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Why no ice/gen only cars?

5925 Views 7 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  Tom, 
imflyn
If the volt is predicted to get 50 mpg when operating in it's range extender mode, why don't we have more vehicles made like that without the battery aspect? Locomotives have been doing it for a long time. This is OLD technology, but was never implemented into cars. Why don't we have cars that are purely electric drive with an ice/gen combo to power the whole thing. Weight and cost would be reduced with no battery to muck around with. I wondered about this several years ago. Most hybrids use the engine as part of the drivetrain and a motor to suplement it, correct?
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imflyn
I would have figured a couple good capacitors could handle the requirements of acceleration, stop and go, etc. The engine powering the generator could be tuned to be quite effecient seems how it would have a narrow RPM band. Oh well. This is why I didn't go into engineering. I make my own brain hurt with all the questions.
I guess the real reason all the hybrids and stuff are now coming to market is oil prices. It was so cheap for so long, low cost engines were cheaper than expensive hybrids that would never make up for the extra purchase price... until now with $100/barrel oil.
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