I am confused what the component is that a series hybrid power train uses to convert the ice energy into the electricity to charge the batteries, I’m assuming you need more than just the stock alternator that comes on a motor. Do people just use the ice shaft to turn an electric motor or is there some larger alternator that some people use? Every diagram I have ever seen online just calls it a “generator”, what do people usually use?
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Chevy Volt is an example of a series hybrid. Or, a locomotive.
On a series hybrid only the electric motors power the drivetrain. When the engine runs it turns a generator that provides electricity for the traction motors and does not directly provide torque to the wheels.
Normal hybrids like a Prius would be a parallel hybrid where the electric motor or gas engine or both can provide torque to the wheels.
Or, a locomotive.
i wonder why they didnt just call it a prime mover?
diesel electric subs do this too
i think modern nuclear subs also do this, where the steam turbines only charge the battery
You’re not that far off; the alternator in an IC car is a device which converts a small portion of the power output by the engine into electricity to keep the 12v electrical system in the car charged up. That’s exactly what the generator in a series hybrid does; converts power from the engine into electricity.
The difference is one of scale; an alternator in an IC car only has to produce enough power to recharge the battery between starts, and run things like the headlights and the radio. In a series hybrid, that generator is taking all of the power produced by the engine and using it to either power the traction motors directly, or recharge the much larger, much higher voltage battery in the car. You can kinda think of it as a monstrous alternator (they mechanically work a little differently than an alternator, but they have a similar purpose).
In terms of what it is physically, it’s basically just a big electric motor bolted straight to the crankshaft of the engine. They’re usually a lot smaller than the traction motors when there’s a battery in the system, because you don’t actually use that much power on average in traffic. Think about it; when you’re accelerating up to speed you might use 50 or 60kW some of the time, but most of the time when you’re cruising along you’re using only 10 or 20kW. Because a series hybrid has a battery capable of delivering that big, occasional burst of power, the generator probably only needs to put out 30 or 40kW in order to keep the battery topped up.
There are exceptions to this, however. A diesel-electric train actually doesn’t have a battery (or at least not a big one); the output of the generator is used directly to power the traction motor. In that case, the generator ends up being as big as or even bigger than the traction motors, and in the case of a train can be pretty enormous. We’re talking many thousands of kW.
Edit: here’s another way to think about it. You know those gasoline generators you can use to power your house when the power goes out? If you put one of those in the trunk of an EV, you’ve technically made it into a series hybrid. In fact, that’s basically exactly what the “range extender” on a BMW i3 is; it’s a little gasoline generator. It doesn’t produce enough power to run the car, but it can (as the name suggests) increase the range by adding a little juice back into the battery as you drive.
Are you trying to build a series hybrid on base of an existing car? This is a difficult proposition: looking at sourcing a generator to attach to car engine also means you kinda got lost and not seeing trees for the forest.
What you need will strongly depend on what your end goal is ultimately. Given how pricey EV conversions are in general, it’s almost certain that you could get there much faster and cheaper by just buying one of the used series hybrids already in the market.