[bwilson4web]

There is a Wall Street Journal article that Bob Lutz has joined Via Motors that make range-extended, trucks. Finally, a real solution. I'm reminded of a PC-bigot who stood in the way of buying early Macintoshes at a GE facility. Later, about two years later, he 'got religion' and became a Mac advocate. In some respects, Bob Lutz seems to have made that transition . . . but a decade late.

http://www.viamotors.com/powertrain/

With 40 miles of battery range, most drivers won’t burn any gas in a typical day. Driving 50 miles in a day, 40 miles on batteries and 10 miles with the help of the range extender, the typical driver would average about 100 miles per gallon in gas fuel economy. When driving over 200 miles in a day, the E-REV truck still gets significantly better fuel economy than the gas version.
Better gas fuel economy than a Prius™ with the payload of a pickup

VIA’s E-REV powertrain is ideal for America’s fleets, cutting fuel costs by up to 75%, while dramatically reducing petroleum consumption and emissions. Recharging daily, the average driver could expect to refill the gas tank less than 10 times a year rather than once a week. It offers all the advantages of an electric vehicle, without range limitations. Working with vehicle manufacturers, VIA is now delivering E-REV trucks to government and utility fleets.

The powertrain works in a variety of vehicles

VIA Motors E-REV Powertrain, powered by Symetron SmartDrive™ is applicable to a large variety of light trucks, SUVs and delivery vehicles. VIA Motors’s E-REV powertrain was designed to work in popular light trucks such as the GM Silverado, the Ford F-Series, and the Dodge Ram series trucks.

Now this is a respectable, reasonable solution. The biggest problem with internal combustion engines (actually all heat engines) is they don't work efficiently at partial power. Here the battery pack provides the burst energy needed and the engine is tuned and operated at peak efficiency as needed. IMHO, it is potentially the 'end game.'

Bob Wilson