Re: Run off of an alternator?

["Peter VanDerWal" <peterv@peoplepc.com>]

First of all for those who think Troy asked this question, I doubt
it...unless he is vacationing in Texas.


An electric vehicle typically requires about 10,000 to 15,000 watts of power
to cruise at 55-60 mph.  The alternator in your typical car produces less
than 1,000 watts.  So you need a much larger alternator to power an electric
vehicle.

The alternator in a typical car uses energy from the gas engine to power it
(that's why it has a belt connecting it to the crankshaft).  So the (much
larger) alternator that is going to power our EV needs some kind of engine
to power it.  In order to produce 10-15 Kilowatts it will require a 20-25hp
motor.  These tend to be much larger than your average lawnmower motor.
Plus the engine needs gasoline, probably 2 gallons or so every hour, so you
need a gas tank of some kind.  Probably 5 gallons or even larger.  Package
all this together and you end up with something that probably weighs 500 lbs
or so and requires a trailer to haul it around.  In fact that's pretty much
exactly what you see being towed around behind the T-zero.

> I thought to myself, if you can achieve longer distances with this trailer
> then why can't you find some sort of device that works like an alternator
> on a car to power your vehicle?
>
> I was wondering if this would be possible and if so, how much power would
> you need to produce to keep the vehicle charged while driving and running
> accessories?
>