This is a proof of concept, it is why they are saying testing it. Heating and AC can cause significant power draw, would love to know what kind of batteries they are using with this. There is the HP required to accelerate, the HP to maintain steady speed which is less (which can easily be translated into kw of pw), plus the power draw of heat and ac and I guess dybamic braking , which is not insignificant as HW said.
And yes, there is the charging time involved as well, if this is a commuter train, a typical run is likely let's say 60 miles each way, or 120 round trip, so they would need to recharge likely after the return run. With a high power charging system (talking like 600kw), with batteries today you can get relatively fast charges , in cars they can get 80% charge in 20 min or so. If you can get a similar thing with train batteries (that would dwarf what is in a typical EV), then that might be practical. They said in the article they would have chargers at the end of runs, which makes it more practical. if a run is 60 miles, engine has a range of 150, even with heavy AC or heating use (lighting being LED will significantly cut that load) they could recharge at end of run in 20 mins and would likely work.
The one thing they could do is use regenerative braking to increase range, it helps slow the train down and it helps charge the batteries. Given the nature of commuter runs, with a lot of stops, it could help extend the range as well.
Will this work with current battery technology? Not sure, it is why they are testing it. Thing is, tests like this are valuable because you see what works and what doesn't, as they say failed experiments are ften worth more than successes. Eventually it will work, there are batteries on the horizon that could allow this to work, that are different materials, recharge more easily.
Generally things like this don't work well, converting an existing unit, it usually works ,if it does at all, if it is done from scratch.
