Quote:
Originally Posted by Ryland
How about having a gas engine that is on a direct drive to the drive shaft that is going to the rear axle? use a centrifugal clutch so that it spins free when the engine is not running and have it geared so the engine is running at it's max RPM when you are going 65mph or whatever you want your top speed to be, that way you extend your range while driving on the highway, you also keep it really simple and you don't have the losses from going mechanical to a generator to a speed controller to a motor to the wheels.
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Thanks for the input. I think that setup would be a lot more efficient.
There are a couple of implementation issues.
My present plan for the electric motor is a taper lock that increases the 2.125 inch motor shaft to the 3 inch inner diameter of the drive shaft. The motor is suspended by the normal foot mounts from a pivot on the truck bed frame and the drive end bearing of the motor supports the stub of the drive shaft to the u-joint, before going to the rear end.
This is as simple a connection as I can come up with so far. I'm not mechanically inclined.
My available gas engines all have much smaller shaft diameters and would be challenging to mount between the electric motor and the rear end. Since the engines are much lower horsepower, they may not take the flow-through power.
If the centrifugal clutch was on a belt-driven pulley that was mounted on part of the existing drive shaft, I think more bearings would be required? I make the assumption of belt drive. Would that be a belt or a chain drive? I looked briefly into a chain drive and was told, by someone much more knowledgeable about power transfer than I am, that a chain is not suitable for the speeds involved. He suggested a high speed synthetic belt that did good power transfer, isolated vibration pretty well, and was quite tolerant of getting wet. The problem was the price. The belt itself was over $500, 900 with the shieves (pulleys?).
I know I've got a LOT of losses planned with ICE -> induction motor -> VFD -> DC bus. I just happen to solve most of my issues electrically and minimize mechanical stuff that I need to get help with. We go with what we know.