Hybrid wind/electric powered vehicle

Abstract

Hybrid wind/electric powered vehicle is built and demonstrated. The vehicle uses bank of batteries to drive it. The batteries drive 3-phase brushless DC motor which moves the vehicle. The motor can rotate up to 2900 revolution per minute (RPM) at 3HP. A wind turbine; that is mounted at 1.5m on the vehicle, uses wind energy to generate electricity and charges the battery bank. A smart charging subsystem is proposed to enable efficient charging of the batteries. The minimum required wind speed to enable battery charging is found to be around 200 RPM.