Quote:
Originally Posted by Don
How To Make Your Own Electric Car
Jay Yarow|Jul. 1, 2009, 5:00 PM|1
Source: The Business Insider Green Sheet
Quote:
" Raul Atkinson, a software engineer, wanted an electric car, but couldn't find one on the market that was affordable or good looking. So did what any reasonable person would do, he built his own.
He calls it the Raptor. He spent 2,000 of his spare hours building it from a 1965 Shelby Cobra body kit.
NBC(via Jalopnik): The car runs on a 3-phase AC induction motor and is currently powered by 290 nickel metal hydride batteries (Atkinson says the next version will use a lithium ion battery). It can reach speeds up to 100 MPH and can travel from zero to 60 mph in about eight seconds. The time it takes to charge the car is typically three hours, which will allow it to travel up to 80 miles depending on the driving environment.
Atkinson estimates the car cost about $85,000, but he thinks it could be made for cheap as an alternative to the Prius.
Our unsolicited advice to Mr. Atkinson: forget the mass market. Go high end. Think Lamborghini, Porsche. You'll make a profit, and you'll be less susceptible to the rise and fall of gas prices. Rich people don't need to worry about that crap.
Atkinson's tracked the progress of building his car at Electric Marin Wheels. This gallery will give you a sense of what you're in for: "
http://www.electricmarinwheels.com/Home.html |
Don,
Pretty cool. Of course not everyone thinks so. There was also a terrible reaction to change when the horse and buggy got replaced too, often by early electric cars (but soon gasoline won out, for the time being, anyway). It is now possible to buy high tech hybrid motor
parts and engineer your own. Or how about a pre-engineered '32
highboy?
Some time ago you asked what mileage influence air conditioning had on electric or hybrid cars. Through a snafu in my reading comprehension, I never answered your question at the time. The answer is that my wifes 2007 Prius hybrid usually drops about 1 or 2 mpg on the highway, from 45 to 44, 43 for instance. We live in a cool region. Some other folks on
http://priuschat.com/forums/ say it drops about 5% (.05 x 40 = 2mpg). This is not too bad, similar to other standard autos. The Prius has a sealed electrical driven AC compresser that runs at variable speed to maintain a dashboard set cabin temperature. It is a bit more reliable than a standard pulley driven compresser in that there is no shaft seal to leak refrigerant, identical to our dependable sealed home refrigerators, freezers, AC units, etc .
Winter driving in the city does drop considerably, down to about 36 mpg, both because the engine has to maintain heat for clean burning and cabin temp. It has electric heat for instant warmth, but uses engine coolant for general cabin heat. Both could be likely be improved by better insulation in this far north. We aren't used to dedicated cabin insulation because of the excess engine heat usually available in the past. Of course, 36 mpg isn't all that bad.
Wes
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by jams
Electric cars have instant and consistant torque, just what you need when running the 1/4 mile.
|
Jams,
I note that the 2007 Prius has 295 foot-pounds in the main motor. My 5.0 Cobra/Mustang V8 engine is rated at 300 foot-pounds OEM. The Prius has a traction limitation built into it to keep it from twisting it's tiny little axles apart, off the line. Our locomotives have a similar limit to prevent burning a notch in the rails on take-off. If it fails, the wheel melts through the ball of the rail in seconds, once it starts to spin. Talk about a burn-out...
Since computer controls are causing ever greater electrical controls to be applied to modern hydraulic transmissions, at great expense I might add, I think that automatic transmissions are headed for conversion to more reliable
air-cooled full electric, even if power is from an internal combustion engine which won't be going away soon. An example are
these large haul trucks. My 7000 pound Ford Excursion SUV, the polar opposite of a Prius, requires 4R100 tranny
oil changes every 30K. Nice tow outfit, though.
Wes
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ron61
I have real a little abut that Cobra and thought it was pretty good. The 130 mile range would be limited here as much of my driving is in the mountains and that would drain the batteries faster than out on a flat highway. But the performance figures are impressive, there would be no smog issues, no noise traps along the highway, and all of that instant torque. I just hope they can come up with a little better battery set up that will last a little longer and won't take so long to recharge.
|
Ron,
The batteries will get better unless the petroleum mega-corporations can succeed in locking up the world supply of raw materials for them and force an artificial delay. It's a high dollar poker game now, where carbon propoganda tries it's best to influence the slow thinkers. Batteries are dangerous, they're bad for the environment etc.
I'll still be hauling coal. The energy has to come from somewhere, even if it's from CO2 sequestered fuel. Wind and solar will never match what we use now and I don't know if the world ever be efficient enough to get by with just these. Nuclear power may change things the most. Realistically, I'll be retired before most of these changes occur anyway. Or I'll be an earth sequestered carbon-based lifeform.
Wes
...