I think this would be cool.

rbohm said:

you dont need to turn several alternators, you just need to run one generator that puts out about 1000-1500 watts to maintain battery charge, and many of those are 2hp generators. that is enough to run the generator, the electric motor to power the car, and an electric motor to run the a/c-heat system.

Click to expand...

Hehe... MAYBE with a 20hp engine and a very light vehicle.

Think about it this way... 2hp is less than what a scooter engine puts out. How the heck are you going to run a car with 2hp? I know what you're going to say... the generator is always running and charging the battery. Which would be true if the car sat still for 20 minutes before you drive it for 1 minute.

Electric cars typically use 100amps at freeway speeds just to maintain 60MPH. This is 100 amps at approx 100 volts (depending on the size of the vehicle). 100amps x 100vots = 10,000 watts. And that's only to maintain speed, you need more to accelerate up to that speed.

Also, here's another way to look at it. A 10,000 watt generator is more efficient when operating at 20% load than a 2000 watt generator is when operating at 100% load.