Hi everyone.
I have a Vectrix electric motorcycle. I've been able to go as far as 91 miles on a single charge so far, but I want MORE. (It's a 9KWH battery pack made from 18 Nissan LEAF batteries.)
(The other cycle in the photo is a friend's, which we ALSO set up with LEAF batteries.)
The bike pulls substantially more current at top speed (about 64 mph, electronically governed,) than it does at 35-45 mph.
Obviously, motorcycles are NOT aerodynamic, and have nots of room for improvement. Motorcycle riders are even less aerodynamic. I'm 6 foot tall and nearly 200 pounds.
Here's a view of me on the motorcycle.
As a "mega-scooter", it has a very comfortable seat, and a very upright riding position. This is great for a view of the road, and looking right over a lot of cars, but not great for aero.
In this photo, the back body of cycle was removed, as is the trunk cover/passenger seat. I was looking at how everything on the back attaches. I noticed that the entire body is aluminum, but the back area, (pretty much everything in black) is steel tubing around the trunk. That whole thing is mounted to the rest of the cycle with only 4 bolts - two on either side. You can see them clearly in the photo.
So, there is very little stopping me from taking the entire back off, and replacing it with some sort of custom aerodynamic tail.
Here's a few images from the aerodynamics tool here on Ecomodder, and of course, it doesn't fit to the cycle well at all - I'm way too tall!
Way back when, I was reading about what Craig Vetter was doing with his Helix, and I always thought those were pretty cool. When I took my motorcycle class, another student there had a Reflex, which I really liked too. Now that I got this Vectrix, I see some similarities (although the seat on the Helix always looked SO LOW!)
More recently, I was looking at some of the work done on
Terry Hershner's modified Zero.
I think that a bulkhead right behind me streamlining back to a fishtail, combined with a nosecone that would enclose the front tire would be very slick.
I was also thinking about doing something like adding a pair of Elcon PFC2500 chargers. Those can run on 120v OR 240V and can do 15 amps at 240V, so the pair of them would be 30A/240V which maxes of most public J1772 charging stations. It would also mean that I would have a recharge time of about an hour and 15 minutes. Higher current charging AND aerodynamics could make this into a real road-trip vehicle!
I have very little experience with fiberglass. I'm good at cutting and drilling aluminum, and flattening and welding conduit. I've worked with coroplast a fair amount. My dad built a cedar-strip canoe, which is amazingly light and beautiful. Building a fairing in the same style would be gorgeous, but probably beyond my skill/experience level.
I don't have a budget for buying a Vetter Fairing, although it is possible that I might do some fund-raising as part of a documentary. In which case, I MAY have money for a Vetter fairing.
I'm also hoping to make it out to Ohio in July to check out the
Vetter Challenge there, and look at some streamlined cycles.
Motorcycles have different aerodynamic challenges than cans. The biggest being that they are taller, don't have doors, they tilt as they turn, and you need to stick your feet on the ground while stopped.
One big thing that I noticed on Terry Hershner's cycle is that when they re-modified the back end of his cycle, they really lowered the seat. On the Vectrix, the seat is right over the battery box. The cover of the battery box is sort of a stair-step shape, higher in the back than the front. This originally had fans in it for an air-cooling system for the NiMH batteries. Since I upgraded to the Nissan LEAF cells, I removed those fans. I may be able to cut the lid, but something custom, and lower the seat a few inches, but the motor controller is also in that area, and not easily movable.
So, let me know your thoughts! What's the best way to make this thing more aerodynamic?
