BEV as a toad behind diesel pusher

JRscooby wrote:

Reisender wrote:

Any EV we have owned has had a neutral position. So free spin down the road with no regen. Putting it back in drive immediately engages regen.

I could well be wrong, but I assumed the neutral position was just dis-connect the motor electrically. Are you saying that there is a mechanical dis-connect between wheel and motor? If so, that would mean even less friction than I thought.(But more moving parts than I expected)

Durb wrote:

JRscooby wrote:
Now to get into the most interesting idea. Some new vehicles can follow at a certain distance. Why couldn't things be wired so when MH is full throttle, power is turned on, so the toad pulls it's own weight? Or even push the MH some?

Wow, never considered this. Potential exists to use regenerative braking to help slow the MH and applying the juice to help push the MH when needed. Essentially, the BEV toad would be turning the DP into a hybrid.

Not sure you could get enough push to call it hybrid. Tire slip would be a issue. But I have read about people unhooking toad, driving separate on steep uphills. A self propelled toad would eliminate the need for that. Drafting that close behind MH, would go a long ways before pulled enough out of battery to have re-gen on the downside. But pushing the MH would discharge battery fast, so regen could help the jake, keep service brakes cool incase needed.

Re the neutral question. I don’t know. I just know if I select neutral it is like selecting neutral in our old Grand Cherokee. It just rolls. What’s happening on the mechanical side is out of my area of exercise. We use it every time we go thru a car wash.