Range extender trailer

[Kipernicus]

How's this for a crazy idea?
Make a trailer that houses an ICE, gas tank, and generator that can charge the car while on the go? Sort of like a rail tender for electric cars. No need to haul around an ICE engine all the time, just on long road trips!

One could even make it big enough to hold extra cargo, bikes on top, etc.

Only question is would the generator be able to pump out enough electricity to overcome the extra weight and drag of the trailer? I'm sure the charging software would have to be modified to allow driving while charging too.

 

[TEG]

That idea has been implemented and discussed at length before.

Here are a few references:
The ACP long ranger
Towable Generators
Hitch Option?

 

[dhrivnak]

An extender trailer wonderful idea

I think this is a great idea but unless driven by Tesla this would not be easy to do. I thought about making a lightweight trailer with say a lightweight 4000W gnerator that would give an extra 30 miles per hour. So instead of a 200 mile trip over 4 hours you could go about 350 miles over 5 hours. That way one could take the car to a distant show.

But a hitch is not simple to attach and the Tesla will not allow you to drive if the charging port is open. So there is no easy way to charge the pack while driving.

 

[marco2228]

If you would take a compact 125ccm 4-stroke engine which runs a small electric motor (e.g. from a model airplane or so with 8-15kW or so;weight is max: 1,9kg) you should get a VERY compact generator which should even fit in the trunk. problems would probably be cooling of the ice and to handle the exhaust gas. So you could get lets say at least 8 kwh/h more capacity.