AutoblogGreen's convert your car to a plug-in project
Warning: Don't try this. We don't know what may happen. We have not tried this ourselves yet. It may be unsafe for reasons we cannot predict.Imagine if you could convert your regular gas car into a plug-in car with off-the-shelf components? Maybe you can! That orange thing in the picture is a battery back up you charge by plugging it in. You can recharge your battery with the cigarette lighter in your car. Plug in the the back up battery, attach the battery to an inverter adapter, then the adapter to the car's cigarette lighter and viola; you have a plug-in car. The alternator uses gas to charge the battery. If you charge your battery from the plug, you will save gas. It's just that simple.
However, the battery is only used to provide starting power and power accessories when the engine is off. When the engine is running the alternator provides the primary power to drive accessories, fuel pumps, ignition, lights and pretty much everything else electrical. So you won't see much gas saving unless you like to run your lights with the engine off. For this to be really useful, car makers would have to add plug-in capability, more batteries and develop a mechanism to cycle the alternator when the battery state of charge gets low.
OK, this isn't exactly Cal Cars but we thought our readers might be interested in our little idea before we begin to tinker with it in the garage. Would you go through the trouble of plugging in your car just to save a little gas and have your accessories like the car radio powered from the cleaner power grid? Tell us ideas you might have in comments. We would love to hear them. Again, we don't advise you try this. We really don't know if something bad will happen. We just want your advice on the idea of a mild plug-in car.
(Fellow AutoblogGreen blogger Sam Abuelsamid contributed to this article.)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tim mcleod 9:30AM (9/06/2007)
I too am experimenting beyond my knowledge base of safety and functionality issues to try to accomplish something similar. My 11-yr 3.3L FWD has a slowly dying transmision and gets only 19 mpg at best. What if I gave up acceleration and top speed for this daily driver that only needs to reach 35 mph for a 20 minute commute and put in the smallest possible 24 or 48 volt system driven by a tiny 4-stroke ICE off-the-shelf generator in the trunk (plumbing it's exhaust thru the catconv and muffler). It's still ICE-powered, but cuts my displacement from almost 3 & 1/2 liters to 1/2. Could use just a few expensive batteries as a buffer for uneven power from the cheapo generator and drop a dive belt down to the rear axle of this fwd vehicle. Probably not osha recomended but if can master the physical side of the drive train I might be able to continue on to a full electric conversion and ditch the little ICE and buy a few more batteries for gas-free range extension. Would keep a perfectly usable vehicle from the crusher when the tranny dies (rebuild would cost more than total vehicle value).
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Andrew 9:38AM (9/06/2007)
Someone's already thought of that, and knows that ditching your alternator can net you a 10% increase in fuel efficiency... just take a read over at Metro MPG.com about it. The only issue? You'll pay more in batteries than you'd save in gas.
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Andrew 9:40AM (9/06/2007)
Argh, this comment system stripped out my url. The URL is www.MetroMPG.com. Scroll down and look for the "mods & tests" section on the left-hand side, and look for "Plug-in Blackfly: going alternator-optional nets +10%mpg".
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Travis Rassat 9:59AM (9/06/2007)
I have been thinking about doing something similar too, so I'll be watching closely on this little project. Another idea I had was to run the air conditioning off an electric motor, so it only runs when needed. I haven't put a lot of deep thought into it, though...
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Travis Rassat 9:59AM (9/06/2007)
Thanks for the link to Metro MPG, Andrew - it looks like a good read!
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Lascelles Linton 10:09AM (9/06/2007)
Andrew, Thanks! I thought someone probably tried something like it. I will write a follow up about it. Maybe the automakers will take notice :D
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Lascelles Linton 10:10AM (9/06/2007)
More direct link...
http://www.metrompg.com/posts/alternator-optional.htm
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Manu Sharma 1:30PM (9/06/2007)
Here's a REAL kit to convert your (RWD) car into a hybrid: http://www.go-ev.com/EMIS.html
These guys are well known in the EV circle for their WarP motors for EV conversions. This is their latest product.
BTW I submitted this link to ABG over a month ago but it was never featuerd for some reason.
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cowboy bob 4:24PM (9/07/2007)
Cutting out the alternator to get better milage/more power was thought of over fifty years ago by us race car drivers. This is also accomplished to a lesser degree by changing to a smaller pulley on the drive side, or a larger pulley on the unit side. The reduction in ratio means the unit spins slower, and causes less drag. The same practice is commonly used on water pumps. Power steering pumps also use gas. Y
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cowboy bob 4:29PM (9/07/2007)
As I was saying befor I hit the wrong key, You can save fuel by not having power steering, changing the pulleys on your water pump,(if not electric)and also the alternator. This is not dangerous as some other suggestions, and can be monitored with your gages for problems. Otherwise, look for the Volt from GM.
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