turning one rear wheel spindle into live one with electric drive

[Frank Lee]

You can estimate cruise HP required by using the aero calculator on this site.

[skyl4rk]

If you want to do it cheaply (relatively) I think the only choice is a trailer with a belt or chain driven wheel with a scavenged 48V golf cart motor with controller. There would have to be a freewheel in the drivetrain as close to the wheel as possible. I would look at it as acceleration assist for commuting short to mid range distances rather than a full time electric vehicle. Get 8 T105 Trojan batteries and charge them at home. If you are going long distances, leave the trailer at home.

Whatever you do is not going to be cheap. If you are looking to do this mainly to learn the electric theory behind it, you might build an electric bike instead. Even that is not going to be cheap.

[max_frontal_area]

frank, yeah i know. it needs too much info. unsure about some of those values required.
winged it and it spit out: 15.68 HP @60MPH sounds a bit high for a small light car.
i used 2100 Lbs allowing for driver, batteries and electric motor.

skyl4rk, not intended to be a "lesson in electrics" although it is becoming just that.
at first it was just an errand chemical reaction way in the back of my head while reading about Mikes red 5 wheel Impulse. then it became a "what if" not that i need to do that with a 65 mpg vehicle, now more and more it is becoming a realization that a lot of small antiquated quality vehicles vs. disposable tin cans being stamped out today could have a second meaningful life.
the trailer thing is cute no doubt. i tripped years ago when i found sharky the rabbit front end trailer pushing another rabbit, but this deal has to be compact, simple, maintenance free or minimal, and lightweight.

also unique in the fact that it will be used for steady cruise instead of acceleration assist.
enormous amounts of energy are are spent getting a car moving. why would you burden a
small battery pack with that task if you have an ICE??? yes it is more efficient in that respect than an ICE, but still sucks lots of juice.

yes, a freewheel would be lighter and simpler than an A/C clutch
could one be used off a big bike and grafted onto the CV joint?

can you think of another application where a smaller 48V DC motor
could be pulled?

i also feel impressed with making a water jacket for cooling such a motor
as duty cycle can be extended greatly - or a smaller motor might be used instead!!

[Frank Lee]

also unique in the fact that it will be used for steady cruise instead of acceleration assist. enormous amounts of energy are are spent getting a car moving. why would you burden a small battery pack with that task if you have an ICE???

Exactly! I've been going on about that too... nobody seems to be hearing it...

[Cortez]

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[Cortez]

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[Cortez]

Sorry keeps messing with me for not having enough post and trying to post a link.

In any event I have kicked around the idea of driving both rear wheels using something like this.

Looks like it could be done fairly cheaply using parts from a junkyard. In my imaginary set up the chain differential mounts off the spare tire wheel since it is sunk down to the right height to use stock axles, and the motor is mounted off the floor, and the batteries in the spare tire well. Of course that is just how I would like to see mine.

Planning on getting a second car this year so perhaps I might try it.

[watercat]

i just bought a geo electric converted car today. new batterys going in it right now. but i have gas model two and i am a fabricator and was thinking of a complete transaxle added to the rear of the car with a electric drive. I'm not so worried about the install part of the build but more of if it would be feasable to have small battery pack for in town driving say 35mph or under to help keep the weight sown in the car and then a battery pack trailer for trips where electric range could be put to good use?
I truly know nothing about electric yet so info is what i need.
Do we need a transaxle for the gear ratio change?
can a electric motor also produce power to recharge its battery? if not is it more effecient to maybe put a drive motor on one rear wheel through a tooted belt with the proper cruise rpm and the other wheel a generator or alternator to charge?
At what point is 40mpg and not buying any parts and doping the labor for a install worth it?
if you juct buy a kit for say 6000.00$ and you drive 80 miles perday and that costs 6 dollars. thats 1000 days with no maintence or breakdowns to break even? i just dont understand why any one is chasing electric except the fun of building. but if you can tell me how its worth it i would apreciate it so i can justify the expense of the projects.

I'll post a video of the electric geo in a few days I need to get a honda generator installed with an onboard charger and a heat exchanger on the generators exhaust hooked to the heater core so i can have heat and defrost. built a tow bar for it last night just incase it doenst have the range of a west coast to east coast straight through trip. I'm hoping its down hill both ways and the rope tied to the semi truck doenst break on its first trip.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Exactly! I've been going on about that too... nobody seems to be hearing it...

In my case, about 20-40 miles (depending on traffic) of my commute is under 50 mph, and a lot of that is stop-and-go. I was thinking of adapting Mike's drop-down Etek e-wheel design. That way, I could gear it to a maximum of, say, 50 mph for decent acceleration, and then lift it up when going faster to prevent overspeeding the motor. It also would work around town as well, and with a DC/DC, prevent me from having to run the ICE just to keep the 12V battery alive while sitting.