Today, electric powered vehicles are in the focus of politics and the economy. They are very practicable and useful for limited ranges (about 100km) but for various reasons, such as battery aging, demand for heating, traffic jams etc., this already decreased driving range is not always attainable. In such cases, electrical energy can be generated with a more or less large combustion engine, a so called range extender. Such parallel and serial range extender systems are being tested at the moment.
In the following paper, the advantages and disadvantages from small range extender systems (“coming home”-systems) and also concepts without restrictions (two electric motors; e.g. Toyota Prius, VW twin drive etc.) will be discussed and the CEA concept for a Mega City Electric Vehicle, developed by IVD, will be presented. This concept is based on a vehicle from the A-C segment with pure electric propulsion, which is supported by an internal combustion engine at higher speeds. This way, the vehicle remains a pure electric vehicle in urban areas and also reaches acceptable ranges overland. An essential aspect is that the CEA-system has just one electric motor for both driving and generating. Thus, the generator as a second electric motor incl. power control unit is not needed. Potentials and challenges caused by the direct implementation of the internal combustion engine in the electric propulsion will be presented.