Insufficient area to generate enough power to move a usable distance. However, if you had a trailer with fold-out, solar cell arrays, you could get some serious power, enough to move a non-trival distance down the road . . . with the cells folded on the trailer.

Bob Wilson

 

Hence the system of trickle charging while parked

 

A light-weight version of plug-in would make sense with our NiMH batteries. They typically suffer a self-discharge over night. But the problem is 'tricking' the battery controller to recognize the higher charge state of the batteries the next morning.

One of the problems the plug-in crowd had to solve was getting the extra current into the battery / battery-bus without triggering a fault. Now it may be that bringing the batteries to their full, 80% charge level over night _MAY_ work. But I've not seen any reference to this being done.

The advantage would be to start with a 'fully charged', at 80% battery, instead of a 60% charged battery minus the last EV mode and overnight, self-discharge. But this is not a trivial problem and I would want a few extra features:

1. Cell pack balancing - having the cells at the same charge level is more important than trying stuff as much in the pack as possible.
2. Cell pack monitoring - I would like to indentify weak cells well before they could put the battery pack at risk.
3. Cell pack AH actual - I would like to know how much capacity is in the cells.

This would be part of a total battery management system, not just a 'dump in some power and hope it is better.' The reason is even a 'trickle charger' can damage cells. Caution is the word.

BTW, trickle charging at night from solar cells is non-trivial. <grins>

Bob Wilson

 

In that case, you'd need a lunar charger LOL

 

Bob,

1) Simple function of proper series/parallel wiring (final connections are at "adjacent" points, on opposite sides of the bank)
2) Technology currently exists to closely monitor charge efficiency to the point where individual cell/battery failures are quickly revealed.
3) The same technology in #2 easily measures amp-hour state (in-out-in between) to within 1% accuracy. You can even get a computer interface, for data dumps/spreadsheets/manipulation/etc.

 

Is this somthing that could be made cheaply and easily and sold as an aftermarket product?

 

After I design and add it to my Prius it will. These functions don't exist when the car is 'off' although the elements are evident in the mini-scanner data. The battery management system I'm thinking of works from house power, a plug-in lite, and works 'offline' to maximize battery health.

Bob Wilson

 

Exactly. This type of system has already been designed & perfected in the marine industry (house power/offline).

 

So if a "series" hybrid is a good idea, why have we not seen somebody take a car and dump the ICE, replace it with some motors, a battery pack, and then install a honda generator as the powersource? Would two EU200I linked geneartors providing between 3200 and 4000 watts of power be enough to keep a car going down the road?

http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/M...elName=eu2000i

I undestand these generators to be very efficient and relatively clean.

See: http://www.hondapowerequipment.com/M...elName=eu2000i

 

That sounds possible, but what about the fuel used in the generator? I'm not sure that a generator is cleaner than today's automobiles.