Hi Everyone!
I am pretty new to all this but have long had an interest in renewable energy generation.
Two summers ago, I built an electric motorcycle, and last summer, I built an electric car.
The range on the motorcycle is about 30 miles - but that's only if I am driving slow. It's probably about 20 miles if driving faster. Plus, I need to get back home from wherever I went on the same charge. That means the cycle can really only go 10 to 15 miles out.
It is running on 4 Optima Yellow Top AGM batteries (55ah each) in series as a 48V system.
What I would like to do is build a "range-extending trailer" I would have a gasoline engine (or possibly diesel or ethanol) power a generator that could feed power to the batteries.
I would hook up the trailer to the cycle for longer trips to extend the range of the electric vehicle. It would more or less convert the cycle into a serial-hybrid. I am not planning on having the generator provide all the power for the cycle, just SOME of it, to keep the cost down.
While I don't actually have an ammeter on the cycle, the car takes about 100 amps to cruise, so I am guessing the cycle is about half that. So maybe 75 amps to cruise while pulling a little trailer?
So what I need to find out is how to build/modify a generator that will output about 56V (14V for charging x 4 batteries in series)
I have heard that an older-style alternator can be modified with a custom external voltage regulator to output higher voltage. That's all a little over my head though!
I'm not even really sure where to start on this, but it looks like this is the best web forum out there for this kind of thing.
All advice is welcome! Just help point me in the right direction!
Thanks,
Ben
http://www.evalbum.com/1133
http://www.evalbum.com/1595
http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/cycle/Welcome.html
http://greencarvideos.blogspot.com/