A wheel with a motor waits for you at the gas station. It's stabilized in its station and has a low "harness" in front. You pay the fee, and then back up to it and drive ONTO the harness. The harness then "hugs" the wheel (pulled back by an electric motor) and the car is raised so that it now is leaning only on the single wheel in back. The harness can extend to most available EV car sizes. You are supplied with the remote control, and voilla, you are a combustion motor driven car, going on long distance rides. When you reach the next city, you enter the gas station, depart from the wheel and motor.
Safety precautions: Motor stops if no communication. Frequent (nanosecond) communications check. Mechanical locking devices for attaching / detaching.-- pashute, Jul 01 2010 Wouldn't a generator on a trailer be easier?-- MisterQED, Jul 01 2010 Yes, but less efficient, and an electrical coupling would be needed.-- 8th of 7, Jul 01 2010 wouldn't you rather have it t'other way around ? a full fledged ICE vehicle for high-speed long distance travel then an electric shell for tooling around the city at low speeds (where the one-wheel rear-end and weight shift isn't as important).-- FlyingToaster, Jul 01 2010 Hey Flying! A few minutes after I posted this, I was away from the PC, and thinking about it, realizing that I should probably delete it and put it the other way around, like you said.-- pashute, Jul 01 2010 umm... take a regen-only hybrid and put batteries in the trunk then run on non-ICE only in the city ? not terribly complicated in theory that: obvious downside is parasitic weight of the ICE engine and trappings.
You could have two different "trays" for the engine compartment though, one with all the ICE stuff (engine, fuel tank, exhaust), the other with batteries (and maybe an itty bitty turbine emergency range extender). But that would be 2-300 pounds each at least, so the target market (people with a garage) would probably also be looking at getting two cars instead.
Note that we already have an idea on here somewhere for a one-wheel electric thingy that you attach to the rear-bumper of a minivan.-- FlyingToaster, Jul 02 2010 //Wouldn't a generator on a trailer be easier?// //Yes, but less efficient, and an electrical coupling would be needed.// No, generators are very efficient and the part of the power that goes directly to the road is reasonably efficient. The inefficient part is charging the batteries, but since you will only be charging at 100% usage, that is as efficient as they get. True it COULD be more efficient to directly drive the car with the motor, BUT that requires the added weight of a transmission which would be heavier than a generator, tires and brakes, which can support and stop a significant portion of the cars mass and handle the duties of a suspension, etc. There is a case that the aerodynamics could be better if specifically tailored, but it also could be worse as it would raise the rear roof line.-- MisterQED, Jul 02 2010 random, halfbakery