165Wh/mi. With your truck, the results would be much worse than what you read below. I calculated only for the regulated pollutants NMHC (non-methane hydrocarbons), NOx (oxides of nitrogen), and CO (carbon monoxide). I didn't look at CO2. Compared to a gen-2 (2004-2009) Toyota Prius, the genset driven EV would produce: 80 times as much NMHC + NOx 117 times as much CO That, folks, is what you call a gross polluter - REALLY gross. Tom, you've gotten some pretty good advice here on how to update your EV with a more modern battery. If that still can't give you enough range for your needs, and you're not prepared to slap down the big bucks for one of the upcoming EV pickups, then I'm sorry to say that an EV probably isn't right for you. In that case, IMO your best bet is to sell your present EV truck to someone who CAN use it with its current range, and buy a relatively recent conventional ICEV truck. I'll admit, with a store-bought truck you won't have the fun of bulding it. However, it'll pollute far less than what you're thinking of. It will also be much more reliable, less expensive to buy and run, and more efficient. David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = I think [Rio de Janeiro mayor Marcelo] Crivella will be remembered as a mayor to be forgotten. -- Alvaro Costa e Silva = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
