Not for nothing, IF the engine to genset was the way to go, don't you
think the car companies would have gone in that direction with their
hybrid designs?
Indeed they do run this way as I understand them. The vaporware
Chevy Volt is a series hybrid, or would be if the
company ever builds it. This is just what a Prius or Honda hybrid
does, except they also use the ICE for traction, and
all manner of horribly complex interaction between e-motor and ICE.
Indeed a series hybrid (generator/battery>motor>wheels) is much
simpler, you tell the electric motor how fast to turn the wheels and
the generator keeps the battery charged.
A parallel hybrid (engine and/or motor turns wheels) requires a
sophisticated control system to transition back and forth between the
engine and the motor.
The reason the car companies are going that route is that you get
both the engine and the motor working to accelerate the car.
The Prius has the engine, a motor and a motor/generator all driving
the same gear train.
The engine can drive the wheels and the generator at the same time.
Both motor and motor/generator can drive the wheels for better
acceleration or low speed electric mode.
When you slow down the wheels can drive the generator.
One of the motors is used to start the engine.
The software to orchestrate all this seamlessly is so complex that
Ford chose to license it from Toyota instead of developing it
themselves.
Andrew in Ann Arbor Michigan
