nimblemotors -
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Originally Posted by nimblemotors
This approach was a good idea 10 years ago, but today you can buy a used Prius instead!
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Yes and no. For instance, I was looking at the Prius V as a "wagon" for my wife's business. The problem is that it is still deficient in terms of cargo volume. Probably the only option for us would be a Ford Escape Hybrid SUV, but I will avoid SUVs if I have a choice.
I'm biased towards the concept of retrofit in general. If you look at the overall automobile fleet in the USA, the vast majority is still ICE driven. It would be nice to be able to take the car the "fits" one's needs and be able to improve it's MPG with a retrofit kit. This site is basically a free-retrofit-foundation workshop.
Quote:
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Today, what is more interesting, is just the hub motor itself to build a fully electric car. If they could sell just the motors at $3k a pair, then they have something, IF it has enough power to run the car, or if four of them are enough. But if it's limited to a specific model (e.g. a Civic), then it isn't going to be so great.
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Yeah, specific is no good. I wouldn't actually care about a battery pack. If they just had some ultracapacitors to store the energy lost in deceleration, we could get that back when the car started moving again.
More info on the US car fleet and ultracapacitors :
State of the U.S. Motor Vehicle Industry: 2012
http://www2.briefing.com/Marketing/i...ustry-2012.pdf
Ultracapacitor Technologies and Application in Hybrid and Electric Vehicles [eScholarship]
Honda Worldwide | Fuel Cell
CarloSW2