Billy Joe Bowers

US Patent:

20070007056, Jan 11, 2007

Filed:

Jul 7, 2005

Appl. No.:

11/160752

Inventors:

Billy Bowers - Snellville GA, US
Narayanan Subramanian - Marietta GA, US

International Classification:

B60K 6/00

US Classification:

180065200

Abstract:

A hybrid low power/low speed vehicle that operates both with battery power and IC engine power. An electronic controls unit monitors the charge on the battery. For vehicles used both indoors and outdoors, the control unit warns the user of low charge. If outdoors, the user can command the control unit to start the IC engine and continue operating the vehicle. The IC engine, while powering the wheels of the vehicle, will also charge the battery. When the battery is fully charged, the control unit will prevent the battery from overcharging. The user can shutoff the IC engine at any time and the control unit will switch to battery operation of the vehicle. For vehicles used exclusively outdoors, the control unit will automatically start the IC engine when the battery charge has fallen below a predetermined level. Similarly, once the battery is fully charged, it will automatically stop the engine and switch to battery power for running the vehicle.