# ?Range Extender? trailer??



## major (Apr 4, 2008)

*Re: “Range Extender” trailer??*



MBEV said:


> I am looking at the possibility of making a small little “Range Extender” trailer. Maybe a stupid idea! If so why?


Hi MBEV,

Been done. Here are a few examples of the best I've seen.












http://www.evnut.com/rav_longranger.htm

http://www.evalbum.com/2312

Search for long ranger and you'll find more.

Regards,

major


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## Bowser330 (Jun 15, 2008)

*Re: “Range Extender” trailer??*

Definately not a stupid idea...Its essentially the concept of the chevy volt which is a highly anticipated production car...

These are a handful of things to consider when dealing with a series hybrid setup...

1) Number of Amps used by your EV, to calculate how many Amps you need from the generator to extend your range
2) Generator to supply Amps mentioned from point(1) and a charger to output those Amps to your battery pack
3) Type/Chemistry of Battery in your pack that can take Amps mentioned in points (1) and (2)
4) BMS that will work with this setup.
5) Genset weight and impact on range

I have read that smaller/lighter cars require 15hp to cruise at 65-70mph....15hp = 10kw, A 100V system would be drawing 100A to cruise at that speed...However a 200V system would only require 50A....And you can find generators on ebay for 1-2K$ that can supply 50A @ 200V...Additionally lifepo4 batteries can take much higher charge rates than other battery chemistries and should be fine accepting a 50A charge...


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## MBEV (Sep 28, 2008)

*Re: “Range Extender” trailer??*

I guess what I am thinking of is only a small range booster keeping weight and cost down as well. For example if it takes 50 amps from my main pack (= about 3600 watts in my case) to drive along at say 50 kmh (it is a very light small vehicle) then I would simply connect into the on board Delta-Q charger to top up with its maximum output current of about 12 amps. This corresponds to about 1200 watts into the charger hence maybe an inverter style generator that is capable of delivering a constant 1500-2000 watts. This might result over all in increasing the range by 20 -25%? Any views if logical??

Thanks

Bruce


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## DIYguy (Sep 18, 2008)

*Re: “Range Extender” trailer??*

Yes, it's very logical. I plan to do this with an 8kw genset. There are a few threads on this forum discussing this topic. Do some searching, you will find some interesting stuff.

Cheers.


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## MBEV (Sep 28, 2008)

*Re: “Range Extender” trailer??*

Thanks, had a look at all the related posts I could find on this topic, some interesting reading…

But I think I will still try a slightly deferent approach and stick with a very small light weight inverter style generator (something like this - http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SILENT-3000W-INVERTER-GENERATOR-caravan-camping-fishing_W0QQitemZ330315358417QQihZ014QQcategoryZ105813QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem ) and modify it to run on alcohol (we have some local knowledge on this now) thus reducing emissions from it and allowing it to run cooler. These are very quiet and would fit into something like this http://www.classicind.com.au/page4.html . 

As mentioned I will put up with the higher inefficiencies and just run into the on-board charger. This keeps everything very simple and totally allows the generator to be used for other purposes. The additional 12 amps into my pack will provide only an additional range of 20 to 25 % at the absolute best. If needed, I can increase this to 24 amps later via changing the charger configuration. 

But seems adding a large “old school” noisy polluting genset that weighs a lot more – one that would actually totally power the EV at 60 kmh – starts to become counterproductive anyway as you increase the watts required to move the EV around. I will have some real on road data soon so will be able to work out some more accurate projections.

Regards

Bruce


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## tj4fa (May 25, 2008)

*Re: “Range Extender” trailer??*



MBEV said:


> Thanks, had a look at all the related posts I could find on this topic, some interesting reading…
> 
> But I think I will still try a slightly deferent approach and stick with a very small light weight inverter style generator (something like this - http://cgi.ebay.com.au/SILENT-3000W-INVERTER-GENERATOR-caravan-camping-fishing_W0QQitemZ330315358417QQihZ014QQcategoryZ105813QQtcZphotoQQcmdZViewItem ) and modify it to run on alcohol (we have some local knowledge on this now) thus reducing emissions from it and allowing it to run cooler. These are very quiet and would fit into something like this http://www.classicind.com.au/page4.html .
> 
> ...


I wouldn't buy anything from the eBayer you linked. Here is his negative and neutral feedbacks...don't waste your money with him.

http://toolhaus.org/cgi-bin/negs?User=dreamrider_store&Dirn=Received+by&ref=home

For the smaller range extending generator did you see this site? 
http://www.evconsultinginc.com/articles/hybridizing_dc_system.html

Personally, I'm going for the bigger series hybrid setup myself enough to power the EV with the genset and trailer for longer trips and battery only around town.


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## Bowser330 (Jun 15, 2008)

*Re: “Range Extender” trailer??*

http://www.evconsultinginc.com/artic...dc_system.html

Method #1 seems rather do-able...


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