New open source EV website - could use your help

[revoltev]

I’ve found that experimentation costs a lot, and if I had a plan that was properly designed, with an accurate parts list, I could have saved hundreds (thousands) of dollars building an EV.

So I’m putting together a new open source electric vehicle website, the ReVolt Electric Vehicle Project http://revolt-ev.org and I could use some help designing it.

Its purpose is to accelerate EV adoption by providing an open source, online environment, complete with online development tools, where the general public can work together to design low cost electric vehicles, get parts, free plans and community support.

I’d like to provide EV vendors with business listings and online stores so it’s easy for do it yourselfers to get the parts and services they need. Vendors can provide kits, bolt together parts, upgrades, different skin styles, batteries etc; allowing people to easily piece together an affordable EV.

It’ll be a little bit different from the general EV site in that there will be more of a focus on the project models rather than EV conversions. This will allow people with no engineering or electrical skills (like me) to download complete plans for a vehicle, find the parts and materials, upgrades, support and everything they need to piece together an affordable EV and get it on the road.

I’m starting off with a tilting three wheeled EV as the first project. I believe that it would be a unique, fairly simple project that the average person with access to a few tools and if necessary help from a welding shop (or using prebuilt parts) could put together, license as a motorcycle and use as a 3 season ‘to work and back’ transport.

I’m working on the logical structure, design elements and community integration. I could use some help figuring all this out and any suggestions would be welcomed.

Hopefully I’m not out of place by posting this, I'm not trying to detract from the excellent forum here, and thanks for your attention.

(Please Note: site graphics are under construction)

[Bicycle Bob]

I've been studying tilting three wheelers at tilting : Tilting Vehicles for years now, to improve on my first trike. There are various ways to control tilting, with the sensors and hydraulics on the late Vandebrink Carver working quite well. Philip James has a system that connects the steering wheel to the tilt mechanism, and lets the wheels caster freely. As alarming as that sounds, it has the ability to slide through a corner with a transition from high traction to low and back without upset. So far, it hasn't been tested for crosswind stability, though. In general, automatic tilt controls are not what you want in the esses. Most builders just let the chassis tilt freely, as if on two wheels, except at low speed - like putting a caster tip on the stand instead of a spring to hold it up.