Homemade Chevy volt?

[Jugernot]

Seems to me it shouldn't be too difficult to make a change to they basic recipe that most people use to build electric cars, such as:

CNN Link

Why not, install a small 4 stroke motor with a starter (say 10hp), from a riding lawn mower for instance and have it power a small alternator to charge the batteries back up while driving?

Pretty much a copy of the Chevy Volt, on a smaller scale. Say a Corolla or Protege.... Keep the weight under 3500lbs. My Prizm (AKA Corolla) weights only 2400lbs, say 2100lbs without all the engine and exhaust, add 12 70lb lead acid batteries, at 840lbs total and add in say 200lbs for the electric motor and 300lbs for supporting equipment (gas motor, fuel, electrical controllers, etc.). That is only 3340lbs total.

Drive the first say 30miles on the batteries and have a push button starter for the small gas engine, which could extend you out to say 100miles on a gallon of gas. No further in fear of discharging the batteries to an unsafe level.

Anyone know of any similar projects?

 

[radioouman]

That is the same idea that trains use, except that they used a diesel engine to charge the batteries.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

The question is can the generator charge the batteries faster than they're used on a long cruise?

 

[Jugernot]

I wasn't expecting it to charge them faster, only extend my trip length by slowing the discharge before harming the lead acid batteries.

 

[Jugernot]

Anyone know the formula which determines the hp for an electric motor needed to keep a car at 60mph at 3400lbs?

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: radioouman
That is the same idea that trains use, except that they used a diesel engine to charge the batteries.

Yeah, thats more or less what the volt is suppose to do.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: radioouman
That is the same idea that trains use, except that they used a diesel engine to charge the batteries.

and except that there are no batteries

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: Jugernot
Anyone know the formula which determines the hp for an electric motor needed to keep a car at 60mph at 3400lbs?

The weight doesn't matter as much as the wind resistance. That's what saps all the power up when you're cruising at 60 mph on the highway.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: radioouman
That is the same idea that trains use, except that they used a diesel engine to charge the batteries.

False.

Trains have a generator driving a motor. It removes the need for a transmissions and provides tons of low end torque. They don't use batteries for driving the train.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: Jugernot
Anyone know the formula which determines the hp for an electric motor needed to keep a car at 60mph at 3400lbs?

The weight doesn't matter as much as the wind resistance. That's what saps all the power up when you're cruising at 60 mph on the highway.

Yeah and it's about 20hp for a regular car IIRC

 

[Bignate603]

You COULD do this, but I don't think you'll approach Chevy's distance or efficiency.

 

[Jugernot]

Not looking at even getting close to the Volt, just looking at making a plugin hybrid on my own without spending $40k for a Volt. I figure, it would cost around $11k total for everything, plus the car. It would take around 4-5 years to recoupe my costs and I'd have to replace the batteries at year 3-4. Though lead acid batteries are cheap, around $70 for a 1000cca battery at Walmart/Sam's Club. It'd be $1k for batteries.

 

[herm0016]

walmart batteries will last about a month under those conditions. they are not designed for continuous duty, only to start your car.

 

[Jugernot]

Ok, deep cycle batteries then... still looking at less than $2k for batteries.