Electric Vehicles EVs

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Hefty in reply to @Ludd

And if there is spare energy to charge a battery, would it not actually be more efficient to just run the efficient engine on its own?

To do what?

If the engine is running but not using the power it produces to move the car (because it’s coasting or braking or travelling at a speed it doesn’t need all its power to maintain) it doesn’t use it to do anything else other than run the alternator, which is a tiny requirement. [Modern] Hybrids use that otherwise wasted excess energy to make electricity.

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Ludd in reply to @Hefty

Ah, thanks Hefty, that makes sense. It seems a shame to have an engine burning fuel at a higher rate than is needed to keep the car going, so capturing some of that in a battery is perhaps a step forward.

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