Steam power...

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by basjoos

If you aren’t familiar with it, look up the Doble steam car, which was the most powerful and efficient steam car ever made. It’s engine was also used in a steam powered airplane that is now in the Smithsonian.

A steam-powered aircraft? Makes me wonder how such setup could fare for a cropduster...

[freebeard]

www.virtualsteamcarmuseum.org/makers/stewart_h_h_steam_stewart_besler_steam_airplane.ht ml

Pix but no performance figures.

[Isaac Zachary]

Originally Posted by JSH

Electric vehicle are about the most fuel diversified vehicles you can get. They can be powered by solar, wind, hydro, wave, natural gas, propane, coal, diesel, gasoline, ethanol, nuclear ....

This is what fascinates me about them, the ability to make my own fuel if need be. I daydreamed a lot about making my own EV back in the day.

There were so many factors to consider,

• type of battery,
• type of motor or motors,
• gearing.

Plus where to make my own electricity,

• put a generator in the home that heats it or the hot water,
• solar,
• wind.

Today's electric cars seem kind of boring and opposite of those things. Everthing packaged into a tablet with wheels. I suppose you can still put solar panels on your house and drive off that. But I was thinking more along the lines of fold out solar panels on an EV converted VW Bus. At least I was hoping for some way to charge my EV directly with my own electric production without the need for a Power Wall.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

But I was thinking more along the lines of fold out solar panels on an EV converted VW Bus.

Cars don't have enough surface area for that to work.

My van has 300 watts of solar on the roof. I could double that if I was OK with panels extending past the edges of the roof.

Even assuming 100% rated production and no charging losses:

600 watt x 10 hours = 6 kWh. My much smaller Bolt EV goes 4 miles on a kWh. 6 x 4 = 24 miles of range per day.

[freebeard]

XBUS Configurator - ElectricBrands
https://electricbrands.de › en › configurator
With the maximum number of solar panels, the XBUS can generate up to 800 watts of electricity per hour. Standard battery equipment. So that you can start driving straight away, the standard version of the XBUS has 8 batteries á 1.25 kWh. This gives you a standard battery of 10 kwh and a range of up to 200 kilometers in city mode and up to 140 ...

Xbus is small.

[Isaac Zachary]

There are many panel configurations besides just fixed panels on a small roof. Fold out panels, raised panels, panels carreid in the trunk, etc. I'm sure there has to be some sort of portable configuration out there that is more than just a few hundred watts. I've mocked up on paper 6kW to 40kW worth of panels that could be carried one way or another and then deployed when stationary.

Plus some of us do rent. Our source of charing is limited to about 1,500W. Even 300W extra would make a difference at those rates. And when the power is out, 300W or any wattage is better than nothing.

But the point was 1. EV's are designed to use the grid, period. They aren't designed to be charged by solar or similar means, portable or stationary, so for the DIYer the only choice is AC with constant current. And 2. they are kind of boring. They are a practical vehicle, which is the most important. But other than that, they are boring.

The XBus is more of my style for sure.

[JSH]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Xbus is small.

Also not for sale today - it is get another company selling a concept.

Completely unrealistic specs (600 kms range on 30 kWh batteries = 12.5 miles per kWh) = huge red flag.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

Plus some of us do rent. Our source of charging is limited to about 1,500W. Even 300W extra would make a difference at those rates. And when the power is out, 300W or any wattage is better than nothing.

You could move to a rental with a charger - they are out there today and availability will only better as EVs get more popular. Some states (like OR) require wiring for chargers in every new construction.

You could ask your property manager for permission to install a LEV II charger - or at least the circuit with plug to plug your charger into. I doubt many owners are going to say no to you paying to increase the value of their property. This happens all the time BTW on other improvements. I family friend spent thousands to add a fence to house they rented for their dogs. One of my renters just paid for the entire interior of the house to be professionally painted because they wanted different colors.

Originally Posted by Isaac Zachary

But the point was 1. EV's are designed to use the grid, period. They aren't designed to be charged by solar or similar means, portable or stationary, so for the DIYer the only choice is AC with constant current. And 2. they are kind of boring. They are a practical vehicle, which is the most important. But other than that, they are boring.

The XBus is more of my style for sure.

EVs are designed to use electricity. From the Grid or off grid. There are plenty of ways to generate that power - both on and off grid.

EVs are boring? Some like the Leaf are. Others a super efficient performance cars. That is a matter of personal taste I guess. You have a Prius and Avalon. There is nothing exciting about either of those cars to me - but if you like them that is great. (I've had 2 Prius - great cars but about the most boring car I can imagine)

[Isaac Zachary]

I live in a small town with extremely few EV's let alone rentals with charging stations. I've been to every single appartment building within a 30 mile radius and have not seen a single appartment building with and EVSE. And the landlord won't even let me put in a satelite dish. Again, moving out of town seems to be the only solution yet another problem.

Fun is according to taste. I'm not all that impressed with power, torque, acceleration and speed. I live in a town that's usually very snowy, icy and with lots of mountainous roads that are very curvy and you can't go very fast anyway. So power is kind of pointless to me personally. Not that it isn't fun to hit the pedal every once in a while, but not really what I'm after or what tickles my fancy.

My personal likes are I like driving a stick. True, the hybrids I have don't have a manual shifter, but hypermiling by getting the engine to shut off so I can coast along as far as possible without burning fuel kind of takes the place of the manual transmission. There's a certain joy or pride of doing something and getting a certain result that you feel is better. The more I control the more I feel connected to the car and road.

I also like knowing things about my car on a personal basis and having the pride of saying "I rebuilt that" or "I modded this". For an example, I replaced some modules in the hybrid battery on the Prius. I've rebuilt at least one engine completely and did a few special things to it when I did. If I could, I'd put a Torsen differencial in my Prius if I could get my hands on one that fits. It's those kinds of things that I can say "I know this car" or "I improved this" instead of the "if you want more power, just install the latest update" way of thinking among certain EV owners.

I think there are a lot of things about EV's that are cool, but seem to be the things other people aren't into. Nobody has custom built an EV motor that I know of. Will stuff like that ever be a thing? Will people be moding their EV's? What level of control will people have on their driving experience, or are these just practical cars designed to move you with as little driver input as necessary?

I want a stick shift EV even if it's a two speed with a 30hp motor.

I guess I like being different. If my car is just the same as my neighbor's so what? It's just another McDonald's sandwich, so to speak. It's especially frusterating when they won't let you add extra pickles to your taste.

[Isaac Zachary]

I think there just isn't a production EV for someone who's a motorhead type of car enthusiast. Valve sizes and intake port shapes and rod lenghts, firing orders, flat vs cross plane, exhaust sounds... What on a production EV could take those same things when we don't even know how many poles are on the stator and if they are wired in a delta or wye configuration? I find the design of electric motors and controllers fascinating. But on production EV's today these specs are nearly impossible to find. You look up the specs and other than voltage and kWhs, most of it is how much power, acceleration and charging time. What's the gear ratio? What kind of transistors are they using for PWM? Could we at least have a picture? Some full teardown and rebuild videos? Any mods? Can I add a few windings to get more torque? Make take a few away and increase top speed?

[freebeard]

I think people who drive a completely un-modified vehicle are saying that they are the average use case the corporation thinks is most average.

I've got one of these on a shelf.



It has a [not shown] optional external oil cooler.

I've become disenchanted with it's open diff, ever since I spun out on black ice. It's possible that RAV4 shipped with a twin motor rear axle.