Of course, these already exist @Callmejohn Nissan Qashqai ePower, Renault Austral, Mazda MX30 RE, use electric power to drive the wheels but are charged by a small petrol engine and are available on Motability. The Honda Civic uses similar technology but for some reason is not available on the scheme.
I’m pretty sure 99% the Austral is more of a traditional hybrid, rather than soley useing its engine as a generator as the Qashqai & Mazda do. @72Dudes meant to quote you sorry @72 dudes
Yes Kezo, you are correct, my mistake
The Vauxhall Ampera and Chevrolet Bolt were all electric at the wheels with a 35 mile battery pack and a 1.5l generator. The BMW i3 came with a range extender, 100 ish miles on battery and then a small engine to go on with. The Nissan ePower works with a minuscule battery and a petrol generator but it can only do a mile or two without petrol. It’s a nice idea but still produces all the emissions of a petrol engine.
Yes but, the Ampera was more of a PHEV and needed plugging in to charge up it 16-18kWh battery, which then used a 1.4 engine acting as a generator to keep the battery topped up.
Nissans E-Power is more akin to a HEV as you don’t need to plug it in and uses the engine as a generator, rather than powering the wheels directly to keep the 2.1kW battery topped up.