# On-the-Go Lithium Battery Recharge System



## gametime987 (Sep 20, 2010)

My name is Thomas Varisco and I am a senior Entrepreneur student at Wilkes University in Pa. For my Capstone Project I was asked to create a marketable product for which I will be pitching to real bankers. I have come up with the On-the-Go recharge kit for electric and hybrid vehicles. This system takes advantage of the moving parts and space of the vehicle. The wind turbines would sit behind the grill of the vehicle where the radiator would be on gas-powered vehicles. The air flow from the normal course of driving will spin the turbines adding charge to the battery. Solar cells are becoming much cheaper to buy and they now have paper-thin and flexible ones on the market that come in an array of colors. By adding a magnifying protective lens to the panels, even the smallest bit of light can help power the car. The electric cars have incredible power-output motors on each wheel that spin the tires with amazing amount of torque. This is much more than the car would need so by simply harnessing some of this energy into a battery replenishing system with the use of Generators/alternators by the wheel motors you can extend the range dramatically making electric cars optimal for long trips or the driven that wishes to drive their vehicle more aggressively. Please post any comments or suggestions to help me with this project. I am now in a feasibility stage and any input good or bad will be extremely helpful.


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

gametime987 said:


> My name is Thomas Varisco and I am a senior Entrepreneur student at Wilkes University in Pa. For my Capstone Project I was asked to create a marketable product for which I will be pitching to real bankers. I have come up with the On-the-Go recharge kit for electric and hybrid vehicles. This system takes advantage of the moving parts and space of the vehicle. The wind turbines would sit behind the grill of the vehicle where the radiator would be on gas-powered vehicles. The air flow from the normal course of driving will spin the turbines adding charge to the battery. Solar cells are becoming much cheaper to buy and they now have paper-thin and flexible ones on the market that come in an array of colors. By adding a magnifying protective lens to the panels, even the smallest bit of light can help power the car. The electric cars have incredible power-output motors on each wheel that spin the tires with amazing amount of torque. This is much more than the car would need so by simply harnessing some of this energy into a battery replenishing system with the use of Generators/alternators by the wheel motors you can extend the range dramatically making electric cars optimal for long trips or the driven that wishes to drive their vehicle more aggressively. Please post any comments or suggestions to help me with this project. I am now in a feasibility stage and any input good or bad will be extremely helpful.


Hello Thomas,

I suggest you start by reading this thread http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forum...-free-energy-perpetual-motion-over-13449.html 

Does Wilkes U have an engineering school or science department? Maybe you should check with those guys.

Regards,

major


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## gametime987 (Sep 20, 2010)

Thank you for the link. Many of the posts were extremely helpful. They do have an engineering dept. and i do plan on speaking to a professor there. The only think i was concerned with in the forum was that people hit on all aspects of my concept but they were speaking as though the vehicle will be running off the power of the alternator/turbine/solar panels but the notion is to use these concepts to add range to the battery not using the system to create a vehicle of perpetual motion.


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

Hi Thomas,

I hope this is a joke. If it is, it is not funny. If it is not a joke, it is sad.

Regards,

major


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## esoneson (Sep 1, 2008)

Thomas,

.........not really the best advertisement for Wilkes University.

Just stop Thomas. Sit down and THINK about it. There is a name for
folks that market, promote and sell products that won't and can't work,
they are called scam artists. If you don't see it, then just take the advice
of someone with 35 years experience building and selling hardware/software
products........pick another product.

Think about it........energy storage.....energy usage.....energy losses....how do the turbines turn?....what propels the vehicle?........where does the energy go.....
Energy in terms of joules in gasoline........battery chemistry.....energy losses in terms of heat, friction and by products. 
Think about it. It's really simple.....it's all addition and subtraction.
No miracles.

You have to do the research on the concept first before asking folks if they 
would buy it, else you are simply wasting your time and looking like a scammer.

Keep trying, I'm sure there is an idea out there worth marketing.....just not that one.

Eric
(Penn State, 1969)


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## gametime987 (Sep 20, 2010)

To say that this idea of mine is a joke or it's sad is not a helpful comment in the least. You would think I would have a better sense of humor than to write a posting on an EV forum. What I had asked for is serious feedback on a project I'm doing for a business class. As for sad, I am by no means an engineer nor do I have plans to be one, thus why I asked for the opinions of people that I figured would know the most on this subject, but low and behold all I managed to accomplish is a major ass**** from Ohio inputing his two cents without giving the scientific reasoning (which inturn he must lack) as to why this idea would not be feasible. I believe I have wasted enough time on this site and I'll seek other venues to find an actual reason without having my character criticized. Thank you so much for your help.


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## gametime987 (Sep 20, 2010)

Thank you Eric. That does make sense I am blind when it comes to engineering and how things work. I did believe it would be possible but apparently not. I will have to look into something else


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## gametime987 (Sep 20, 2010)

The goal of this project is to formulate a business that may be feasible and run it through from concept to figurative launch to show that I understood the concepts of marketing, accounting, advertising, etc. It is not a scam because it is not actually going to be sold. It is a figurative exercise that was taken too serious. I have obvious bit off more than I can chew by thinking this could ever be some truth in it. It's more about the experience then the product itself. Thank you.


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

gametime987 said:


> As for sad, I am by no means an engineer nor do I have plans to be one, thus why I asked for the opinions of people that I figured would know the most on this subject, but low and behold all I managed to accomplish is a major ass**** from Ohio inputing his two cents without giving the scientific reasoning (which inturn he must lack) as to why this idea would not be feasible.


Hi Thomas,

Look back at my 2211 previous posts on this forum and tell me I lack scientific reasoning or knowledge on energy fundamentals. And that thread I linked you to in my first post should have had many posts describing the fallacy of your hypothesis.




> Thank you so much for your help.


You're welcome. Glad to be of service.

That ass**** from Ohio,

major


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

gametime987 said:


> To say that this idea of mine is a joke or it's sad is not a helpful comment in the least. You would think I would have a better sense of humor than to write a posting on an EV forum. What I had asked for is serious feedback on a project I'm doing for a business class. As for sad, I am by no means an engineer nor do I have plans to be one, thus why I asked for the opinions of people that I figured would know the most on this subject, but low and behold all I managed to accomplish is a major ass**** from Ohio inputing his two cents without giving the scientific reasoning (which inturn he must lack) as to why this idea would not be feasible. I believe I have wasted enough time on this site and I'll seek other venues to find an actual reason without having my character criticized. Thank you so much for your help.


I disagree, The very first reply to this thread was one in which he gave you a link to a thread where we've already explained, in great detail, why it won't work. He just didn't retype everything in this thread, because honestly, we're tired of having to repeat ourselves for every new member with this wild idea of range extending contraptions. Almost all of these ideas go against the laws of physics. It happened so much that we actually created a thread, where you can go read all the reasons it won't work. We're not going to repeat what has been said many many times. If you don't want to research, then you're not ever going to get very far in your career. Part of being an entrepeneur is understanding the product and the audience. You may get the bankers to bite, but they're going to be mad when they don't see any sales because your MARKET doesn't buy into the idea and the product fails to live up to its expectation.


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## CrunchTime (Feb 13, 2009)

Maybe we should all just vote in the poll, and let the market decide 

No further comments will then be required...


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Looks as if one voter drank the cool-aid  It's frustrating that the education system doesn't cover basic concepts like this.


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## Crash (Oct 20, 2009)

Well, I don't plan to read all the responses, but I'm sure the usual thermal dynamics and loss laws have already been stated. 

Regaining energy that was required to push the car while still pushing the car is just as simple as one step forward, two steps back.


Good luck with your project.


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## Tahoe Tim (Feb 20, 2010)

Why waste your time on solar and wind generators on a car when you can bolt your systems on an airplane!

Heck, you could circle the world endlessly above the clouds and at much higher wind speeds.

Like an earlier post, THINK and LEARN before you post a poll. If you think we are being tough, wait until you present this to the bankers.


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## JRP3 (Mar 7, 2008)

Tahoe Tim said:


> Why waste your time on solar and wind generators on a car when you can bolt your systems on an airplane!
> 
> Heck, you could circle the world endlessly above the clouds and at much higher wind speeds.


Actually the solar aspect is possible:
http://www.solarimpulse.com/


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## Crash (Oct 20, 2009)

Planes and cars have different restrictions. Planes have far more surface area and don't deal with as much wind resistance and they don't deal with any rolling resistance. 

A solar powered plane is actually a good idea and has been done a few times.

Lets just think about a solar car for a second. I'm not an expert in solar, mind you, and I can put 2 and 2 together with this.

Solar racers use 2-3HP electric motors. The cars themselves weigh about 540Lbs with the driver. The entire surface of the car is covered with the highest efficiency photon cells (probably around 40%), they have a drag co-efficient of about 0.10 and average 52MPH in a race. Their motors are usually exceeding 97% efficiency and they only seat 1. They have NOTHING when it comes to luxury and you must lay down to drive it.

What does this come down to? That even with the best of the best of the best conditions, these giant solar panel platforms on wheels can hardly push a single person to freeway speeds.

Now onto the realistic side of things. Build a solar car that seats, lets say 2, and has a trunk. Now put panels on it. Where are you going to put them? Are these two going to be lying down the entire trip? 

We're going to add rolling resistance, weight, drag, and we're reducing the amount of cells by (lets just say) half. Now lets pretend our solar panels are 100% efficient. We're going to need a bigger motor. Instead of requiring 3HP, we're going to need 18HP to maintain our speed of (throwing a number out there) 50MPH. So we no longer can make enough power from solar cells to run a car. So you're going to need MORE cells. That means more surface area is required. Better make a bigger vehicle.

Congratulations, you're now a trolley car that seats 2 and only works while the sun is up and all the buildings around you are single story.

Solar panels are not for mobility. They're good for stationary tasks. Put them on your roof or get small ones to charge your laptop. You'll be lucky to run an air-conditioning system off of a large solar array on your car.

If these guys can only get 2kW out of ridiculously large solar arrays using the most efficient (and expensive) equipment, good luck getting even that out of the smaller arrays that you COULD afford. LOL


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