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  • Sounds like what Mazda did with the MX-30 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazda_MX-30) which flopped hard. They used their new Wankel engine as range extender, perfect use case since the power:weight ratio of these is impressive.
    by BoingBoomTschak
  • I worked on unmanned ground vehicles that did this... 10 years ago. In fact we designed them from scratch.

    FWIW, now you have all the same joys of engine maintenance that one has with a traditional ICE car: oil changes, oil filter changes, spark plug replacement, starter replacement, coolant, probably an alternator, etc, along with needing to worry about an IG bolted on to the side of the engine connected to an MV bus. It is a complex design.

    The maintenance on these will be quite expensive.

    by irishcoffee
  • Audi had a prototype of the Audi e-Tron with a compact Wankel gas engine as range extender. That was in 2010, but it was cancelled and never entered mass production.

    https://www.carsuk.net/audi-a1-e-tron-wankel-range-extender-...

    by Epsilon_Tauri
  • BMW i3 REx with range extending petrol engine was released in 2014.
    by butterknife
  • "New"? Like hybrids haven't been around forever?
    by guiriduro
  • For people thinking that pure ev + backup generator is more reliable than PHEV, i recommend this video : Nobody understands the point of hybrid cars from Technology Connections

    It explains why PHEV is actually a very clever idea and now it simplifies things not complicates them.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnUFH5GX_fI

    by vincnetas
  • Stellantis is still producing 400V EVs with below-average efficiency. Their cars display estimated range based on their marketing number rather than real battery condition and driving history, so the range drops by 1.6 miles for every mile driven.

    A lot of range anxiety would go away if their EV tech wasn't crap.

    by pornel
  • Electric buses in the UK have been charged with diesel generators and there was a bit of an uproar about it at first, but a large static diesel generator running at a constant speed can be more efficient than multiple stop/start diesel engines, and therefore more friendly to the environment.

    Usually seen as a stop-gap until they can get the power upgraded in the depot to support multiple charging buses.

    by ddmf

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