Tesla Hybrid 600 Mile Range

[TesTowne]

Hello All,
I have rebuilt half a dozen Teslas from salvage. That being said I am considering converting a single drive Model S to an all wheel drive hybrid. The concept is simple, replace the front end of a single drive Model S with a dual drive frame rails/hardware and add an ICE to drive the front wheels. A gas tank could be added to the underneath storage in the trunk.

This concept would require no modification to the existing electronic systems and would allow for extreme range and ease of refueling.

I know this goes against much of what Tesla is about, but you can't argue the practicality of it.

Would anyone be interested in purchasing such a car and what would they be willing to pay?

 

[igotzzoom]

No offense, but I don't know if you'd find much of a reception here. Most of the members are consider PHEVs or ICE cars a half-measure. The whole idea is to go full EV. Best of luck with your endeavor, though.

 

[AEdennis]

No thanks. 100% Electric or I'm not interested.

 

[Electroman]

Actually I like the idea, although I don't have the financial muscle to replace mine with something with no warranty.

But I am keen on knowing more details. How much more weight will it add? When will the ICE kick in? Does it directly drive the wheels or act as a generator?

If Tesla were to offer something like this as an option, I would probably pay $10k for that capability

 

[TesTowne]

No thanks. 100% Electric or I'm not interested.

I don't suppose that 65% of electricity comes from fossil fuels makes any difference to you. I agree that electric performance is far superior to ICE except when it comes to refueling. Keep in mind that the ICE in this scenario would only be used when needed or wanted. There is nothing wrong with a backup plan.

 

[Burnt Toast]

That's interesting that you have rebuilt half a dozen Teslas from salvage and no one has heard of you in the Tesla community.

 

[Electroman]

I don't suppose that 65% of electricity comes from fossil fuels makes any difference to you. I agree that electric performance is far superior to ICE except when it comes to refueling. Keep in mind that the ICE in this scenario would only be used when needed or wanted. There is nothing wrong with a backup plan.

Don't get discouraged by the EV purists or zealots in here. There is a vast populace outiside this forum would love that idea. Although losing Tesla's warranty would be a sure show stopper for everyone

 

[stopcrazypp]

Hello All,
I have rebuilt half a dozen Teslas from salvage. That being said I am considering converting a single drive Model S to an all wheel drive hybrid. The concept is simple, replace the front end of a single drive Model S with a dual drive frame rails/hardware and add an ICE to drive the front wheels. A gas tank could be added to the underneath storage in the trunk.

This concept would require no modification to the existing electronic systems and would allow for extreme range and ease of refueling.

I know this goes against much of what Tesla is about, but you can't argue the practicality of it.

Would anyone be interested in purchasing such a car and what would they be willing to pay?

Are you proposing a serial hybrid or a parallel hybrid?

Either way I don't see how it is possible to do this without touching the electronics. In a serial hybrid, the electricity generated has to be fed into Tesla's systems before going to the motors. In a parallel hybrid, you have to map the accelerator to the ICE and also sync Tesla's drive system to your's. That means touching the electronics.

 

[TesTowne]

Actually I like the idea, although I don't have the financial muscle to replace mine with something with no warranty.

But I am keen on knowing more details. How much more weight will it add? When will the ICE kick in? Does it directly drive the wheels or act as a generator?

If Tesla were to offer something like this as an option, I would probably pay $10k for that capability

Thanx for the input.

It would directly drive the front wheels. First this would eliminate the inefficiencies of translating from mechanical to electrical and back again. Second it wouldn't interfere with any of Teslas systems. As far as the car would be concerned it would simply require less power to go down the road.

The simplest system would only engage at speeds of 45mph to 80mph to eliminate a transmission.

 

[TesTowne]

Are you proposing a serial hybrid or a parallel hybrid?

Either way I don't see how it is possible to do this without touching the electronics. In a serial hybrid, the electricity generated has to be fed into Tesla's systems before going to the motors. In a parallel hybrid, you have to map the accelerator to the ICE and also sync Tesla's drive system to your's. That means touching the electronics.

Your right for the serial but not the parallel. The car doesn't care if it takes 20kw to maintain a speed of 70mph or 10kw. It will just adjust power accordingly. In case Im not clear this would be a parallel solution.

 

[TesTowne]

Don't get discouraged by the EV purists or zealots in here. There is a vast populace outiside this forum would love that idea. Although losing Tesla's warranty would be a sure show stopper for everyone

Yes but keep in mind if you are buying a rebuilt title, the warranty is already void, and the discounts are huge.

 

[TesTowne]

That's interesting that you have rebuilt half a dozen Teslas from salvage and no one has heard of you in the Tesla community.

You obviously haven't done your homework.

 

[Electroman]

Your right for the serial but not the parallel. The car doesn't care if it takes 20kw to maintain a speed of 70mph or 10kw. It will just adjust power accordingly. In case Im not clear this would be a parallel solution.

I get it. Imagine driving a very slight down hill and maintaining a constant speed of say 60mph. In that case gravity is assisting you and the battery delivers lesser power to maintain that speed. The car doesn't know if that assist is coming from an ICE or an incline.

But the point remains that you still need to tie your ICE to the accelerator and hence Tesla's electronics.

 

[stopcrazypp]

Your right for the serial but not the parallel. The car doesn't care if it takes 20kw to maintain a speed of 70mph or 10kw. It will just adjust power accordingly. In case Im not clear this would be a parallel solution.

@mkjayakumar beat me to it, but you still have to sync to the accelerator. If someone lets off the accelerator (and doesn't want the car to apply any power), your system has to sync to that. You can't just have a system that constantly puts out power based on the speed.

 

[Gig103]

I wouldn't be interested as a customer (especially knowing I'd be buying a salvage title), but as an academic exercise I'd follow a thread about it!

 

[No2DinosaurFuel]

Have you actually worked out the necessary steps and such? I think you are over simplifying. There is a lot more into combining a gas engine to work well with an electric motor. Also don't forget the certification and emissions and such you might have to go through. What about differential and power transfer? What about the suspension? And gearing needed? Will this be an automatic gearing or CVT?

I think if you are going hybrid. Go for something like the engine charging the battery so you only need to worry about getting energy back into the battery. But then you would need to hack the firmware as tesla probably does not allow charging while moving unless it is regen.

Good luck in your endeavour but I think you need to flush out the details a lot more than just saying the gas engine will drive the front wheels. I suspect it will cost you too much to get something reliable to make it worth while for the occasional use you will get out of it. It would be a great project but I think there are better projects to be had if you do have the skillset to pull this one off.

 

[patrick40363]

Hello All,
I have rebuilt half a dozen Teslas from salvage. That being said I am considering converting a single drive Model S to an all wheel drive hybrid. The concept is simple, replace the front end of a single drive Model S with a dual drive frame rails/hardware and add an ICE to drive the front wheels. A gas tank could be added to the underneath storage in the trunk.

This concept would require no modification to the existing electronic systems and would allow for extreme range and ease of refueling.

I know this goes against much of what Tesla is about, but you can't argue the practicality of it.

Would anyone be interested in purchasing such a car and what would they be willing to pay?

Build one and find out. GM already does it.

 

[BluestarE3]

Would anyone be interested in purchasing such a car and what would they be willing to pay?

No. I've had a hybrid for the past 16 years, so I'm not interested in getting another. Moving on to full EV.

 

[murphyS90D]

I have a 2013 Ford Fusion Energi that can get 600 miles on a full charge and a full tank of gas. It has a 7.6 kWh battery and a 14 gallon gas tank.

 

[igotzzoom]

I'm not an engineer, but seems like he could add a second potentiometer to the throttle pedal that could bypass the Tesla electronics and send a signal to the engine. The other signals needed would be speed and load. Even with a direct drive, you'd need a lockup clutch to engage and disengage.