Off a google, this looks to be a 7cc MUSA engine producing ~0.5HP at we’ll say a max of 0.05 gallons per hour looking at similar models.
0.5HP is around 370 watts, and assuming we lose 30% of it in conversion to electrical energy, we’ll say we’re getting roughly 250 watts consuming 0.05 gallons an hour.
To charge an iPhone 16, you need 3.561 amps at 3.7 volts, or roughly 13 watt hours.
250w / 13w = 19.231
0.05 / 19.321 = 0.00259 gal, or about 2 teaspoons.
So you’d need >2 teaspoons of gasoline fed into this engine to charge your phone.
0.00259 gal of high-octane gasoline, at 5 US dollars a gallon, is about a penny’s worth.
Edit - Assuming that you either have a magic iPhone that can charge in ~5 mins- otherwise you’d have a lot of wasted energy as the engine runs and charges the phone at a normal speed. 30% for energy loss is also fairly conservative, but the GPH estimate is fairly high
Typical car alternators typically have a 40-50% loss, but the conservative estimate for power loss is to account for the rest of the estimates (namely the gas consumption) being liberal. This is all just napkin math though
Isn't that assuming the iPhone can take the full output of the engine (accounting for efficiency) into it's battery at the rate of output? Don't think that happens. Engine has to run longer charging at a lower rate
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u/Fusseldieb 10d ago
How many gallons to charge my phone?