Electric fifth wheel (DIY through the road parallel hybrid)

[M_a_t_t]

Maybe I missed it, but there was no talk of a gas with gas pusher was there? If you use a small gas engine with enough power to maintain speed on a flat road it should work right? Main engine off (or maybe idle if auto) with small one propelling the car.

What do you guys think?

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by ai4kk

How about modifying an older 4WD car, say a Subaru Impreza with electric motors on the rear wheels only or maybe even a standard FWD car with a rear drive axle incorporated in from something small, like an old Toyota or Datsun or small traction motors directly at the wheels themselves. This way, the electric motor/generator could be tied into the rear wheels while keeping the gasoline motor for the front? One could either manually control the power split or devise a simple controller, perhaps via laptop that could read various parameters and issue the appropriate commands or some combination of the two.

That's roughly what Volvo is doing to its entire PHEV range, and Toyota does with 4WD versions of its hybrid SUVs, even though they also retain a regular hybrid setup on the front-end (with Toyota retaining the HSD, while Volvo resorts to a "pancake" motor between the engine and transmission) and just supplement it with the rear motor.