Elevator pitch: It's not well known that the diesel engine in a diesel locomotive does not mechanically drive the wheels to make the train go, it turns a genera

Elevator pitch: It's not well known that the diesel engine in a diesel locomotive does not mechanically drive the wheels to make the train go, it turns a generator that supplies power to electric motors that turn the wheels. I'd like to build a better hybrid by replacing an EV's battery with a (towable) generator. ~$5k for SmartForTwo EV with an 84kW motor would be my choice. The generator needed is unknown so budget an electrical engineer for $10k or so and that leaves $20k for the generator. (The towable requirement is only in case the research proves to be a failure I could still sell electricity to my neighbors in a grid-down situation :) Production targets would be busses, 18-wheeler tractors, Cybertrucks... If we could attain a multiple of current mpg at decent speeds it would be a startup.