Can an Alternator Power an Electric Car?

by Leo
(Campbell)

Alternator

Why couldn't a regular battery turn over an alternator the size of a gas engine to make the electric car run with plenty of electricity from the alternator? I would think with the knowledge we have today it would work.

Hi, Leo -
As far as technology has come, there's still no such thing as a free lunch.
To get down the road, SOMETHING has to provide the energy to do the work of turning the wheels; if it's an electric car, the batteries provide stored energy from the grid (or your solar panels) to turn those wheels...but the energy came from somewhere, not magic.

Now, if a gas generator provides the energy to charge the batteries of an electric car, then the car runs on gasoline - not an ideal solution, but better than an internal combustion engine (because electric motors are more efficient than ICE-machines), and the range is limited only by the size of the gas tank; )

This is already being done, and it's called a series hybrid.

Regards,
Lynne