[emptybits]

The fifth paragraph addresses the significance of your point.

I'm skeptical, but I applaud him for making public a very specific and short-term goal that we can all watch: coast-to-coast USA on 40 gallons of fuel in a small SUV.

[developer2]

>> coast-to-coast USA on 40 gallons of fuel in a small SUV

Without having a source, I suspect a caveat wherein he will plug in to fully recharge the electric battery every X hours, which would be far less impressive.

Now, if this is cross-country, on a single 40 gallon tank, without plugging in to recharge, in an SUV that is not gutted to reduce the vehicle's weight... that would be impressive.

[emptybits]

> > Without having a source, I suspect a caveat wherein he will plug in to fully recharge the electric battery every X hours, which would be far less impressive.

FTA, FWIW: "McDowell is using a Stirling engine, coupled with thermopile technology to make it possible to drive a Hybrid electric car and never have to stop to charge it."

[developer2]

Ah, thanks for that. I read the article fully, but apparently missed or forgot about that line in the first paragraph.

My intuition was that the Stirling engine would partially recharge the battery while it runs. If it can truly keep the battery fully charged, that is quite awesome. Time will tell. :)

[tim333]

Doing it with plugging in would be a bit pointless. You could do that with no fuel or engine.