Here is the beginnings of a interesting biofueled hybrid project.... biodiesel/veggie oil to replace the diesel.
http://www.mrsharkey.com/pusher.htm Some Background: Electric vehicles are great for around-town driving. Clean, quiet, and up to the task of keeping up with urban traffic. Longer trips can be difficult. The problem is that they do need to be recharged. Mine has a range of approximately 40 miles, so a trip to, say, Portland (100 miles) would require two stops to charge, at about 8 hours per stop. Obviously, this is unworkable in terms of convenient traveling. I could drive my internal combustion engined pickup, but it's kind of worn out, and gets only "OK" mileage. What's needed is a way to convert the EV into a hybrid for longer distances. Enter the EV pusher trailer, which allows me to have an internal combustion engine to drive the EV forward longer distances when needed, but is detachable for around town use when I want to drive as a pure electric vehicle. How It Works: The EV pusher is constructed out of the front end of a 1978 Volkswagen Rabbit, powered by a 52 horsepower diesel engine. It has a stock three-speed automatic transmission, axles, and CV joints, all connected to the front wheels as a front-wheel-drive vehicle. It is constructed as a trailer that is towed behind the EV, just like an ordinary utility trailer. Through the use of electronic controls, I am able to operate the ignition, starter, and throttle in the trailer from the driver's position in my electric car. To use the trailer, I start the engine, open the throttle, and the diesel engine in the trailer drives the EV forward through ground traction provided by the front-wheel-drive train in the trailer. Usually, the electric drive system in the EV is used to help the EV/pusher combination up to speed. Once highway speed is attained, I have several operating modes, some of which are capable of either preventing the batteries from being discharged during driving, or even recharged as the trip progresses. Using the pusher trailer, I can cruise at 65 MPH continuously, and have kicked the speed up to 75 MPH briefly for passing. Further tests may show that higher speeds are possible. Range is limited only by the availability of diesel fuel, which is pretty common these days. http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/yohn Steve Spence Subscribe to the Renewable Energy Newsletter & Discussion Boards. Read about Sustainable Technology: http://www.green-trust.org [EMAIL PROTECTED] Biofuels at Journey to Forever http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuel at WebConX http://webconx.green-trust.org/2000/biofuel/biofuel.htm List messages are archived at the Info-Archive at NNYTech: http://archive.nnytech.net/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
