What happened to Rotary range extenders?

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 06/05/2018 at 18:38 • Filed to: None

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Just wondering where they went? 150 lbs for a complete 36kw generator package that takes about about 1 suitcase of luggage sounds like a win for the electric car takeover.

36 kw would keep a model S cruising indefinitely on the highway and about about 50% range when its not just cruising. I guess its the concept of gas at ALL in an EV. I get that. But I mean, say you have a model X and you also have a boat or camper, it would sure be nice to be able to get 200-250 miles on a charge instead of having to charge up every 100-150.

Decreasing lengthy charge stops by 50% sounds great to me. The word is that its very quiet too, hardly noticeable by most drivers.

Also makes me wonder why no one offers a trailer like this. telsaphiles would never go for it, but real users would probably like a travel trailer that could increase their range 50% and still give them a little cargo space for long road trips. highway cruising it could probably be enough to run the whole trip on gas making going long distances in reasonable amounts of time realistic.

TheRealBicycleBuck > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2018 at 19:01

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They blew their seals.

HammerheadFistpunch > TheRealBicycleBuck 06/05/2018 at 19:03

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feather-throttle-not-hair > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2018 at 19:46

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Bro, gotta LS swap that bitch

CRider > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2018 at 19:55

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If environmentalists are ready to accept oil burners in the name of range extension, I’d like to nominate two strokes.

random001 > feather-throttle-not-hair 06/05/2018 at 20:13

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The ultimate range extender

TheTurbochargedSquirrel > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2018 at 20:36

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What kind of witchcraft is used to create a single-piston rotary engine?

PS9 > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2018 at 21:06

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Here’s a few reasons.

Rotaries suck. They just do. They’re finicky, inefficient and unreliable. The same reasons enthusiasts love Rotaries are the same reasons people who might consider an electric car would loathe living with a rotary.

If you road trip a lot, 300 mi isn’t enough. But if you only use your Model 3 for commuting, 300 mi is more than necessary. Overnight charges keep the car full and you never worry about running out of range. Someone in this position isn’t gonna care much about adding a rotary.

Mazda prototyped rotary range extenders a while back. There are no rotary range extenders in Mazda’s lineup now. The least we can gleam from this is something about a electric hybrid with a rotary is unsuitable for the market to Mazda. Considering that Mazda’s MO is ‘quirky and unique solutions to problems’, this result from them is pretty damning to the concept of a rotary range extender

A range-extending engine added to an electric - rotary aside - is a good idea. So good that something like that already exists. A Prius can already give you 540 miles, and it will do that without blowing apex seals, consuming oil and generally being worse and less efficient. Remember; consumers care far more about having something that ‘just works’ far more than they do about dealing with something that doesn’t work or perform well just to say they own something ‘quirky’ and ‘unique’.

BigBlock440 > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2018 at 21:23

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Not just range extenders, but regular generators. Anything over 5kW is pretty cumbersome, anything to make the bigger ones lighter and more portable would be a hit, as long as it had reasonable durability.

itschrome > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2018 at 21:35

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https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/mazda-rotary-engines-will-juice-up-self-driving-toyota-evs/

itschrome > PS9 06/05/2018 at 21:36

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“

Mazda prototyped rotary range extenders a while back. There are no rotary range extenders in Mazda’s lineup now. The least we can gleam from this is something about a electric hybrid with a rotary is unsuitable for the market to Mazda. Considering that Mazda’s MO is ‘quirky and unique solutions to problems’, this result from them is pretty damning to the concept of a rotary range extender”

Right, because they are gonna sell them to toyota.

PS9 > itschrome 06/05/2018 at 22:06

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LOL forever on that. Rotary extenders would have already hit the market if they were as good as the Prius. They’d have to be better than that for Toyota to want them, but they won’t be because a rotary is just not gonna be as good as a piston engine at the things hybrid and electric consumers are going to care about.

shop-teacher > HammerheadFistpunch 06/05/2018 at 23:00

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I think a turbine would be even better.

HammerheadFistpunch > shop-teacher 06/05/2018 at 23:11

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well, obviously. I mean...TURBINES TO SPEED!