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Old 03-10-2013, 10:05 PM   #1 (permalink)
Boostermoose
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Electric drive with an ICE generator or ICE drive with supplementary electric drive?

Alright you have two identical vehicles. Say, two small size diesel cars.

Car A, Diesel-electric: Rig up an electric motor to the non-drive axle, extra batteries that can be plugged in, extra throttle pedal, wiring, etc. At low speeds the diesel ICE runs at low idle and thats it. This charges the batteries to run the electric motor which would move the vehicle. You keep the diesel in neutral during these times so you can still steer. At higher speeds you just use the normal ICE engine to move the vehicle, shutting off the electric motor. You would have two throttle pedals and would have to make the decisions of when to change between motors. Which is in contrast to a production hybrid where a computer does that.

Car B, Electric-diesel: Gut the ICE, do a basic EV conversion with extra batteries that can be plugged in and all. But, add a very small diesel motor somewhere to top up the batteries when needed. The electric motor would be doing all the work at all speeds.

So which would be more efficient?

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