Hybrid Tmax?

[StephenC]

I guess inevitable that something like this will appear one day.

Article just popped on Visordown.
The patents from Japan show a serial hybrid system that uses the combustion engine purely as a range extender to the electric motor. In this way, the petrol part of the bike has no direct connection to the ground. Instead, its only task is to generate electricity that will be poured back into the batteries.

https://www.visordown.com/news/new-bike ... plications

[MrGrumpy]

Well, it sounds more useful than pure battery elec scooter! But it'll weigh a ton - heavy old petrol engine, plus fuel tank AND tons of batteries + motors as well.

[bikerdezzie]

The bigger bikes will catch up with car tech eventually, something like the new battery tech from Tesla, bigger more dense cells with new chemistry and complete removal of cobalt will bring further battery size reductions but with more power and range, until then i look forward to next summer when i get my own electric bike/ped to play with.

[roadster]

There are two radically different philosophies when it comes to hybrid design. One is an electric car with a large battery which you can charge externally plus an internal combustion engine to add extra power and range. This requires a heavy battery pack to achieve significant electric-only range, 30 miles seeming to be the accepted limit at present. The other is to get the benefits of electric power transmission and control but only use the battery as a kind of energy capacitor just large enough to allow the engine to run in very high efficiency mode by smoothing out the big changes in power demand which are normal in most types of driving other than low traffic motorway situations. Either type will allow very clean running in urban environments without any of the fussy stop-start issues or hesitancy that affect non-electric vehicles engineered for clean running.
I am doubtful about the big battery/plug in type as applied to two wheelers because of the weight and size of batteries when combined with an IC engine. It may just be conceivable to use a small battery pack combined with a small capacity IC engine where the electric motor is cleverly incorporated in the epicyclic transmission design as is done with Toyota hybrids. This would give a reasonable total power on demand, for example 10 HP electric and 30 HP petrol. The petrol engine being run on a high efficiency cycle most of the time and energy recovery from slowing down also contributing to battery charging. The other often overlooked design element is the control unit which is needed to manage the electric power storage and motor control. Batteries are inherently direct current devices and a design decision has to be taken concerning whether it is better to convert to AC for power output and/or power generation. AC being generally a more efficient method of operation for brushless motors and alternator/generators. This calls for a fairly bulky and heavy box because of the need to handle high current/voltage and associated heat from high power semiconductors. It is most important to electrically maintain batteries carefully to achieve good battery life.
All that being said I suspect in most cases the same or greater efficiency would still be achieved going the pure electric route and I am very keen to try this next year if possible.