http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=200271706894

It would bring cost of the conversion kits to $3500

AutomationTech Inc

On the down side of that 6.8% grade, the ICE shuts off and you better hope the regen braking works to save wear on the brake pads. At the bottom you could find 50 –60% charge on the batteries depending on the length of the grade.

I think the major consideration for the IC engine is that it must have enough power to maintain the car at maximum sustained operating speed for long periods of time without help from the battery. If we assume the max sustained design speed is 80 mph, then the engine must have enough power to maintain the car at that speed for hours. 1/2 liter is not going to do that. Long grades add another variable to the engine specs. It might be good if the driver had the ability to control the charging of the battery based on what he knows about the road ahead. If he knows there is a long grade ahead, he could make sure the battery was charged before the grade. But then, with GPS mapping, maybe the car could “know” about the grade and “plan” charging accordingly.

You can buy such a simple and low cost vehicle today. They are called “Low Speed Vehicles” or “Neighborhood Electric Vehicles.” The most well-known version is the Zenn. The Zenn greatly exceeds the capabilities of a 1907 electric, but is limited compared to today’s cars, each of which costs something like a billion dollars (literally) to develop. The Volt is designed to compete in 2008, not 1907.

Could it go straight up the mountain pass from on I-5 from the desert to Los Angeles? Not sure from the sounds of it. It’s a steep hill for many miles and it might run out of juice despite the continuous charge. Might work great everywhere else.

But please elaborate – it’s a fantastic idea, maybe for another car.

Maybe this is the ideal application for a compact turbine – it will always “trickle” charge and can be ramped up or down easily with terrific efficiency.

I think the issue GM mentioned with the original 1.3 liter turbo 3 cylinder was weight and cost and vibration and noise from abrupt on/offs.

Interestingly, Toyota’s more complex tranny series/parallel design might give it an advantage by letting the tranny reverse generate electricity at the highest gear ratio?

This seems like Volt 1.0 which is ok by me. As long as the heavy car gets 50mpg after 40 miles and I religiously plug-in nightly to take advantage of cheap nighttime rates and an unburdened grid, it’s ok on the surface. (no more new powerplants – there’s capacity for 40,000,000 PHEVs to charge at night at the same time with no new plants)

But your idea should be revisited by GM and others.

In the meantime, for those who don’t want 100 mpg all the time with no plug-in option, PHEV daytime recharging with rooftop solar is the most responsible method so we don’t have to all pay more to build more power plants. (can’t understand why anybody couldn’t just plug in at night since it takes a while anyway)

Utility scale solar now costs less than nuclear (yay) and even rooftop solar costs less per gallon than gas. However, for most people who will be out all day, it’s financially smarter NOT to recharge during the day and sell daytime solar back to your utility for a higher price and just recharge at night for a lower price.

The only way to make daytime recharging by rooftop solar cost effective is if, and only if, you have to go out in the morning for a 40 mile round trip, have to come home for some reason, and have to go out again for another 40 mile round trip in the evening after a 6 hour recharge. Make sense? Otherwise, just sell to the utility and don’t recharge during the day at all.

Utility scale wind is now as cheap as coal! (another yay) Wind blows harder at night so batteries recharging all over the country at night are the ideal storage for wind which currently makes more energy at night than the grid can use. Backyard units start at $1,500 and many systems are $4,000+.

Backyard wind is not for everybody, it requires maintenance, solar does not. And it blows effectively when rates are cheap anyway. But it IS ideal for people in CA who can’t afford solar, who have tiered rates based on total useage, not time of use rates, because you can wipe out the highest tiers while still adding the new load of your PHEV. But if you live in CA, solar does the job better anyway, but it costs more up front. Wind is best for somebody off grid who wants a plug-in hybrid or for those few locations in the country where wind blows hard during the DAY and you HAVE to recharge during the day. Check out the wind and solar maps below.

The best place to learn about how much solar or wind is available in your area, or doing solar or wind yourself, or view product ratings for panels and turbines BEFORE you select contractors is http://www.homepower.com Also, http://www.solartoday.org is good too, but has no ratings. Both of these magazines are also available at big book stores like Borders and many public libraries.

Based on this conversation and the engine conversation it appears that there will be at least three set points becuase there has to be three power levels from the gen set.

1 – to slow down the drain on the battery after the initial run time on the battery

2 – to completely stop the drain on the battery at its lower discharge point, and keep the car going

3 – to run the car on the generator, and have extra energy to charge the battery while driving, and or have power for performance – computer alternates between the two.

I only wanted #1. I expected a 1/2 or 3/4 liter engine to trickle charge the battery when the car was driving – to limp it along and have the option to recharged parked With all the co sensors and safety stuff in place. Now we have a gas engine that’s bigger (2.2 liters if I remember right). Thats bigger then 1/4 of the gas cars that were sold this year in america. And there are at least three set points on the gen set which reduces the efficiency.

What we have today is a volt design for an electic-generator -motor car, which is now burdened by having to maintain a battery as an after thought.

I’m an electrical engineer; I’m on the wait list in the top 40. I can hang with all the tech talk – but I wanted to write this in plan english for Lyle’s mail list. I’m very disappointed.

A Electriic Genertor driven car is fine. A Plug in Battery car with a very small generator to limp it along when discharged is fine. I’d buy either! This has become strange. Like a hybrid-large SUV.

I’m 42 years old, and one of the “greenest” folks I know. 8 of the 12 cars I’ve driven for any length of time were GM. I’m a GM fan. I currenlty own a 1996 oldsmobile – I’ve been waiting for two years. I have money in the bank waiting to pay cash for my car. I’ve been on this mail list from the beginning. I read the info on the engine size and honestly ….and with genuine sadness, I purchased a 1.8 liter toyota the next day!!! I purchased the Matrix which is identical to the Vibe from GM, except GM burdens it with a larger 2.2 liter engine. I paid $3,000 more to get the SMALLER engine.

I’m not impressed. Sadly, I think its Game-Over for GM and the Volt.