The Prius is not the first vehicle I would consider for this, but if you are going down this track then there are a couple remarks / additions / questions:
- Are you suggesting to essentially do the "pusher-trailer" by using the motive (front wheel drive) power from the Prius? If that is the case then the optoin to generate electricity and recharge the EV pack is just an additional benefit, not the main feature of the trailer, since you can use the trailer to maintain speed and only use the EV power to accelerate. - you will have to keep a 300V (273.6V nominal) battery pack, which is not the strong point especially of the NHW-10 with its D-cell stacks. - if your EV pack is close enough to the 300V of the Prius, you might consider hooking it up instead of the Prius pack and add a resistor divider array (19 resistors) to keep the Prius BMS happy if needed to keep the Prius going. Added benefit could be that the Prius will maintain (charge) the EV pack if indeed close enough in voltage, but even a low lower voltage can be used to allow the Prius to start its engine, my NHW-11 still made attempts to start the engine at 150V battery voltage. If you are unable to use the EV pack or simply don't want the direct EV battery connection to cross over the hitch, you can still consider running a charger off the Prius pack and use it to re-charge the EV while driving. The interesting thing is that Prius has electronic throttle control and accelerator pedal sensor, no direct linkage. So controlling it from the pulling vehicle is a lot simpler. If you are after an efficient pusher-trailer then even getting a cheap (crashed) NHW-20 (2004+) should be considered. They do not even run the engine until you press the accelerator or there is a need (battery charging) so you can have it sit "idle" with the engine off until you need the pusher trailer to start moving and simply pushing the accelerator will start the engine and get you going! Cor van de Water Chief Scientist Proxim Wireless office +1 408 383 7626 Skype: cor_van_de_water XoIP +31 87 784 1130 private: cvandewater.info http://www.proxim.com This email message (including any attachments) contains confidential and proprietary information of Proxim Wireless Corporation. If you received this message in error, please delete it and notify the sender. Any unauthorized use, disclosure, distribution, or copying of any part of this message is prohibited. -----Original Message----- From: EV [mailto:ev-boun...@lists.evdl.org] On Behalf Of George Tyler via EV Sent: Thursday, February 16, 2017 11:22 AM To: 'paul dove'; 'Electric Vehicle Discussion List' Subject: Re: [EVDL] Generator? 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 > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL > Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > = = = = = = = = = = = = = > Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. > To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the > webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag > racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
