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Perhaps just sticking with rear-wheel drive, but with a motor added in the middle of the drive shaft, may be the simplest way to "hybridize" a pickup truck.
The machinist who helped me with the Electro-Metro conversion builds custom rear-ends for hot rods. I would think that chopping a drive shaft to put a motor in it would be nothing for him.
Battery location would be a little bit harder in a hybrid truck than an EV truck. EV pickups traditionally put the batteries UNDER the bed frame, since there is not gas tank, tail-pipe, etc in the way there.
I think that on my Chevy S10 4-cyclinder, I could likely find enough room under the bed for a few batteries, especially as a hybrid would have less of them than an EV only truck.
How about an engine to transmission to short bit to drive shaft to motor to other short bit of driveshaft to differential system?
This would be similar to the Honda Insight's Integrated Motor Assist, only the motor would be after the transmission instead of before. I suppose the main disadvantage of that is the motor couldn't double as a starter, although you could roll with the electric, and then pop the clutch when up at speed.
Come to think of it, by doing that and then totally removing the starter, would REALLY encourage the driver to use the electric at low speeds A LOT!
Using an appropriate motor, the engine could drive the motor as a generator while driving under load. This would be similar to turning on the air conditioning; you don't get as good gas mileage, but you get something else nice instead.
I don't know much about transmissions and differentials. If the rear wheels are hooked up to the differential, which goes to a motor (think double-shafted), using that motor as a generator, with the transmission in neutral, would apply drag to the wheels, correct?
Seems like a person could rig some fancy electronics to the brake pedal so that when you touch the brake, the motor starts to do some regen braking, although I believe you would need to use either an AC, DC Shunt-wound, or Permanent Magnet motor to work well for regenerating.
No, I am not planning to put my motorcycle's Etek motor on my pickup drive-shaft, although it is tempting.
Sounds like I have NEXT summer's project all planned out....
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