Diesel/Gas Electric Eagle - would it fly?

[Canoe]

canoe: hmm, you've got me hooked, I can't wait to see it!

now, if you gave it 4-wheel steering along with 4 independent motors...that could get WAY COOL!!

See it?
Well, I do buy lottery tickets...

rear wheel steering?
I can't even figure out how to make it independent rear suspension to lose the rear diff and axle!

But the aftermarket part for the Audi Allroad air suspension looks interesting. Lose the front spring. Lose all but the primary rear leaf. More weight gone, and adjustable suspension.

[Canoe]

wish I had their money to work with...

http://www.gizmag.com/oshkosh-diesel-electric-hybrid-baja-1000-desert-race/16963/

diesel engine powers an electric generator, which provides direct power to the wheels, eliminating the torque converter, automatic transmission, transfer case and drive shafts. The system has no batteries, using ultracapacitors for energy storage.

[Canoe]

... look for diesel/hydraulic hybrids. They are being tested in UPS trucks right now and the results are astounding.

Works well for years in Holder tractors. The diesel-to-pump output pressure can even be electronically regulated and hence pulsed to the drive motors instead of letting them spin freely due to torque. Think of it as ABS-like drive. (not for our use, but additional hydraulic loads can be added (power-take-off) and electronic control priority can be assigned to either the drive wheels or the PTO; with priority assigned to PTO, as the PTO load varies the PTO RPM is maintained - constant velocity PTO!)
Down side is the weight of the hydraulic motors at the wheels - they have to be very robust, as does the pump and the controllers. Fine for a tractor, and apparently a delivery truck, but the pump, hydraulic controllers and motors are a lot of weight compared to a generator and electric motors.

The diesel-hydraulic has to change it's RPM to provide speed control. Electric allows the diesel to run at an optimum RPM/load (optimize efficiency and emissions) and the excess is stored until needed, something hydraulic can't do. I note that Oshkosh is going the route of ultra capacitors, not batteries.

[IowaEagle]

Interesting concept.  If I was doing this I would probably replace the power plant as our auto transmissions need that throttle rod -- or would one just keep it in Drive?

[eaglefreek]

               HI Iowaeagle can you tell me why no body wants to talk to me about the electrick Eagle .....

                    IT would be nice to toss some ideas around a little ..It would get about 120 miles per gallon...

                     I could live with that .With a smile    ...............Don

Probably because of cost, range and knowledge to pull it off. If I were to do an electric vehicle it  would be something small and light like my Festiva buy have no desire.

[eaglefreek]

I have nothing against electric powered vehicles actually fond of them. I think they would be great in a metropolitan or dense suburb area but for me it wouldn't be beneficial. I have to drive 12 miles to get into town where there are a few stores. To go to the big town it is 25+ miles. I've put 8,000 miles on my Festiva in the  3 months that I have owned it.

[IowaEagle]

               HI Iowaeagle can you tell me why no body wants to talk to me about the electrick Eagle .....

                    IT would be nice to toss some ideas around a little ..It would get about 120 miles per gallon...

                     I could live with that .With a smile    ...............Don

Sorry for the late response.  I was out of the state for a few days.  I have no idea why, either.  I find it an interesting concept.

[eaglefreek]

            HI    I could not have a E car with a 50 mile range .The one I want to build has a gas one Cly motor that
                     runs a generator that supplies electric to the drive motor .I have tested the gen setup with a 5 gal
                     tank running the gen until it ran out of gas ..it ran for 13 hours non stop ....my dad lives in ten on
                     the ten river  and it is 11 hours from here I could drive to his house and 2 hours run time left....

                      That is around 125 miles per gal.....the range there is on range as long as you have gas you can
                       keep going now this is what I want to build................Don

                        I forgot there is only 2 battares

Did you test it with the same load it will see with the electric motor moving the Eagle? I would assume the generator would use a lot more fuel with a heavy load on it. Would this generator supply enough juice to keep the batteries charged and motor turning at highway speeds. Check out Neil Young's Lincvolt. Quite an interesting vehicle. 500hp electric motor with a micro turbine powered generator. http://www.lincvolt.com/

[twoslowinwyo]

check out any forklift repair outfits in your area, i've worked on elec. forklifts for years and they weigh around 10,000 lbs. for a small one. and those motors zip them around just fine. raymond and crown are the best ones out there, you should be able to pick up a reman mtr. for a couple grand. sounds like a fun project. keep us updated. LAZ

[twoslowinwyo]

just found this today, this is one heck of a snow rig. LAZ

http://www.dieselpowermag.com/features/1106dp_diesel_electric_south_pole_hummer_h1/index.html

[twoslowinwyo]

sorry, i ment to say one heck of a diesel-eletric snow rig.

teneagle, i used to work on raymond and crown. raymond were the best.

[twoslowinwyo]

go to www.raymondcorp.com they used to have d.c. systems but they changed to a.c. a few years ago. they are also pioneering fuel cell technology in their lifts. the ac sys. used a dc batt. with an inverter to run the ac motors, they also had re-gen. braking. contrary to popular belief and much sales hype regenerative braking DOES NOT charge the battery. the battery is used as a dump so the excess voltage has a place to go. before that they used very large rectifiers to hold the excess. see if there is a Raymond dealer or service center near you, they usually have rebuilt motors that are much cheaper than new (1500usd) and they will probably be able to help you with controllers and assd. hardware. hope this helps a bit, LAZ

[twoslowinwyo]

found this link on another forum, it might give you an idea what others are working on. LAZ

http://gas2.org/2009/06/15/huge-electric-semi-would-transform-trucking/

[kalve]

sounds like a good idea if somebody could get it to work

[Jurjen]

This is what we are looking for, even the color is very Eaglish.

http://www.carpages.co.uk/peugeot/peugeot-508-rxh-29-08-11.asp

It has a 160HP diesel engine for the front wheels and 40Hp electric motors on the rear, nice!