[speculawyer]

There is a recent article (from an Axion supporter) stating that we should move towards converting a lot of vehicles to dual-mode: electricity or gas. It would be something like the Volt but it would be a bit more low tech. Instead of the series configuration, you could run on electricity or gas. Presumably, people will run on electricity for the first 40 miles or so and then switch to gas when your batteries run low. If you plug-in every night, you'd get the first 40 miles on electricity.

Here is the article:
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1315...v-conversions/

He talks about conversion kits, but upon searching, I realized no conversion such kit is available. Has anyone done such a dual-mode privately?

I did find an article that says Axion did one such conversion:

Axion has converted one pickup truck into a dual-mode vehicle that uses a 40-kilowatt electric motor for the front transaxle and a truck’s internal combustion engine for the rear axle. “The battery gives it a 50-mile range, and if you need to tow something, you turn the internal combustion engine on,” Buiel said. He estimated that he could produce a kit to convert pickups to battery power for less than $10,000.

http://memagazine.asme.org/articles/...logy_Focus.cfm

It sounds like a very interesting system (the dual mode ability) . . . I think they should document their conversion and put the info out there for the DIY community.

[toddshotrods]

I've been toying with the idea for something similar, but with performance in mind. The car is a 1991 Honda Accord sedan. I want to keep the original ICE powertrain up front, and add a performance-oriented electric powertrain in back.

My car weighs around 2700-2800 pounds as it sits, and gets around 30mpg combined (35+ highway). My plan was to remove as much weight from the car as possible to compensate for the EV setup, but there is no way to remove enough to even remain close to the factory weight, with both powertrains onboard. That means my fuel mileage will decrease, and battery life will be compromised.

When I heard about the new lithium cells (JR3P) I tried to balance the equation again, completely disregarding cost, but it's still too heavy. I need a pretty substantial pack onboard to provide the short bursts of acceleration needed, and even with lithium, it just gets too heavy.

The biggest problem I have though is that the weight is going to kill the handling. I like the handling characteristics of lightweight cars. My car is lowered, and I plan to improve the handling with occasional upgrades. The dual powertrain concept would completely ruin this for me.

I would think that would be the down side would still be there even for those seeking to improve mileage. Battery life would be severly affected by having to push an extra thousand pounds of ICE powertrain around on electric, and the mileage of the ICE would be even worse dragging an EV powertrain around after the batteries are depleted.

I am still hopeful, but a breakthrough in battery technology that allows an extremely lightweight pack is needed for my purposes. I need to get the entire EV system down to about 500lbs, because I can eliminate that much from the car to compensate. Anyone have a 200lb battery pack in the works, that can put out 300+ volts and...

Kaylor used to build an EV kit for the old VW and they even offered a kit to allow a small gas engine powering two high output alternators to charge the batteries while driving. This extended the range of the VW but these were used with the old style contact switch speed control and that allowed the use of alternators that may not provide a steady amount of power and maybe not even a good sine wave output but it still worked as the batteries did not really care. However if you have a modern generator you may have trouble if you need a clean sine wave. Modern controllers I think if I remember correctly need a clean wave and a choppy one may damage an expensive controller. If you want to do a conversion with only a contact speed control you may get it to work quite well. I too have been thinking of trying it out with my 72 volt set up. Hook up my charger to the generator and charge while I drive. I won't get full power from my little generator but I can extend the range. It will still need to be plugged in or stop for a while to charge the batteries. It may just work. I will be trying it out soon.

Pete : )