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18/10/2007 1:04 AM
 
mattW
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Just wondering what you think of the chevy volt concept. I know that serial hybrids are theoretically less efficient than parallel ones but i really like the plug in potential, especially considering that 40 miles (65km) is around the sort of range that the average DC conversion can do. I am also impressed by the fact that a 1L multi-fuel generator can put out enough energy to power the motor indefinately. Makes me think maybe a trailer with a little honda generator wouldn't be so bad an idea afterall.
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18/10/2007 9:33 AM
 
evaustraliaadmin
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I think a trailer with a generator could be quite a good idea. There are a couple of things to look at though, much of which will depend on your own needs.
 
One is do you really need it. If you need to travel a long distance all the time then a true hybrid would probably be best in the long run. If you only need to travel a long distance once in a blue moon then you might be better just hiring a car for those occasions. If you do weekly short travel but longer on the weekend then a trailer that you can attach/detach as you need it would be perfect. What you don’t want to be doing is carrying around all the extra weight of a generator and fuel when you’re not using it, on the other hand you also don’t want to carry around ½ ton of batteries when you’re running purely on the generator.
 
The other thing to look at is the generator itself. Cars these days have very strict emission controls, if you’re not careful an old generator could be spewing out a lot of stuff you don’t want.
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18/10/2007 10:14 PM
 
mattW
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After some research i have realised that the other problem is size. Tthe biggest generator that honda makes is only 5500W continuous AC (and the DC is only at 12V). I hear highway speeds use around 15-20kW so it still wouldn't be very sustainable option. Thats why i am waiting til my wife and i can afford to own 2 cars (we're both studying atm), before doing my conversion. That way both vehicles can do what they are specialised to do. I worked out that after the initial conversion an electric car would cost me about $50 a week to run including rego, insurance, charging and replacing the batteries every three years, an ICE  would cost  more like $95! So for basically everything except range the electic would be the preferred option.
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19/10/2007 12:59 PM
 
evaustraliaadmin
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What sort of extra range do you see yourself requiring and how often?
If for example you just need an extra 50% then a generator could still be an option, charging at 5.5kwh while driving on batteries would give you almost 50% range increase. The other thing is you can increase your range by leaving the generator on when you get to your destination and charge the batteries for the return trip.
There is a lot you can do if your trips are predicable, gets a bit harder if you just want to jump in the car and do 300km on a whim.
 
On the minus side though the generator and extra charging circuitry to would probably make it less than cost effective.
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