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Is this intended to replace the battery in a regular
car? If so, why is it better? Why is energy density a
consideration? |
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Some aeroplanes already do this. |
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Your generator will need to produce enough power to crank the engine - a few kilowatts - so it won't be *that* small. |
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The tiny engine of the battery needs a tiny battery
to start. The gasoline is continuously supplied by the
car's fuel itself. No need for battery anymore. |
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Future benefit: Smaller batteries for everything. |
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If I may be so bold as to restate the idea: |
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An electric vehicle is proposed, in which a minimal battery/supercapacitor is constantly recharged by a small gasoline powered generator, sized such that at its most efficient output point, it supplies the equivalent of the average power requirement of the vehicle. The battery is sized so as to be only large enough to store enough energy to provide for short transients in demand above the continuous output of the generator. For the periods in which the battery/supercapacitor is drained and additional power is still required, the generator may be made to operate at a higher power output, above the maximum efficiency point. |
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If this is a correct restatement of the idea, you've just described what is already known as a "series hybrid". |
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Mmm yes but I love the idea of the fuel tank and IC engine being packaged inside a battery casing so it can be swapped into any battery powered device. |
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I guess the question is: can you build a generator,
a fuel tank for the generator, a starter system for
the generator, and a temporary accumulator to
allow the generator to provide enough power to
turn over a big engine, in a space smaller than a
regular 12V battery, and for a comparable cost? |
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I suspect the correct answer is no. |
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The problem with the idea is that it doesn't say
what it meant to achieve. What are the
shortcomings of a car battery that will be solved
by replacing it with a small generator, starter
system, accumulator etc etc? |
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Put it another way. Imagine an alternative reality
where every car had a big engine to drive with,
and a small engine to start the big one. After
decades of frustration with the temperamental
small engines, someone comes along and says
"Hey! I've invented this thing called 'battery' - it's
only the size of a shoebox, it has no moving parts,
and is way cheaper - whaddya think?" I think he
would make a fortune is what I think. |
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Maybe its engines all the way down... |
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WIth a little bacterial flagellum to start things off? |
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The thing is that gasoline has SO MUCH more power
to weight AND volume than any known battery, that
the making of a small (rc plane) engine sufficient for
generating the output of a car battery, would
probably EASILY fit into the space of a car battery,
and max's suspicious no gets the marking of
incorrect. |
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No Freefall that's not what I proposed. Sorry. |
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Most RC plane engines run on alcohol or nitro fuels, don't
they? |
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The question remains - why? A car battery occupies
less than a cubic foot of space, and weighs, what,
about 10kg? |
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And in its favour, it has no moving parts and, in
general, needs no maintenance. |
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Why will my car be better with a little model engine
in a box? |
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well... if there was (or could be) a 4kW (efficient) IC genset the size and weight of a car battery that would be pretty neat. |
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// The thing is that gasoline has SO MUCH more power to weight AND volume than any known battery // |
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Not true. It would be true if you said "ENERGY to weight". But for a short burst of POWER, a battery and motor can compete very well against a gas engine. |
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Since you're trying to replace a battery with an engine AND generator, you'll loose for sure. Sure you might match the peak power of a cheap car battery with an RC plane engine running at some insane RPM with a muffler that cuts the noise level from painful to highly annoying, but that won't be reliable or cost effective. And as soon as you do that I'll go and swap out the old lead acid battery for some A123 Lithium Ion batteries and make you cut your size and weight by a quarter or something. |
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To quote from one of the foregoing annos: //Why
will my car be better with a little model engine in a
box?// |
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Everyone seems to be overlooking the obvious
advantage here—it
would allow you to kick start your big block V8. See,
normally the
compression on an engine like that would be far too
much to
overcome with just your sissy little leg. But if you
replaced your
battery with a 50cc two-stroke engine/generator, you
could start
THAT engine by means of an extra pedal (perhaps a
fold out design
to the right of the gas pedal). Then the electricity
generated could
be used to run the regular engine starter (or perhaps just run the starter directly off
the two-stroke). |
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I dunno about you all, but I'd feel pretty badass
starting my monster
pickup the same way I start my classic Hawg. |
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Well, that depends on what brand of "monster" pickup you
have in mind... |
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//Why will my car be better with a little engine in a box ?// |
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It might improve the electrics somewhat, and you'd have a portable genset for camping, etc. Of course mostly because it's a little engine in a box. |
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I don't think there is a rule about "No spitting in the halfbakery", but it's so unhygienic. |
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I think this would be a hit for smaller applications, I can imagine filling up my laptop petro-battery as petrol station on Sunday nights. |
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