The VW Polo (in europe) uses a 3 cylinder 1.4 liter diesel, which is
VERY clean. Would be a nice little beast to use as a generator.

Actually I always have thought that the technology used in modern
cruise ships should be adapted to cars.

Small electric motors to drive each wheel. Then a highly efficient
constant speed engine for electric generation. Add in some smart
technology to put some power in to batteries and only use the
generator when the batteries drop below some predetermined charge value.

On Oct 5, 2007, at 2:14 PM, neil N wrote:

> Ok. Vanagon Hybrid.
>
> Is there not a 2 or 3 cyl engine, that emits less pollutants than a
> Vanagon WBX or conversion engine, that could supply batteries which in
> turn drive an electric motor?
>
> Is there an electric motor powerful enough to push a Vanagon?
>
> I know there are EV kits for small cars like Metros.
>
> If I had the space/time/money I'd love to try out something like the
> Geo 3 cyl. engine in conjunction with batteries and electric motor.
> Maybe there would be enough space in the engine bay for *some* of the
> batteries.
>
> Or how about a 2 cyl. motorcycle engine for electical supply?
>
> Wouldn't that be great? A 2 cyl. ("modern" low emissions output
> engine) --> gen for batteries  --> electric motor.
>
> I'm sure these ideas have been bounced around on this list, but I
> thought I'd put it out there anyways.
>
>
> Cheers!
>
>
> Neil.
>
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson. 1981 Air Cooled Westfalia -
> "Jaco"  (Bustorius)
>
> http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
>
> Please send fav Vanagon/Westfalia links to me at:
> musomuso1963@hotmail.com