I'm refining and adding some of the important elements; modeling in SketchUp and I've settled back to where I started: I think it will be a fiberglass shell, with tube steel as the chassis and safety structure. Here's my updated blog entry:
Neil Blanchard Designs: CarBEN Concept EV: An Open Source Project
Here's the latest video animation of the SketchUp model:
My next step is to model the mesh seats. And I need to buy a (used) bandsaw to cut plywood ribs, and start fiberglassing!
If I use the EiG prismatic cells from FVT (like they use in their own eVaro), I can fit ~48kWh pack in the floor of the CarBEN. I'd like it to be 50-60kWh.
I am hoping to have the Cd between 0.1 and 0.14 which would put the CdA between 2.5 sq ft and 3.5 sq ft. (the frontal area is just under 25 sq ft). I based the design on the early Mercedes model of the Bionic, which has a Cd of 0.095 -- which is the lowest drag form with 4 wheels as I have seen.
I'm hoping that the total vehicle weight will be ~1,600-1,800 pounds -- the Edison2 Very Light Car is ~830 pounds, including the ~100 pound ICE drivetrain. The electric motor(s) will be similar (or 50 pounds heavier) to that, and the battery pack will be about 800 pounds.
My goal is to build the CarBEN EV and get it <100wH/mile, and so I hope the range can be >400 miles. The early Aptera prototypes were reported to be able to do this, and Dave Cloud's Dolphin comes very close, with a total weight of ~3,200 pounds. So, it is doable; though certainly challenging.
I'd be happy to send you, or anybody who is interested, the SketchUp model, and you can use the free version of SketchUp to view it and to work on it as well.