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The thing about a generator that makes it possible to have higher overall efficiency, is that the load on the engine is constant, and since it has the battery as a buffer (and the peak torque can be met by the electric motor), it only needs to meet a bit more than the average energy used, so the engine can be smaller displacement.
Also, with the battery as a buffer, the engine only has to run some of the time. So the cooling system can be smaller - and it can be closed off when not in use, which lowers the drag of the vehicle.
Electricity is pure energy and doesn't need to be converted to heat to be used. And with a large enough battery - and with a low drag car - and with the electricity coming from renewable sources, it can be FAR cleaner than any fossil fuel vehicle.
Case in point: Edison2 VLC (Cd 0.164) with 34% efficient 250cc turbo single cylinder engine weighing 830 pounds gets ~110MPGe burning E85. Yet with a (DC?) electric motor and a 10kWh pack it weighs ~1140 pounds and gets 245MPGe.
The title of this thread is bass akwards and it is completely and utterly wrong.
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