10 miles range is indeed  a few kWhrs perhaps 3 to 5 KVAhr  for a modern EV , though they are without the weight of the petrol engine, - but a 100Ah lead acid battery is rather larger than a typical car battery 30-50Ah is more like the range for a family vehicle, petrol engines perhaps at the smaller end, diesel at the larger. Even with this proviso so half a dozen batteries, such a system, is not going to hack it if used at the 1hr rate (10 miles an hour.. ), as the capacity is normally derived from a 20hr rate test, attempts to discharge faster are thwarted by greatly reduced capacity,and problems of heat dissipation damaging the plates and overheating the acid. I feel this is re-inventing the milk float. the real solution is more battery, highre voltages and more range

A friend of mine has a 48 volt golf cart that he drives around a hilly 18 hole course at 25 MPH most of the time.  It does whine rather noisily but if a gearbox were installed that would be better, However, after 10 km it certainly starts to run the batteries down and for long distances of hundred miles or so a petrol or diesel generator would be absolutely essential. 

Stopping every 10 or 20 minutes to recharge the batteries on a motorway to me is a total non starter, but a small affordable hybrid I would really enjoy; as it is clean in the cities and can be charged at home by my solar panels a real eco friendly idea.

Hello everyone.


This is my first IET post so there we are 


I have several electric and hybrid cars also scooters, the subject close to my heart.


Several years ago I bought a Toyota Prius 1500cc 2007 now with 160000 miles covered. Fantastic vehicle ideal family use or for work, not suited to continuous hi speed motorway use at maximum demand, overall mpg approaching 60mpg open road use and upper 40s short local in warmer weather dropping in both uses in colder weather by about 15-20%. Batteries surviving well no issues provided onboard 12v battery ok. upto 500 range petrol, Traction Battery about 2kw and can be selected for quiet use giving low speed and about 2 miles range Wonderful diagramatic dash screen showing the hybrid in action glorious technicolour.


Also I have a 2014 24kw Nissan Leaf of 2014 currently at 24000 approx, range upto 90 miles but typically 70 miles without worry the 30kw versions probably a better bet and the later larger capacity battery even better.


Again a good allrounder happy spot about 55mph  Range improved by regen braking and appears happy in cross country environments + and - charging. Well developed and full of toys that the range probably means you wont need. Heating being a downer it needs battery energy, but you can charge and heat the car whilst plugged in a useful attribute, very cheap to operate, I Dont use commercial charging only home, using the Prius for longer trips 


I also have 2- 3kw rated electric scooters a GOVECS T  and a EMAX cousens the Govecs built in the EU and the EMAX in CHINA

Emax uses a hub motor and lead acid 4 battery set up top speed 38mph restricted and range of 25 miles plus , the Govecs using a belt drive and seperate chassis mounted motor, lithium batteries similar speed and range, both a/c 3 phase devices  so operate via complex control systems


A further play toy being a electric cycle topping out at 15mph and a bit more if questioned,  again of Chinese make very good.


My electric argument is that within a further 3-4 years the progress in weight range and energy density of the batteries will be like the comparison of  50s cars to 2000s provided the technology isnt over committed the biggest issue charging and infrastructure.


All the best Dave.

I haven't ever heard of such a vehicle.  I don't suppose there would be a huge demand for such a thing, as it would only make economic sense to a small number of people who live near specific cities.


You can buy pure EVs now that do over 210 miles on one charge.  The saving in fuel costs over driving 200 miles on petrol and 10 miles on electricity would be huge.

Lidar could well work in ideal conditions like driving across the Sahara dessert but on congested motorways it would have to be restricted to the slow lane and just follow the vehicle in front.  If a car with a stalling engine as it is out of fuel pulled across the slow lane in front of it and stopped how would the Lidar respond do you think?

A hybrid version of a reinvented Mini Metro?


Andy Betteridge

You've reached the right person. 

I am a mechanical engineer in a car specialization. Vehicle automation is my area of ​​jurisdiction and I know well the operation of the sensors and every other subject in autonomous and standard vehicles. I'm glad you ask and want to know and I'm here for you. Very nice....

Hello my dear friends, 

I will explain to you about two sensors in the very first Leider sensor One of the most important sensors in the era of the autonomous car is the light radar (Lidar, Light Radar). Its basic principle of operation is similar to that of the radar, but here the radio waves replace laser rays (hence the other name, Ladar, Laser Radar). Hence its advantages and disadvantages. Its advantage - it provides accurate, fast, and much higher resolution information than the radar; He also faces more complex vision conditions than those of the human eye. Its drawbacks - it does not cover the large radar ranges and its price is significantly higher. 

The second radar sensor A second sensor is the good old radar, also known as "radar" (detects direction and distance). The radar is a transmitter and receiver system that produces a 3D map of the area in front of the car using radio waves, allowing you to understand if obstacles are present and what kind. The radar's obvious advantages in wide coverage and long-range operation and ability to operate even under conditions where humans are unable to collect information and at a relatively low cost are its disadvantages - the information collected is low-resolution and does not specify as well as the other sensors about the nature of the object at hand.

Given the Japanese parking laws which means that you have to have off road parking, even for the smallest Kei cars which do not need a proof of parking permit cannot be parked on streets overnight, it means in Japan that every overnight parking bay should potentially be suitable as the location of a dedicated EV charger for that particular vehicle, as each vehicle has to have an off street parking space.


The parking laws also mean that many on street parking bays can only be used during the day for a maximum of one hour, so any on street EV chargers need to provide an adequate charge in one hour, but then it will be available for someone else to use, in fact more than ten cars a day could possibly be charged each day at each on street charger.


So given that Japan car manufacturers have been innovators in car design and have produced many super-mini cars that don’t require proof of off street parking, Kei cars, a small hybrid car should be one of their designers primary objectives.


Andy Betteridge 

Thanks Andy,

What I want is a 1000cc petrol hybrid with only a 10% range battery for city work. I do not want a battery that will take me on a motorway but a little car with a maximum weight of just 1 tonne [1000 kG].  Forget about prestige environmentally friend expensive Tesla sales gimmicks.

We need to design a cheap electric hybrid that charges itself along the motorway BUT switches over to be clean in the city with a small battery overnight charger. 

CliveS