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Old 11-05-2009, 10:27 PM   #6 (permalink)
vpoppv
The $500 Electric Car
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
That's good context. Any idea what average would be?

The Solectria Force Geo cars also all used custom single speed gearboxen.

I couldn't really get away with it in the low power ForkenSwift... well maybe I could (the Citicars were all single speed 48 volts). But I like to have the ability to downshift to keep amps low when cruising (or climbing very steep stuff at low speed), and upshifting when I want more power.

I actually do use all 5 gears - but mostly 2 & 3 with a bit of 4 once in a while. I could probably get away with just 2, 3 & reverse. Wonder what kind of difference it would make...
I guess ForkenSwift and E-Sandra are like apples and oranges: big motor and 48v vs. itty-bitty motor and 72v, but I find myself using gears MORE than I do with an ICE! I go from 1st to 4th to get to about 25 mph. I could certainly stay in one gear, but it would be much slower to get there. I attribute that mostly to my throttle only going to 1970 Ohms, but just the throttle limit (I would guess anyway) wouldn't change the need to shift, would it?
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