electric generator for the purpose of recharging batteries such an engine generator unit could be located on board an electric powered vehicle or at a stationary installation where it could function as an individual vehicle or fleet recharger stationary applications extend beyond vehicular needs in some embodiments the present invention is used in conjunction with a generator while other embodiments are used alone the u201c existing technology u201d is represented mainly by conventional internal combustion engines stirling engines in general have the following advantages over internal combustion engines they are more efficient they are more reliable they utilize a range of energy sources many of which are renewable and or less polluting traditional combustion of a variety of fuels biomass concentrated solar energy nuclear geothermal industrial process waste heat etc they are quiet with respect to audible noise and radio interference these advantages of stirling engines are commonly cited in the literature the engine of the present invention is designed so that multiple units can be teamed together using a single timing belt comparable to the serpentine belt which drives various accessories under the hood of an automobile as such it would be both easy and cost efficient to customize the number of u201c cylinders u201d available for a given application this represents an advantage over the popular but more complex gamma stirlings commercial gamma engines are multi cylinder but the cylinders are machined or cast in block in a manner conceptually similar to an automobile engine this increases their cost and weight and it also decreases their flexibility in terms of the number of cylinders available for varying applications i e addition or subtraction of cylinders requires new castings the engine of the present invention is superior to alpha.