This article is just a teaser of an article we hope to write for ev-world later this year. My aerodynamic friend Phil Knox (from Texas) is currently working on a range extending trailer for his Toyota T-100 pick up truck that he has currently tricked out to get better highway mileage through aerodynamics.
We have reported on this truck before, but for newcomers I will remind everyone that we are talking about a 2.7 liter, 4 cyl, 5 speed manual, PU that is rated by the manufacturer to get 25 mpg on the highway. Through additional appliances such as a boat tail bed cover, wheel skirts, and a modified intake for the radiator, Phil's truck now routinely gets over 34 mpg on the highway.
Since first seeing range extending trailers at an electric vehicle symposium It clicked in Phils mind that there was a lost opportunity to improve the mileage of a vehicle towing such a trailer through aerodynamics. Since the summer of 2009 Phil has been building such a trailer to compliment his Toyota PU.
As of late October 2009 Phil beleives he will be done by the end of the year and will be ready to perform a real world test by driving his truck and trailer combination from Denton, Texas to Las Cruces, New Mexico. We hope to have a report for you by the first week of January 2010.
The significants of such a trailer is that working in combination with reasonabily good aerodynamic of the towing vehicle a properly designed trailer can lower the cd of both vehicles by reducing the wake area. This involves continuing the taper of the towing vehicle and employing gap fillers to clean up the area between the two vehicles.
In theory this range extending trailer will improve the highway mileage of Phil's truck over what he would get not towing the trailer. Imagine for a moment a 100 mile range Electric Vehicle towing such a trailer filled with a set of back up batteries that could double the range to 200 miles or more through reduced aerodynamic drag. Imagine also a on board generator that could recharge either set of batteries. Such a range extending trailer platform could in principle free an electric vehicle from range limitations for long distance highway travel.
To simulate this concept when Phil is visiting here in December 2009 we will baseline test his truck and trailer empty, then test the trailer with a set of batteries we have on hand. Although the increase in mass will effect the amount of energy needed for start and stop operation, according to the universal laws of motion once we get it rolling there should be no significant differences in the energy needed to maintain highway speeds.
Keep visiting ev-world and we should have this proof of concept truck and trailer article with real world data ready for your viewing within the next two and one half months. We also will have photographs of all the components. Thank's for your readership. Untill next time from Radium Springs, NM good luck with all your projects.
