Discussion
At last. And breath!
I've built several EV's over the past 30 or so years, including an electric Hillman Imp and the infamous 'Solarvan' (Yellow bedford rascal conversion).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0v7wtGenc
I have moved onto Honda IMA hybrids now and in particular the retro Ufo styled Insight Mk1 and rather more boring Civic HCH1, two of which are now converted to phev capability and are capable of insane mpg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF-bNTBLc7Y
So I get the best of both worlds at the moment, economical lean burn IC engine for when the juice runs out on longer runs, and super efficient lithium power on local/shorter trips.
It's fair to point out I like performance as much as the next man.
I still have pistons
and even if I didn't a dedicated knowledgeable car enthusiast with bugger all is worth way more than rich playboy with an enzo who has no idea how it works or how to drive it.
Live and let live is my motto. Bring on the hypercars, v12 monsters, and shopping run arounds and everything in between.
I've built several EV's over the past 30 or so years, including an electric Hillman Imp and the infamous 'Solarvan' (Yellow bedford rascal conversion).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw0v7wtGenc
I have moved onto Honda IMA hybrids now and in particular the retro Ufo styled Insight Mk1 and rather more boring Civic HCH1, two of which are now converted to phev capability and are capable of insane mpg.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF-bNTBLc7Y
So I get the best of both worlds at the moment, economical lean burn IC engine for when the juice runs out on longer runs, and super efficient lithium power on local/shorter trips.
It's fair to point out I like performance as much as the next man.
I still have pistons
and even if I didn't a dedicated knowledgeable car enthusiast with bugger all is worth way more than rich playboy with an enzo who has no idea how it works or how to drive it. Live and let live is my motto. Bring on the hypercars, v12 monsters, and shopping run arounds and everything in between.
Edited by peterperkins on Saturday 14th December 07:00
Roo said:
AW111 said:
I was part of a team that built an EV and drove it across Australia (approx 3000 km) powered by sunlight in 1987, so cheers for this forum - better late than never 
(insert "staying current" pun here)
Impressive. Details please.(insert "staying current" pun here)
I was a technician at what was then Chisolm Institute of Technology, and spent most of my spare time on the project.
A lot of what we were doing was then state of the art, but is now common - rare earth motors, monocrystaline cells, etc. Even power MosFET's were exotic at the time (and we blew up a few).
The 1987 vehicle was made from aluminium honeycomb core fibreglass board, had 10 square metres of cells, 2 x 1.5 kW motors, and gel-cell type lead acid batteries. Top speed of 70 kph approx.
We finished 12th outright aganst the best in the world.
We were all blown away by GM, who threw cubic resources at their car (like building and running a prototype the full race distance in the US first).
The GM car was astonishing -
Satellite grade Ga cells courtesy of Hughes Aerospace.
Silver Zinc batteries
Custom AC motors from AC Delco, iirc
Aerodynamics by Aeronviroment (sp?), who did the gossomer condor man powered aircraft.
It was exhausting, depressing, exhilerating, and we did it again 3 years later.
The race currently runs every 2 years, and the organisers have had to reduce the size of solar panels allowed to keep the speeds down.
Last year's winner averaged 90 kmh over the 3000 km. On sunlight.
On a serious note - why is this forum in general gassing? Can it not be in its own forum area? These cars will lead to petrol cars being banned so while I understand they should be discussed, they are not in any way a "pistonheads" type of car - indeed they are for more anti driver enjoyment than the current crop of diesels....
The vehicles discussed here could not be further from pH's "speed matters" and driver focused image.
They should be treated in the same way as "really nice bus routes" and "practical Lycra for the occasional cyclist" - nothing more, nothing less.
The vehicles discussed here could not be further from pH's "speed matters" and driver focused image.
They should be treated in the same way as "really nice bus routes" and "practical Lycra for the occasional cyclist" - nothing more, nothing less.
Edited by 0a on Sunday 15th December 02:17
0a said:
On a serious note - why is this forum in general gassing? Can it not be in its own forum area? These cars will lead to petrol cars being banned so while I understand they should be discussed, they are not in any way a "pistonheads" type of car - indeed they are for more anti driver enjoyment than the current crop of diesels....
The vehicles discussed here could not be further from pH's "speed matters" and driver focused image.
They should be treated in the same way as "really nice bus routes" and "practical Lycra for the occasional cyclist" - nothing more, nothing less.
The vehicles discussed here could not be further from pH's "speed matters" and driver focused image.
They should be treated in the same way as "really nice bus routes" and "practical Lycra for the occasional cyclist" - nothing more, nothing less.
0a said:
On a serious note - why is this forum in general gassing? Can it not be in its own forum area? These cars will lead to petrol cars being banned so while I understand they should be discussed, they are not in any way a "pistonheads" type of car - indeed they are for more anti driver enjoyment than the current crop of diesels....
The vehicles discussed here could not be further from pH's "speed matters" and driver focused image.
They should be treated in the same way as "really nice bus routes" and "practical Lycra for the occasional cyclist" - nothing more, nothing less.
Could you give me the date that horses were banned?The vehicles discussed here could not be further from pH's "speed matters" and driver focused image.
They should be treated in the same way as "really nice bus routes" and "practical Lycra for the occasional cyclist" - nothing more, nothing less.
deltashad said:
McWigglebum4th said:
Could you give me the date that horses were banned?
Horses have always been banned from on motorways (and roads with motorway regulations, the new A1 for example).Nope
But you miss the point
Horses haven't disappeared they have become toys
I don't doubt for a second that fossil fuelled cars will eventually be banned from some city centres but I won't miss for a millisecond the roar of a V8 in city traffic as 90% of city centre traffic is boring 4 pots
McWigglebum4th said:
deltashad said:
McWigglebum4th said:
Could you give me the date that horses were banned?
Horses have always been banned from motorways (and roads with motorway regulations, the new A1 for example).But you miss the point
Actually while we're at it, a separate forum for Electric vehicles, horses, bicycles and 'what car threads'.
Oh, maybe not.... I think thats GG pretty much finished without these.
I'm glad this forum isn't just about EVs, and is also alternative fuels.
IMO, anything that you have to plug in to the mains is using the wrong technology. Maybe the right technology isn't quite there yet, but as we're a nation that is already short on electricity generation capacity, I can't comprehend why we're encouraging more use of a limited resource.
I hope that the car companies find the holy grail, and plug-ins will be that interim technology that was never the green alternative.
IMO, anything that you have to plug in to the mains is using the wrong technology. Maybe the right technology isn't quite there yet, but as we're a nation that is already short on electricity generation capacity, I can't comprehend why we're encouraging more use of a limited resource.
I hope that the car companies find the holy grail, and plug-ins will be that interim technology that was never the green alternative.
fatboy b said:
I'm glad this forum isn't just about EVs, and is also alternative fuels.
IMO, anything that you have to plug in to the mains is using the wrong technology. Maybe the right technology isn't quite there yet, but as we're a nation that is already short on electricity generation capacity, I can't comprehend why we're encouraging more use of a limited resource.
I hope that the car companies find the holy grail, and plug-ins will be that interim technology that was never the green alternative.
One nice thing is that so much of the technology is transferrable.IMO, anything that you have to plug in to the mains is using the wrong technology. Maybe the right technology isn't quite there yet, but as we're a nation that is already short on electricity generation capacity, I can't comprehend why we're encouraging more use of a limited resource.
I hope that the car companies find the holy grail, and plug-ins will be that interim technology that was never the green alternative.
Battery tech, supercaps, control electronics, electric motors, smart transmissions -
they are all relevant to both the Prius and the 918, and anything else with an electric motor, regardless of how it's powered.
With all the work done on KERS in F1, I won't be surprised to see flywheels added to the mix.
I expect to see a fuel cell car at some stage, but it will still need batteries or supercaps to supply instant power.
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