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Interesting idea James, but Chris posted first so he gets first response.
I see what you are saying. It's definitely worth testing. It's hard to find numbers on the backpressure inefficiency problem because most people who are putting turbos on don't like to talk about how its a bad idea or even the downsides(read OFF COURSE ITS A GOOD IDEA HOW COULD IT BE STUPID). And venting it off like most Catback systems use dual exhaust to avoid jamming the flow while venting any extra is an even better idea.
It could be done to just have the SE run the gen and bats. The issue with SE's though is they don't respond to changes very quickly at all. An SE capable of 100 hp would take like you said 5-10 minutes to respond to any kind of throttle change. So the engine has two options either output average power for driving(30-40) or output enough power for maximum driving(55-60 mph). If A is chosen I'd be fine in town but as soon as I hit a road thats 55 or the interstate I'm going to be draining those batteries rather quickly and its going to take at least another 5 minutes for the engine to respond to the amped up heat. Any time in either mode you are not doing 40 or 60 it's like holding the clutch in partially and revving it to 3,000 when you only really need 2,500.
That said using the SE in either mode would be more efficient than the ICE(IC=40% on a good day SE=65% on a good day). The reason for using the ICE still is it would allow for a dampening of the SE's problems. During the time the SE is spooling up. . .it's not even moving for about a minute and definitely not generating any power so you have to let the car idle for 5 minutes in the driveway. Any time you change speed you throw away five minutes of heat it won't recognize. It's not being entirely thrown away but for the first 2 1/2 minutes it's just washing across the plate with no effect.
The ICE let's you. . . modulate that a little. So you can change speeds and start off your car without losing as much energy. It's like using a diode in an AC circuit and then throwing in a capacitor. the diode shows a half wave form and you get no energy half the time with the capacitor you get nearly constant voltage. With the ICE you constantly get above 30% and when the SE is in sync you get much better, instead of starting at 0% and climbing to 60%.
And the weight of the engine is not so terrible its heartbreaking. Even if we call it 400 lbs for my 1.5 engine. . .I don't mind considering this would be like doubling your standard gas mileage or better.
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