New to EVs
 

Hello everyone, I am new(ish) to EVs but I am in love with them.
My dream is to salvage old cars and make them into EVs (or series hybrids)

The car I would most like to convert would be a 1966 Mustang. But I am also interested in RangeExtenders/Series Hybrids. Has anyone on here had any luck with a range extender?

Thanks!
-Josh

BenNelson has a Geo Metro that he converted. He recently added a propane generator that can power his charger. Its not enough to keep up with the power draw, but it does extend range and can charge while parked somewhere without power.

I also know a guy with an electric pickup truck. He sometimes throws a gas generator in the back for when he has to do a long trip.

The big thing with a generator for a serial hybrid is that it needs to be powerful enough to equal the average energy use of the motor. Typically, that's pretty big.

One of my "back-burner" projects is a bio-diesel pickup truck. I have some ideas for making that a bio-diesel/electric hybrid, as the truck frame gives a lot more room for hybrid components than a Geo Metro ever would.

Oh very cool. Are you planning parallel or series? I have a diesel jeep I'm planning and I would love to make it a slight parallel hybrid (add an electrical assist engine) but I'm having trouble thinking of how to go about it while maintaining the 4x4

For a truck hybrid that is more engine-based, than motor-based, I would go with something similar to the EMIS system.

Basically, it's adding a motor in the middle of the drive shaft so that the engine passes power through the motor to the rear wheels, but that motor can also power the rear wheels or boost the power from the engine.

Would be a fun way to burn rubber too!

Ya that is what I would love to do, I've read about the EMIS. But the hard part would be making the engine and motor talk to eachother

It would be interesting to see if this would be possible:
Not for an SUV, but maybe a smaller car. Keeping a normal engine in the vehicle, keeping it rear wheel drive. But having a front wheel drive electric drive system. You can drive the car as a normal ICEV. And make it so you can place the engine in neutral and use the electric system while letting the engine run as a generator for the battery.
Adding some cylinder deactivation in their would be cool too

Why not use a small SUV? I have been thinking that a small 4wd SUV would be ideal for a hybrid. Eliminate the 4wd and drive the second axle with an electric motor. I would think it would be way easier than converting a 2wd car. You could incorporate a generator or just use the electric motor in town and the gas engine for longer trips.

I always thought a Geo Tracker - 4 wheel drive, manual transmission would make an excellent platform for an experimental gas / electric hybrid.

Each system would independently power each axel. It would be a "through the ground" hybrid.

Put the electric system on the rear axel though - doing burn-outs without revving an engine always takes people by surprise!

How could you make the electric system and engine communicate?