Electric-car-train: Link connected electric vehicles offer significant improvement to automotive transit

Introduced in this paper is a light-weight electro-mechanical linkage, extendable between electric drive automobiles (cars) and capable of providing electric power transfer between them. When linked, cars form what the author calls an electric-car-train. Vehicle-to-vehicle battery charge transfer can be accomplished in transit. Physical linkage between cars also provides a direct communication path allowing the lead car in the train to precisely control the movement of as many as five linked vehicles. Traveling in close proximity yields power efficiencies from aerodynamic slip-streaming. Also included in the paper are next steps in the design and fabrication of sub-systems needed for performance testing.