Dual Power hybrid cars and motorhomes

I was listening the last few days to the news about the difficulty of making enough hybrid batteries for the Prius and other hybrids. This got me to thinking about dual power takeoffs like one finds on old pickup trucks. Why couldn't one build a power takeoff right where the U-joint is on rear wheel drive vehicles. Maybe by using the gas powered electrical generators on existing motorhomes, one could then use the 110 volts generated to power an electric motor big enough to move a motorhome on the level at 55 mph or more. So the way I envision this would be use your regular gasoline engine until you get to the freeway where you really need the mileage per gallon. Then pull to the side of the road and disconnect your U-joint and connect it to your 100+ horsepower AC 110 powered electric motor powered by your gas powered generator onboard and using a dimmer switch as a throttle power back onto the freeway. This way you could still afford to drive your vehicle and make your family and yourself happy. You might have to idle the gas or diesel main engine to power your brakes and steering and Air conditioner, radio, cds and Dvds but idling doesn't burn much gas. When you need to drive in the city,(if you want the extra control) pull over and reconnect your U-joint and drive shaft to the transmission. However, it also might be possible to design another way to shift it between gas and electric power to the drive shaft like one shifts between 2wheel drive to 4 wheel drive on some vehicles.

This way no extra batteries beyond your main engine battery and deep storage batteries for your 12 volt lighting system for the living area that would already be there on board your motor home would be needed because you still can use your gas or diesel engine locally and around town. So this solves the problem Prius and other Hybrid owners are having or will run into soon. I think those hybrid batteries have to be changed about every 3 years just like a regular car battery, except hybrid batteries are several thousand dollars to replace and a car battery is about $50 to 75(big difference).

The one drawback might be the size of your gasoline generator and how much electric power it puts out. So to really make this work one might have to put a bigger gasoline powered electrical generator. Also, I'm envisioning not a DC electric motor but an AC powered electrical motor. I'm not sure which would be better for maximum torque.

I was watching the news today about a guy who took out his VW bugs gasoline engine and put in an electric motor in place of it and probably put batteries in the back seat area of the Bug. So this person had a plug-in Bug that ran only after charging by plugging it into 110 volts. There is also a ready made Zap Car and truck that goes about 40 miles on an electric charge that you can buy. Check online. It is a 3 wheeler which puts it in the category of a 3 wheel motorcycle like several other new vehicles.

Country and Suburban Home Garage research is what made this country great in the first place. Just look at the Wright Brothers and Henry Ford for example.

I have it! This actually is the best idea of all. A V8 or V6 or straight 6 engine even at idle could generate enough power if the torque was connected to a generator and the generators power connected to an AC or DC electric motor of 100 horsepower or more.(whatever you need). Once this was done, even at idle one could easily travel on the level. On hills one might need to up the engine speed to generate more power to the electrical motor. Extra batteries wouldn't be necessary. I envision at least a doubling or tripling of mileage, so you would get at least 20 to 30 miles per gallon even at idle on the level and maybe 15 to 25 on a hill. It won't hurt to try your only other choice might be park it or sell it if you have a motor home. I have a Canadian Leisure Van and it is parked too, even though it gets 2 mpg more than my wife's SUV which now gets about 10 or 11 mpg. We're all in this together worldwide!

I think this is the same principle that Diesel Electric train engines use nationwide. That is what is powering over 90% of the trains in the United States or more. They don't store much electricity except for starting the diesel engines. Without the expense of all the batteries this all gets a whole lot more practical. Good Luck!