Locomotive technology for trucks?

Small altenators cannot generate the current needed to operate the electric motors ===for trucks the motors would have to be quiet large you also have the problem of controling the high current those motors would require===it is not that it is impossible but at current technology it is not practical and cost prohibitive

I was thinking about a small 4 cylinder engine (1200 cc) turning a bigger alternator, like a train system at a smaller scale. A train has 8 electric 1000 hp motors, one per set of 2 wheels, a truck would only need one motor to drive the 8 wheels buggy, there is plenty of room for batteries on a truck as opposed to a car, imagine a small diesel 4 cyl at 1000 rpm, it would do 65 mpg at least.

I am not thinking about a car alternator, of course, I was thinking about a small 4 cylinder engine (1200 cc) turning a bigger alternator, like a train system at a smaller scale. A train has 8 electric 1000 hp motors, one per set of 2 wheels, a truck would only need one motor to drive the 8 wheels buggy and not necessarily 1000hp, there is plenty of room for batteries on a truck as opposed to a car, imagine a small diesel 4 cyl at 1000 rpm, it would do 65 mpg at least.

You reach a point of deminishing returns which is why a perpetual motion engines dont work ==you have to generate the current , store it in batteries and replace the used current plus the added weight plus the varing loads a truck must transport electric just isn't practical at this time 1 400hp to 500hp desel is far more practical ==however as battery tech and electrical generation changes you would see that transition such as break throughes in cold fusion and in hydrogen tech even magnet tech====cars are different loads and travel are predictable where a 18 wheeler has to be the most durable and flexable of all the vehicles on the road

I don't understand your answer Jim, sorry, a car's load is predictible to the limit of it's capacity, just like a truck, a commuter train, for instance, does stop and go, it does'nt have the same load all the time (you can add wagons up to the load limit of an engine depending of rush hour or not) and has to be reliable to be productive and money making. The diesel engine 's rpm varies as needed to supply the elecrticity to the motors. So why someone does'nt try to fit a truck with a small diesel 4 cyl (1500cc) coupled to a corresponding generator, just big enough to supply a single 800 hp train motor? The driver would have only a brake and a throttle to deal with, no more transmission. An 800hp electric motor has outragously more torque than any turbo diesel of any truck on the road. A 100 litres fuel tank would last 1000 kms. Can you imagine how many truck companies would go for that with the price of fuel now-a-days? Again, why nobody tries to build one? There's a fortune to make with a truck like that. Also think about environmental issues with a smaller engine. We can land a vehicule on Mars for ... sake.

Personaly i would love to see it ==i would even like to drive that baby---the real problem is engenering and re tooling for it when an entire industry is built around the desil they just dont want to=== going electric uses far less parts less things to charge and make a profit from ==for instance gm does not make unough off a car to keep them in business they make most of their money from all the parts that support it when they produced the electric car they quickly found out no plugs ,aircleeners, oil ,filters ,radiators ,antifreez and no belts just to name a few===so where is the profit in making it. ===until they figure a way to make more off the electric product you probaly will not see it personaly i am with you it is time for them to bring it on

Jim, there will still be maintenance on these truck. You still have an engine, smaller but still an engine, with all of its natural maintenance, yout still have air brakes, suspension, 8 wheels buggy, a/c, heat, power seats and all electric confort and safety components. The only thing missing is a transmission, re-tooling is therefore minor. So I still think this is worth the invesment and I am sure that even if the truck costs $5,000 more but saves thousands of dollars in fuel a year, the truck industry will go for that head first. Profit will come back and the hole economy would win with transport fees competition back.
I wonder if Paccar (Kenworth and Peterbuilt) works on a poject like that? Changing a building chain is nothing when money is at the end.

You could try emailing their corporates ==i would be interested to see the response you may get
[not being tackey truely intrested ]

I can reach Paccar's and Bombardier's web sites but there is no 'contact us' area. I am still looking. But maybe if a locomotive electrical engeneer is around, he or she could answer these questions. Like, what size of generator do you need to supply power to a single 800hp electric train motor? Do you know anyone Jim?

Sylvain Vincent
Laval