Generator for DIY Chevy Volt hybrid project

[BastiPhysics]

Please keep us up-to-date with your DIY Chevy Volt project!

[BastiPhysics]

Why don't you bulid in a 12-20 hp diesel Engine. You  could be a serious competitor to chevrolet volt. Maybe you could earn some money by coverting normal EVs into range extended EVs. If there was a small EV car avaible, with 20-40 Miles EV Range and further 200 Range extened miles I would buy it. Howerver, you shuldn't charge me more than roughly 20000 Dollar.

[BenjaminNelson]

@BastiPhysics

Anyone care to donate a diesel engine to this project?

I got the propane one for free. While propane is still fossil fuel, it burns clean and has other advantages. A diesel generator is the other way I would have went, but they tend to be heavy and expensive!

[BastiPhysics]

@BenjaminNelson

Sry, i don't have a diesel generator. The real millionaires all stated in a garage with a small budget! What if you buy two or three normal 12 hp generators and put them into a trailer. Each generator costs you roughly 500 dollar. The trailer is approx. 1000 dollar and a used Electric car in ebay is priced at 5000 dollar. You could drive your car without range extender for short trips and use the power generating trailer for long trips acoss our country.

[ajloder10]

That is a brilliant idea! I like the idea of a cheap, diy, limited-range hybrid!

[MrLowAltitude]

Nice video but... You have to tell me why there's a toilet seat hanging on your wall! :P

[BenjaminNelson]

@MrLowAltitude

When my current toilet seat breaks, I have a new one handy! Why else?

[BenjaminNelson]

I do have a manual for this generator. The trouble is that I have almost NO experience with Generators OR Propane engines. All of my projects are LEARN-AS-YOU-GO, but then, that's half the fun of them!

[eTwisted]

Ding Ding Ding. This what I've wanted to see - a 5hp IC battery charger - just enough to provide the steady state energy use to move the vehicle. A guy in Ottawa built a car like that and wrote a book about it - using a marine biodiesel battery charger for his EV. Do it right and the waste heat can heat the cabin in the winter so you don't need an electric heater for that. Part throttle efficiency of IC engines only looks good compared to gas turbines.

[SirTragain]

You can download the pdf service manual at lawnandgarden.manualsonline

just Google (tm) Generac+NP40G

[BenjaminNelson]

just a few quick notes on this project:

I got the generator for free.

It is NOT powerful enough to make all the electricity needed to run my car. The concept is simply to EXTEND how far I can drive on one charge of my batteries, and be a backup charging source while parked.

It is a relatively small generator - 3400 watts. That's enough power to run my house, but only about half what I need to drive my car down the road. I am hoping for a 50% boost in range while running the generator on a trip.

[whothehellgivesadamn]

@BenjaminNelson HAVE YOU CALCULATED HOW MANY MILES YOU SHOULD GET FROM THE PROPANE TANK IN TERMS OF ITS GENERATING POWER AND HOW EFFICIENT IS THE PROPANE GENERATOR VS. GAS, WHICH CAN BE TYPICALLY LIKE 20%. ALSO, IF I WERE YOU I WOULD ONLY GO FOR PROJECTS THAT ARE GOING TO ADVANCE THE ENVELOPE, MEANING THAT THERE ARE SO MANY PEOPLE SCREWING AROUND WITH WORTHLESS ELECTRIC CONVERSIONS NOW, BUT A FEW ARE GOING TO HIT ON COMBINATIONS THAT REALLY WORK, IN TERMS OF IMPROVING RANGE FOR EXAMPLE

[rikkiesix]

Super great.

Keep us updated on this

I like it

Greetings from Belgium

Erik

[vinmassa]

hi ben;ive often thought about this idea but i quickly go blank when it comes to how much power has to be produced via a generator to allow one to continue to keep driving and replenishing juice at the same time--just how would a person be able to do the math-im not sure if this even gets to the root of my question,please respond imreally curious,thanks,vince!

[eTwisted]

@vinmassa - roughly 5hp to 10hp - assuming no AC for something that is like a Chevy Sprint-Geo Metro. VW Beetle was about 70mph at 34hp. the best car - VW 1L is rated at 8.5hp and 99 mph.

[Micronix65]

I hope this works for you however. Looking at the size of that generator, I doubt it will generate enough power to maintain your batteries under highway speed load. I could not find the exact specs of that model, but i would guess, on propane it's no more than 4-5 hp, which would be under 4kw. What is the power usage of your car at highway speed? I would guess somewhere near 10kw depending on the efficiency of your motor. Just a thought. Good luck! I look forward to future updates.

[SirTragain]

@Micronix65 1hp = 0.7456kW but the motor output isn't the defining factor; it is what the generator can put out when driven by the propane motor.