Hybrid II

Image Gallery David's newest hybrid car conversion.

Nearly a year ago, in our July/August 1979 issue, we featured an article about a 75-mile-per-gallon hybrid electric car that a gentleman named David Arthurs from Springdale, Arkansas had put together for a total of $1,500 (see MOTHER NO. 58, page 160). Six months after that (in MOTHER NO. 61, page 158) we ran a short update on the success of Dave's design and mentioned that he was working on several other alternative transportation projects that we felt sure MOM's readers would want to know about.

Well, Mr. Arthurs recently gave us a call to let us know that one of those vehicles—his hybrid VW transporter bus—is now on the road and in regular use.

The Volkswagen bus uses essentially the same circuit as did Dave's original hybrid Opel GT. He has, however, made some improvements and design changes which not only simplify construction of the vehicle, but make it a downright practical form of urban transportation.

The new hybrid delivery van still uses a 400-amp starter/generator as its "prime mover", and that motor is coupled to the existing transmission through a clutch and commercially available adapter plate. Four batteries within the vehicle provide "juice" to make the system operate. The big change is the charging setup: Instead of mounting an internal combustion engine within the body of the bus, the inventor chose to mount it—and its generator "mate"—on a separate trailer fabricated from some pieces of tubular steel. Heavy gauge welding cable ties the mobile power-pack to the VW's drive motor, and the trailer itself is clamped tightly onto the rear bumper of the tow vehicle.