A Chinese earthquake rescue team deployed drones to light up the night and aid search and rescue operations after the devastating 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Myanmar.

[u/Red_Lotus_Alchemist]

[u/nertynot]

I just saw a picture on here of a tesla plugged into a generator that it was towing down the highway

[u/Wakkit1988 → u/nertynot]

Some company actually sold a gas generator that uses a tow hitch receiver, so you can charge your EV with a generator.

Also, EVs with built-in range extenders should start hitting the market in the next few years out of China. They anticipate vehicle ranges around 1000km.

[u/NotThreeFoxes → u/Wakkit1988]

Didn't the BMW i3 have one as an option or something? Its def not common but im almost certain there's been at least a few on the market already

[u/PCBen → u/NotThreeFoxes]

It did and I was really excited to get one one day - then they discontinued the i3 :(

I don’t think any of the replacement models have the extender anymore

[u/NotThreeFoxes → u/PCBen]

I cant get over the bicycle tires thought, I cant imagine theres a wife selection of tires that narrow on rims that big. Its also the only vehicle I've ever seen in my career that had non preformace non M+S rated tires. Normaly we can put a customers summers on before the highway requirements lift because literaly everything is rated M+S, so the customer booking for their summers a month early didn't raise any alarms, but we had to turn them away because the tires weren't legal on the highway for another few weeks.

[u/Upset_Ant2834 → u/Wakkit1988]

Brother that's called a hybrid and they already exist

[u/Wakkit1988 → u/Upset_Ant2834]

No, it's not.

Hybrids allow the engine to directly power the vehicle.

EVs with range extenders only allow the engine to charge the battery.

There's no mechanical connection between the engine and the wheels.

[u/Upset_Ant2834 → u/Wakkit1988]

There are different kinds of hybrids. Series hybrids are exactly what you're talking about with no connection between the engine and the wheels

[u/Wakkit1988 → u/Upset_Ant2834]

The only production "series hybrid" car was the Volt. Which, again, you are missing the distinction. The engine varies the load relative to the needed output to drive the vehicle exclusively with electricity produced by the engine. This is done to eliminate the transmission and other drivetrain components so that it can be powered exclusively through a small battery and the electricity being produced. These cars can operate without a battery installed at all.

EVs with range extenders can operate exclusively with their batteries, and the engine only operates at a fixed speed to produce a constant amount of power to charge the battery. The extender produces enough power to offset the motor's consumption at cruising speed. Otherwise, it's insufficient to provide any more power to operate the vehicle.

You can try to come up with whatever you'd like, but there are distinctions to be made between the different types, whether you like it or not. A range extended EV is not a hybrid, and hybrids are not range extended EVs. It's not a hybrid unless it can operate without necessitating the need for the battery to function.

[u/photosendtrain → u/nertynot]

Don't believe you can actually drive while charging.

[u/IBetThisIsTakenToo → u/nertynot]

Seems like we could make this more efficient, somehow... Imagine if the generator could directly move the engine?? That could be huge!

[u/Astra_Mainn → u/IBetThisIsTakenToo]

You just made it less efficient lol, by a solid 60% comparing the avg combustion engine efficiency vs the avg EV motor

[u/IBetThisIsTakenToo → u/Astra_Mainn]

And the portable generator is what, 100% efficient? Come on man haha

[u/nertynot → u/[deleted]]

It's rare that someone responds with something that's actually interesting, thank you

[u/LazyGandalf → u/nertynot]

That's how many hybrids work, i.e. the engine under the hood (under most circumstances) doesn't directly drive the wheels but instead acts as a generator for the otherwise electric powertrain.