Verne Pavreal asked me to post this: Some time ago he and I were discussing
a range extender generator for an electric Nissan NV200 van he wanted to
buy, came up with the idea of using the front end of a Toyota NHW10 Prius, I
have a few. A friend of both of us in Auckland, George Spratt, has used a
Prius engine/ gearbox on a trailer to extend the range. He tested it against
a Honda inverter/generator (the most efficient he found) and got similar
consumption, so it's probably as good as you can get. George Sprat runs it
on wood gas now.
Lots of advantages, plenty of power, it's all there, trailer built
in. It could either be a pusher trailer or take out the drive mechanicals
and it's just a generator, or could be both. All the engine electronics is
there too! Depending on which way you go, you may need a starter motor:
there are other cars that are not hybrid that use the same block, so you can
get the starter from one of those like George Sprat has done. Engine
produces 40kw, but you may have to use both MG's to send all this to the
batteries. If you use a lot less you can set the valve timing to optimize
consumption.
-----Original Message-----
From: EV [mailto:ev-boun...@lists.evdl.org] On Behalf Of paul dove via EV
Sent: 16 February, 2017 5:03 AM
To: EVDL Administrator; Electric Vehicle Discussion List
Subject: Re: [EVDL] Generator?
Alan Cocconi designed the EV1 electronics for GM.
Sent from my iPhone
> On Feb 13, 2017, at 12:33 AM, EVDL Administrator via EV
<ev@lists.evdl.org> wrote:
>
> The most efficient EV APU I know of was the "Long Ranger" trailer Alan
> Cocconi built for his Honda Civic hatchback EV about 2 decades ago.
> He used a (Kawasaki?) motorcycle engine.
>
> http://www.evdl.org/docs/acp_lr.pdf
>
> I'm not sure the gadget advertised in the flyer linked above is the
> same as the one Cocconi actually used to drive his Honda EV all over
> the US. It says it generates 9kW and "extend[s the] range by 200
> miles per 5 gallon tank of fuel."
>
> That would be 40mpg, but I recall reading that the one Cocconi
> actually used with his Honda, which AFAIK actually could keep up with
> the EV's energy use on the highway, got a real world highway mpg of 32.
>
> For direct comparison, a similar Honda Civic VX or HF hatchback of
> about the same vintage got real world highway mpg in the 48-56 range.
>
> I don't think I ever read anything about exhaust emissions from
> Cocconi's APU. Anyone know how regulated motorcycle emissions were in the
mid-1990s?
>
> Cocconi was (presumably still is) a genius engineer. I don't know
> about your engineering background, but I know for sure that I
> personally could never cook up something even that efficient and reliable
in my garage.
>
> Apparently building an APU isn't quite as simple as just chucking a
> genset in the back and plugging your EV's charger into it. We've had
> quite a few discussions of fueled APUs on the EVDL over the years, and
> I recall reading reports of burned-out gensets, chargers, even
controllers. Be careful.
>
> Honestly, I think you'll get better results overall by just keeping an
> ICEV in the garage for long trips -- or renting one when you need it.
> Or you could just buy yourself a Chevrolet Volt. Be aware that the
> Volt's mpg in "charge sustaining" mode is decent but not all that
> impressive. EPA says 37mpg, and owners seem to get around 34-35.
>
> But if you're in it for the technical challenge, I guarantee that
> building and integrating your own fueled APU will give you plenty of
that!
>
> David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
> EVDL Administrator
>
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