I recently learned that train engines have been using electric motors powered by diesel generators since at least the 30’s, which surprised me. It made me wonder why cars or at least trucks and busses don’t do something similar, and why “parallel” hybrids are the only type of hybrid engine widely available.
I assume it has to do with the size difference, but what specifically? Needs to carry too much liquid fuel? Generator or electronics can’t be miniaturized? Or is it a purely economic problem and not a technological one?
In: Engineering
Because it wouldn’t offer any benefit in a car. Conventional hybrids are designed so that the electric motor can supplement the power from the internal combustion engine and reduce the fuel consumption of it. An ICE driving a generator and then using that power to drive an electric motor would just be adding extra inefficiencies into the process–the only advantage you might get is that you can have the engine running constantly at its most efficient speed rather than revving up and down.
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