Quote:
Originally Posted by jray3
pushers can be simple, extremely effective, safe and stable to tow, and if used only for occasional long highway trips, deliver greater overall lifetime mpg than a hybrid with or without a plug.
A gentleman who is not active online but probably the most accomplished EV pusher EVer is currently en route to my place on his semi-annual rental property inspections from Utah to So. Cal. to B.C. Canada and back, all done with an aircooled VW engine pushing his RAV4 EV!
My second pusher trailer (and first one built from scratch by me) has recently finished engine resurrection and installation (pulled from a Karmann Ghia totalled in a 1995 collision)!
Karmann Eclectric: Gettin Rangy
Some of the high school auto shop kids on this project had never dealt with points or a carburetor before, let alone valve adjustment.. I'll try to report back after road testing, which is due to happen in the next two weeks.
https://karmanneclectric.blogspot.co...rangy-ier.html |
What kind of fuel economy is the guy with the RAV4 getting? I'm curious what you end up getting too.
I highly doubt a pusher can get higher lifetime fuel economy than a plug-in hybrid with normal usage patterns. A Prius gets 50 MPG when being used as a "pusher". The Prime goes 30 miles on a charge, and a Volt about 50. A pusher could never be as safe and easy as a hybrid.
Pushers sound neat to me, and I'm happy people experiment with them, but it's never going to be a solution for the masses. It doesn't solve a problem that hasn't already been solved in other more convenient ways.