Electric

[kevtherev]

Whilst out doing what a trucker does, I saw an awesome sight.

An electric 12 tonne truck, whoa! I said, that's amazing. But the lad who was driving it says that they are quite common now... especially in central London it avoids the congestion charge... but that's not all, it avoids all kinds of financial/mechanical stuff that I did not know of.

this company makes them.. and others

http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com/index.asp

An interesting website I'm sure you'll agree

[Mocki]

very interesting, althoug its a shame they are basing the smaller ones on fjord chassis, from a drivers point of view, uncomfortable and clumsy.

still very low range tho, and slow.

i notice it doesnt take into consideration the carbon cost of making electric, only the cost per mile.

[kevtherev]

oh but they ain't slow... I couldn't catch the bleeder, he went to 60 (top speed) quicker than me.

cab heaters are shyte and it will only go 100 miles thats true.

cost per mile is 0.04p according to them.. but whatever it is it's going to be 70% less than derv any day

tip of an iceberg eh?

[Dartmoor]

I believe that torque is constant for an electric motor - so acceleration to max power is straight line, and hence acceleration fast. Guess that's why trains use electric motors - on the big diesel ones, the burner is only there to provide the electricity, not to drive the wheels.

Apparently Toyota is developing a Hybrid where a small petrol engine will be there simply to create electricity - and will never drive the wheels directly - next move on from the Prius.

As a student I drove an electric milk float for several weeks - HUGE weight on those with the chassis, batteries and milk - electric motors can be very very powerful! Don't let the pathetic G-Wizz car fool you!

[Vanagonman]

Don't let the pathetic G-Wizz car fool you!

I own a G-Wiz. They're not pathetic - they're good for commutes to school & work. That's why they're cheap & small. Think of it as a 4-wheeled electric scooter.

[Dartmoor]

Don't let the pathetic G-Wizz car fool you!

I own a G-Wiz. They're not pathetic - they're good for commutes to school & work. That's why they're cheap & small. Think of it as a 4-wheeled electric scooter.

No offence intended - I meant that electric motors can be much more mighty than the G-wizz. As for cheap...ur huh????? I thought they were nearly £10k !! I bought a Fiat Panda Eco for half that price - brand new!

[Vanagonman]

True. But you can get a used 3-year old G-Wiz for under £4k with very low miles, which is cheap considering, The G-Wiz pays for itself when you compare it to even my Escort diesel! It saves me £100 a month, so it a few years, it literally pays for itself. If you drive a thirster vehicle (like a VW Camper), it will pay for itself quicker still.

By all means, a Tesla or Vectrix scooter should convince many that electric vehicles can be quick!

[Vanagonman]

Here's a few electric-powered Transporters:

http://jalopnik.com/cars/concept-cars/a ... 203326.php
http://video.aol.com/video-detail/elect ... 1536732874
http://www.electroauto.com/gallery/bus.shtml
http://www.evalbum.com/159
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQ23oKfNbSY
http://www.evalbum.com/1727

[kevtherev]

facinating stuff
Look how easily T25's lend themselves to DC power



I suppose it's distance you can travel, that (at the moment) puts off the wholesale conversion to DC.
ergo... the further you go the bigger the weight.
unless battery technology changes..

which it seems to be

[BigTam]

We at BT are trialing a few of these, the company are in Washington Tyne and Wear, so far so good, wierd when you are in one though, the silence is spooky,

[Mr Bean]

Some years ago I built SWMBO an electric trike so she could use the power to help her up the hill coming home from the town centre. (She had some heart problems) The motor is a lorry windscreen wiper motor assembly and the gearing gives 10MPH one to one direct to a 20" wheel. It is driven via a home built Pulse Width Modulated Speed controller operated by a throttle at the handlebar. It can pull me up a fairly steep hill with no pedalling and SWMO only cuts the power in when struggling up a hill. It has run successfully for about five years now and only had one set of replacement batteries (2x 12 Volt gellies)
My mate has an abandoned project fibreglass sports special which he intendss to electrify using a Fork lift truck system. I doubt if he will be successful as the legislation for them is as if it was a car proper. Lots of fun though if he ever does. Trouble is that the legislation will carefully guard the interests ofthe big vehicle manufacturers and big business so garden shed stuff will be very difficult to get anywhwere with.
To be frank the internal combustion engine is so well developed that it will be very difficult to replace especially in view of the lean burn developments and fuel efficiency measures in process.
Cheers
Wolfie

[albertramsbottom]

Just imagine it, on a camping trip make sure that each campsite is no more than 70 miles apart.

Pay for hookup, plug in and charge your batteries!

Cool, your whole trip for free

CHEERS

[HarryMann]

Kev

cost per mile is 0.04p according to them..

£0.04 /mile

which is what you meant I think

Dartmoor
The reason diesel eletcric trains drive through an electric motor is that due to traction and gearing. Putting 3,000 Hp or so through a clutch & gbox is going to be a bit of game, lots of gears, reversing etc.. Running a diesel engine at fairly contant revs (where its most efficient) to generate lecy, to drive traction motors makes more sense, though many shunters are now diesel-hydraulic, torque convertors of some sort or other.
The torque of DC series wound traction motors is ideal, in that its maximum at zero rpm (for acceleration) decreasing linearly with rpm... pretty much what a starter motor does. Current would be max at zero rpm too... and can reach 800 Amps + instantaneously in a starter motor before tailing off as revs rise.
The torque of a diesel engine is in fact, pretty constant, certainly for a given fuel setting...

[mrted]

Vauxhall have a concept car that uses a small petrol driven generator to charge the batteries.

The main motor is electric, the range wasnt bad at around 200miles*

(from memory)


John

[kevtherev]

Vauxhall have a concept car that uses a small petrol driven generator to charge the batteries.

The main motor is electric, the range wasnt bad at around 200miles*

(from memory)


John

Hmmmm might we see a return of the Aircooled engine to power these chargers.. albeit a little 'un