Electric car idea.

[Bird]

I dont recall it had a convertor. Just one big muffler at the back. It was a 78 model. Maybe the US models had convertors.

I may be wrong, but I don't think there were any gasoline powered cars sold in the USA without convertors after 1976.

 

[RonMar]

That's a nice set-up on that Suzuki. The encoder is there to provide feedback to the computer for motor speed and direction. It is not necessary, but very helpful. I don't think I would bother with regenerative braking. The vehicles brakes work fine and this only robs power. AC is the way to go. I don't have much experience with the voltages these guys use, but more voltage = higher efficiency.

There is an interesting electric sportscar I was reading about a while back called the Tesla, that uses a 3 phase induction motor. 0-60 in something around 4 seconds...

Pretty impressive...

 

[Tom_H]

Cars constantly have to start and stop, trains don't. Cars have to go up and down hills; trains follow elevation contour lines and rarely encounter inclines. When they do, it is normally gentle and constant.

For these reasons, the diesel electric can maintain a constant output without having to rev up and down. The energy required to take a 4 locomotive, 100 car, mile long train from stationary to full speed is astounding. With a direct drive, the number of gears required would be almost unworkable. The electromagnetic fields in the generator and motors allow them to spin at variable ratios, whereas geared drive systems require the engine and propulsion wheels to to rotate at a constant ratio, which changes when the gear changes. With such a huge inertia to overcome from a stationary start, the diesel electric is far more efficient than a geared direct drive. It takes considerable time to reach cruising velocity, and once that velocity is reached, the diesel electric, cruising at constant speed on flat ground, has an efficiency that is far beyond any car or truck. It also takes a train a mile to come to an emergency stop. Planned stops are considerably longer.

Again, a car has to have fast acceleration and deceleration and the ability to climb hills. The operating conditions between a car and train differ so much that the car is not able to have a proportionately smaller diesel electric propulsion system. Perhaps some type of diesel electric will be possible some day if ultra-capacitors can be perfected. but matching the proportions and efficiency of the locomotive would be highly improbable.

 

[RonMar]

Yep, we need better batteries

 

[billbill1]

On MSN today, Mitsubishi is planning to market the "i" car, available in gas or electric. The electric has a range of 80 miles, they are working on a quick charge-charger for it now. Normal recharge on 110 volt is 14 hours, 220 volt was 7 hours. Mid/rear engine on the gas and the batteries go into the same location on the electric.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Cars constantly have to start and stop, trains don't. Cars have to go up and down hills; trains follow elevation contour lines and rarely encounter inclines. When they do, it is normally gentle and constant.

For these reasons, the diesel electric can maintain a constant output without having to rev up and down. The energy required to take a 4 locomotive, 100 car, mile long train from stationary to full speed is astounding. With a direct drive, the number of gears required would be almost unworkable. The electromagnetic fields in the generator and motors allow them to spin at variable ratios, whereas geared drive systems require the engine and propulsion wheels to to rotate at a constant ratio, which changes when the gear changes. With such a huge inertia to overcome from a stationary start, the diesel electric is far more efficient than a geared direct drive. It takes considerable time to reach cruising velocity, and once that velocity is reached, the diesel electric, cruising at constant speed on flat ground, has an efficiency that is far beyond any car or truck. It also takes a train a mile to come to an emergency stop. Planned stops are considerably longer.

The operating conditions between a car and train differ so much that the car is not able to have a proportionately smaller diesel electric propulsion system. Perhaps some type of diesel electric will be possible some day if ultra-capacitors can be perfected. but matching the proportions and efficiency of the locomotive would be highly improbable.

Verry good!

larry​

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Car and train are very much different applications. However, the inclines have declines, and with acceleration, you have deceleration. My point? That the technology today allows these motor "off" times to convert it to a generator. So, instead of simply coasting downhill or using the brakes, the motor would generate electricity and recharge the battery. Granted, the motor is not a real efficient generator, but it is much better than nothing. Forklifts using this technology have seen an average of about 1-1.5 hours added to their run time. That's basically between 10 and 20%. That's quite a bit.

Charger technology has also caught up. There are now what they call "break time" chargers. Operators are supposed to hook the battery to the charger on breaks and lunch for a short cycle, high amperage charge. This defies conventional lead acid battery wisdom and I was a serious doubter at first, but it works. I have seen battery charge life doubled by doing this. A battery normally lasts 8 hours of work time, I saw forklifts that ran for 16 + hours on the same battery. The only different thing required was an equilization charge once a week. In the future, I could see this technology, and a better battery, allow 18 wheelers to even use this. Even on a cross country trip. Just think how the price of your diesel would drop then.

 

[teg]

My wife's Electric Car friends came over and we got the old batteries out before it started to rain. Started to clean up the corrosion on the brackets when one guy mention that he was going to be helping someone build a hybrid using a diesel motor and a generator that runs off a tractor's PTO . Don't know much more details... other then it will be on a dune buggy frame. Not sure it's going to be street legal, most likely not. Here's some photos of what it looked like at my house yesterday... BTW, not sure it's the first accident between two all electric cars but the guy in the citycar thought the guy in the purple one had left... only to find out the hard way that, no, he was still there .

 

[SPYDERLK]

Car and train are very much different applications. However, the inclines have declines, and with acceleration, you have deceleration. My point? That the technology today allows these motor "off" times to convert it to a generator. So, instead of simply coasting downhill or using the brakes, the motor would generate electricity and recharge the battery. Granted, the motor is not a real efficient generator, but it is much better than nothing. Forklifts using this technology have seen an average of about 1-1.5 hours added to their run time. That's basically between 10 and 20%. That's quite a bit.

Charger technology has also caught up. There are now what they call "break time" chargers. Operators are supposed to hook the battery to the charger on breaks and lunch for a short cycle, high amperage charge. This defies conventional lead acid battery wisdom and I was a serious doubter at first, but it works. I have seen battery charge life doubled by doing this. A battery normally lasts 8 hours of work time, I saw forklifts that ran for 16 + hours on the same battery. The only different thing required was an equilization charge once a week. In the future, I could see this technology, and a better battery, allow 18 wheelers to even use this. Even on a cross country trip. Just think how the price of your diesel would drop then.

Regenerative braking is great. A heavily loaded truck, no engine -- keep it on the plains. The very 1st 5mi long uphill and its all over. Maybe diesel/gen with battsorsupercaps would endure all around use. Regen brakes would be nice icing on the cake.

larry​

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Regenerative braking is great. A heavily loaded truck, no engine -- keep it on the plains. The very 1st 5mi long uphill and its all over. Maybe diesel/gen with battsorsupercaps would endure all around use. Regen brakes would be nice icing on the cake.

larry​

That's a good point Larry. But with the technology available today, trucks or any vehicle for that matter could be equipped with GPS. You plug your route in, and the computer could "see" the hill coming long before you get there. The computer could then read the batteries state of charge, then run a small diesel generator to be sure to have enough power to climb the hill. Then, let the drive motor charge the batteries while going down the other side. Funny thing is, this is all readily available off-the-shelf technology. Just need somebody to put it all together.

I believe that for a real forward thinking individual, the potential is there for the making of the new Bill Gates.