94 honda civic to EV, AC Motors?

[Christ]

It's not necessarily too much weight, if you remove some other components and mount your other parts in the trunk area, but you'd be cutting it pretty close for forward axle limit.

[dcb]

gotta add a lot of lead batteries (or a lot of money) to get volts up for that motor. 180lbs is probably a better fit for a civic, no? That's like 4 car batteries difference in weight from 400lbs.

'course albaquerque is a cruise too.

DC motors are starting to look good next to these industrial giant ac things. Or a bank of alternators from the junkyard running as AC motors


http://www.evalbum.com/876

[Christ]

LOL Good point.

Like I said, there's no way (safely) he'd be able to add any other weight up front, and I didn't really spec out the motor to realize the whole requirement of voltage, etc.

[sirus20x6]

what kind of performance will i get with a 15hp motor? I mean I think i have like 90-110hp ICE now, and I know they aren't exactly a 1:1 but im not sure how it would drive.

[Christ]

You have to stop and think about where you're running your ICE normally, and the HP output you're getting at that point. You've probably never actually gotten 90-110HP from your engine, unless you have ever reached into the 5,000 - 6,000 range in the RPMs.

Some *not all* electric motors have a max torque value before they're in motion. This doesn't mean that it's producing torque right away, it just means that as soon as the motor begins to spin, it's making max torque. The torque curve is either fairly flat from there on out, or declines with armature speed, while HP stays mostly linear.

[sirus20x6]

right but I've bet I've gotten 15hp lol.
ok i know that 15 would be the continuous rating right?
most of the motors i find on ebay are like 1/4 hp.

will this get up and go to 55mph as fast as I might like to?



EDIT: fixed spelling mistake

[Christ]

There's a calculator here somewhere that will tell you based on your frontal area and weight what kind of power you need to keep 55MPH steadily... if you're only using that much power, you're not likely to ever actually hit 55MPH. The calculator assumes excellent specs, like terrain, wind, etc.

You should be prepared to have at least 30% more than is really necessary for the desired speed you have in mind, for any kind of decent acceleration. Also, consider the weight of all components when using the calculator. You're not going to weigh 2,500 Lbs anymore, you'll be closer to 4,000. It takes more power to accelerate and sustain that weight.

The continuous duty rating on a motor is important, but I don't think it's quite as important as the "burp" rating, or the high level that it can achieve, and how long it can sustain it. Often, a lower HP motor can handle making a bit higher HP figure safely for a given period of time, but then will need to be run more nicely to cool back down and run without damage.

That said, you'll be looking for more than 15HP, almost certainly.

[vpoppv]

HP in an electric is very different than in an ICE. Just to give you an idea, my electric motor is rated at 2 HP. I really don't know anything about AC, but I bet if it weighs between 75lbs to 150 lbs it would work better than anything outside that range