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Author Topic: Would it be possible?  (Read 2928 times)

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Offline kamilb1998

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Would it be possible?
« on: 25, September, 2011 - 17:46:07 »
I recently had this mad idea to put an alternator on a C5, attach it to a custom bracket and a custom belt that would go round the motor and spin the alternator over therefore charging the battery as you're going along. Would this at all be possible?

Offline C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER

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Re: Would it be possible?
« Reply #1 on: 25, September, 2011 - 19:06:57 »
Hi there it would be possible but you would take out more than you could put in .....

I have used a Sturmey Archer dynamo on the C5 but only got out enough for a small light

Offline MikeDX

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Re: Would it be possible?
« Reply #2 on: 26, September, 2011 - 09:09:32 »
I'm afraid we obey the laws of thermodynamics on this forum, so you can never win.

Unless you can reach absolute zero, then you can probably break even....



(There's a joke in there somewhere. Anybody?)

Offline thedesigntailor

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Re: Would it be possible?
« Reply #3 on: 26, September, 2011 - 18:05:54 »
I notice a lot of larger electric vehicles have solar panels which seem a good idea for using an otherwise useless roof, but I wonder if they provide much of a top up compared to price.

Offline C5 ENTHUSIAST + RESTORER

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Re: Would it be possible?
« Reply #4 on: 26, September, 2011 - 19:37:34 »
Regarding solar panels the most you could get out of one would be so low that it would take about 3 months of sun to charge a flat battery ??? ..Bye Chas

Offline thedesigntailor

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Re: Would it be possible?
« Reply #5 on: 28, September, 2011 - 18:30:52 »
Might be good to trickle charge though

Offline jockywilson11

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Re: Would it be possible?
« Reply #6 on: 06, November, 2011 - 16:35:36 »
It's not as daft as it sounds the Toyota Prius and the new Nissan electric car do something like this with regenerative braking and also speed controlling going downhill on cruise control. But it only recovers about a 1/3 of the energy generated  in the battery. I would suspect had the C10 been produced it would have done that too, but the C5 is too small to be any use at it.

To use solar panels, well you could make up a bracket and fit 2 off  100w panels with a nice big 30 amp diode, but that would cost more than the C5, but it could be done, Sinclair gave one to the Sci-fi writer Arthur C Clarke with them fitted. If you fit your 12 V Socket you could get a solar charging station of about 60-80 Watts that would charge you up quite nicely after short runs of a couple of miles if it's parked up for a few hours. The little 2 or 4 Watt ones would take for ever to do that.

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Re: Would it be possible?
« Reply #7 on: 07, November, 2011 - 09:20:35 »
Apart from the expense, would carrying the extra weight for all the solar and regenerative kit negate any benefit of having solar charging though ?  You'd adversely affect the already limited range and performance of the c5 for very little practical gain. But as an engineering challenge I guess it would be fun to try  :)

Looking at the Prius...on battery alone doesn't it have a ridiculous range of less than 20miles ? Not great considering all the expensive cutting edge technology invested in it.

Offline MikeDX

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Re: Would it be possible?
« Reply #8 on: 07, November, 2011 - 15:55:56 »
I suspect the most cost effective way would be just just carry an additional battery