The good thing about a separate motor and charging system is that the engine can be positioned in any location, in any orientation, in which it will fit. It doesn't need to be connected to a transmission. It needs to be powerful enough to run the charging system, but no more than that. A supercharger of any kind is probably unnecessary complication. A single high-torque low-revving induction motor (printed circuit design for lightness?) would be ideal for conversion using the stock driveline, and of course would not need a clutch. It would not require reverse gear either, if the motor was reversible. If the motor was grunty enough it could run at low rpm but also be capable of high rpm, in which case you might not need to use the gears at all (just leave it in first), though if the gears WERE needed, then a clutch would be necessary to unload the gears for shifting... or else you could convert the trans to nonsynchromesh dog-type gears (motorcycles have these, and you only need the clutch for in-gear idling or moveng off from a standstill). A large battery could be installed for >"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who >are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." >-- Mark Twain Is there any question about this??? -- Andrew Grebneff Dunedin New Zealand Fossil preparator <andrew.grebneff@stonebow.otago.ac.nz> Seashell, Macintosh, VW/Toyota van nut HUMANITY: THE ULTIMATE VON NEUMANN MACHINE DEMOCRACY: RULE BY THE LOWEST COMMON DENOMINATOR |
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