Originally Posted by Stanton
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I know I am just an old mechanical designer who knows close to nothing about electricity but why can't an electric vehicle charge itself?


I would have thought that would have been in Engineering 101 !!! You can't get more energy out than you put in. HOWEVER, consider that electric motors are also generators. While the motor is used to propel the vehicle, it can generate power when used as a brake or when coasting down a hill. So, if you were going for a long drive and it was all downhill, the vehicle could charge itself. However it would not generate sufficient enegy to make the full uphill return trip


Years ago sitting in an engineering meeting, two people had the full attention of as they explained in detail how they designed an near indestructible articulated arm for the medical lasers we were manufacturing. All was going well until the junior designer claimed "The arm is so good that we have measured more power out of it than is going in" whistling DEAD SILENCE in the room. OOOPPPSS!! The arm became an industry standard and the design was eventually licensed to a few competitors beer

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