RE: Driven: Lotus Evora 414E

[thinfourth2]

Oldandfat said:

Pure electric cars are a non-starter for general use. They travel 40 miles and need 8 hours to recharge, whereas an internal combustion engine runs for 400 miles and takes 8 minutes to recharge.

You are so right

That would be utterly useless for general use like driving 40 miles to work and being parked for 8 hours while you work

How retarded is that

How many people do you know that drive 40 miles or less to do an 8 hour day at work

[kambites]

Oldandfat said:

So my question is :- why not just stick a 50cc motor generator in the boot in a silent box which purely and simply charges the batteries? It would use about one pint per hour when the batteries get a bit low and the car would run for half a year without being refuelled at all.

That's exactly what this is except with a bigger engine because no 50cc engine could ever provide enough power.

[J1JPE]

How's about a Sunday Service at Lotus - so we can ask some of the questions to the people who know the answers ?

if so, my name's first on the list - Garlick ..?

[D2050]

This is almost right as a concept but a couple of things I think are slightly wrong and have not yet seen any answers too. If the engine does not drive the wheels why not a diesel engine to drive the generator? After all the most important thing when driving a generator is torque, more torque the bigger the generator which means more power for the batteries / motor which then means splitting the power between charging and driving the motors may be possible. With a diesel motor running at say 2500 rpm the amount of fuel used would be very little. As an extra bonus no direct drive to the wheels means red ie untaxed diesel could be used or veggie oil. For performance drop the batteries and use high capacity capacitors instead to act as buffer between the generator and the motors, like Oskosh with their truck that can run an airfield or as most large dumptrucks. Only disadvantage is engine runs constantly but still more efficient than mechanical drive.

[kambites]

I'd guess the reason for choosing a petrol is NVH. There isn't THAT much difference in peak efficiency anyway - a couple of percent.

[D2050]

If there is not that much difference then why do all but the smallest of generators use diesel? It is because of the the torque of the diesel engine being able to cope with a sudden increase in loading of the generator.

[kambites]

D2050 said:

If there is not that much difference then why do all but the smallest of generators use diesel? It is because of the the torque of the diesel engine being able to cope with a sudden increase in loading of the generator.

But in this application there is no variation in loading of the engine - it's always running at full load (or switched off).

Of course another reason for not making petrol generators in this country is that you cannot, as far as I'm aware, by duty-free petrol for non-automotive uses; you can with diesel.

[kambites]

Actually I'd be interested to know what the law actually says on using red diesel to power electric cars. Presumably it's not legal to put it in a range extender hybrid, but is it legal to run a generator at home on it to charge an electric car? If so, what about towing a generator on a trailer?

[davepoth]

kambites said:

But in this application there is no variation in loading of the engine - it's always running at full load (or switched off).

Of course another reason for not making petrol generators in this country is that you cannot, as far as I'm aware, by duty-free petrol for non-automotive uses; you can with diesel.

And that's similar in quite a few countries which would explain it.

[RedSpike66]

So 250kg of batteries give a range of 30 miles without re-charging ?
Is that as far as batteries have come in 100 years ??

And the car weighs 377kg more than a petrol engined car with an engine and a gearbox in it ?
And every 300 miles cost 30 litres in petrol, plus a full recharge at home ???
What on earth is the point ????

Please just give up and give us what the majority want and leave idiotic cars for the idiots in California !!!

Edited by RedSpike66 on Tuesday 23 October 20:50