ELECTRIC VEGA - Go without the gasHybrid Car - an Inventor's Notebook
ELECTRIC PROTOTYPE - The beginning
The hybrid car conversion project stemmed from my involvement with alternative energy sources. Prior projects had been the restoration of a 40s vintage wind driven electric generator and the construction of an 8 X 12 foot solar supplemental heater. The original concept for the car was as an electric, which would be recharged from the wind generator. Practically, the distances that would need to be driven to make an electric car usable around my South Dakota home led me to explore other propulsion methods. Around this time there were several articles published on hybrid gas electric combination power plants. The major drawback was their inefficient use of the gasoline engine to generate electricity that would in turn charge batteries for the cars drive motor.
Even rudimentary mathematics showed me that I would see little or no increase in effective miles per gallon. The conversion of gasoline to electricity to charge batteries and the use of these batteries to power a drive motor translates into tremendous wastes of power. What I sought was a method that would eliminate several of the conversion processes.
The following text and photographs detail the road traveled to create a functional hybrid gas electric car that would show a marked increase in effective fuel mileage.
ELECTRIC VEGA - Go without the gas
In the Fall of 1979 I obtained a Chevrolet Vega with a good body and tired engine, the perfect framework for my experiments, or so I thought. The original 140 cubic inch aluminum block engine was removed. I retained the 4 speed manual transmission and directly coupled the electric drive motor to the transmissions input shaft.
The drive motor was a 2CM76 surplus WWII vintage starter generator salvaged from an aircraft. These very heavy-duty units are capable of generating nearly 400 amps at 24 volts when used as a generator and well over 12-horse power when used as a motor. Previously I had seen these used as portable welders and knew that they were reliable.
This motor was coupled to the transmission by the use of the center spline from the old clutch disk. This spline was removed from the disk and attached to the motors output shaft by drilling a 3/8-inch diameter hole through both the spline and shaft then inserting a steel roll pin. A steel plate was used to attach the electric motor to the front of the Vegas bell housing.
Four old 12-volt batteries on the rear decks floor, some long heavy cables, and a relay and I was off for a slow test drive around the yard. It moved, but by this time I had considered the drawbacks of a purely electric car and wanted more.
December 1979 I reworked the basic electric drive concept; this time re installing the Vega clutch to add versatility to the power system. The end of the Vega crankshaft was used to create an adaptor for the flywheel and clutch. A 2-inch ID ball bearing supported the clutch at the bell housing steel plate and a splined aluminum adaptor coupled the electric motors output shaft to the clutch.
A short test run with the batteries showed that this system worked better than the first prototype, a straight electric. Requiring only the on off relay to power the motor with speed being regulated by starting off with the clutch then changing gears.