Patent attributes
A computer controlled electric vehicle is disclosed that includes two high power batteries, a motor drive circuit, an electric motor that drives the vehicle drive train, a generator, an internal combustion engine, and battery charging circuitry. The batteries are connected to the motor drive circuit in a mutually exclusive fashion where only one battery is online or connected at any given time and the other battery is offline. The offline battery is recharged by battery charging circuitry that receives its power from a generator that is mechanically driven by an onboard hydrocarbon engine. When the online battery is depleted, the computer disconnects the online battery from the motor drive circuit and connects the offline battery to the motor drive circuit. The depleted battery is then charged in readiness for the next battery switch event. An external power plug enables recharging of the batteries when external power is available.