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a car in sheeps clothing or is it a wolf?

201
strlt_typ
I spent a lot of time on the drivetrain -- including converting two coaster-brake hubs to shaft drive.

got any drawings?

Jun 28, 09 9:14 am  · 
 · 
SDR

I'll see what I've got. I think I just dove in and did it, first one and then a copy. I've never put it to the (torque) test. I recall it involved finding an unusual thin-profile ball bearing, and making a notched cup out of the top of a hole saw. . . I have lots of sketches of ratchet/reciprocating chainless drive systems, etc etc

Jun 28, 09 10:33 am  · 
 · 
treekiller

the next big retailer of electric vehicles might just be Best Buy. move over plasma screens!

Jul 6, 09 12:48 pm  · 
 · 
FrankLloydMike

here's my favorite electric vehicle:

Jul 6, 09 2:57 pm  · 
 · 
SDR

Trace, that's not pretty, is it. Do we know how the Lambo driver fared ?

I saw a motorized-hub pedal-powered/electric tricycle the other day. I went online, and found this:

http://www.goldenmotor.com/ "click to see hub motor details"

Jul 6, 09 3:37 pm  · 
 · 
On the fence

80grit, I love this quote.

"it's a capitalist economy in the states..... money money money"

Which certainly explains why a high quality, well functioning electric car has not been made and mass produced somewhere else in the world.

Jul 7, 09 11:01 am  · 
 · 
strlt_typ

according to google, it's tesla's birthday...

Jul 10, 09 8:11 pm  · 
 · 
SDR


Anybody remember the name of the body designer ?

Jul 22, 09 11:19 pm  · 
 · 
strlt_typ

EVs at the wayland invitational this past weekend in portland...

porsche 914




suzuki samurai



datsun 1600




tesla roadsters. there were 4 at the event.







white zombie




datsun pickup



crazy horse pinto



ssi-racing cobra




killacycle




buggy



minibike


a fast tango



honda crx



the electro cat


zenn. www.mcelectricvehicles.com




1921 milburn electric



posche





honda civic



atv (no water crossing)


fiero


























Jul 28, 09 11:40 am  · 
 · 
chupacabra

I just bought a 2009 Jetta Sportwagen TDI. 35 city 44+ highway...and it drives like a car should...i.e. I don't feel like I am driving a go-cart.

I think a hybrid diesel is a promising offer down the road a bit. I know Mazda is adding a diesel Mazda3 and Audi is bringing the TDI to the A3 and A4. Clean diesel + Biodiesel = a good start.

Plus, I traded in my 94 Rodeo for the Cash for Clunkers and got 4500 towards the Sprtwagen...not to mention $1300 tax break for alternative fuel vehicle and another tax break for state and local taxes..all together about $7500 in savings off of the msrp.

So, the governments cash for clunkers got my 12mpg 1994 SUV off the road and replaced it with a 2009 clean diesel that gets around 35-40 avg...it would seem that the government is not all bad after all.

Jul 28, 09 11:51 am  · 
 · 
chupacabra
Jul 28, 09 11:51 am  · 
 · 
chupacabra
Jul 28, 09 11:52 am  · 
 · 
treekiller
Brammo Enertia gets taken for a spin!



LATimes video

Brammo Enertia will retail for $12k at best buy - all that for the equivalent of 360 miles per gallon. lots of green materials - Its fenders and tail lamp shroud are 100% recycled from battery cases, its body work is crafted from 24% recycled polyethylene water bottles, and the plastic under the saddle is made from old nylon carpet...

Weight: 324 pounds

Top speed: 55+ miles per hour

Average range per charge: 50 miles

Aug 2, 09 3:23 pm  · 
 · 
vado retro

i always wanted a 914. but i wanted the one that had the 350 small block conversion!

Aug 2, 09 3:38 pm  · 
 · 
vado retro

do you get 4500 for any clunker cuz it seems like you could buy a car for a couple of hundred bucks aand get a good amount of cash for a new ride.

Aug 2, 09 3:40 pm  · 
 · 
snook_dude

I discoverd my 1984 Mercury Grand Marquee...doesn't qualify for the rebate program...I was willing to sacrifice Taj...for better milage...but Uncle Sam says that the car has to be manufactured after July of 1984 to qualify... Taj was made in Canada in January 1984...so it says on the door. So now I own a collectors item...guess I will put her
up on blocks in the garage....and figure I will retire on her with only 44,000 miles. She is the Goddess of Gas!

Aug 2, 09 7:38 pm  · 
 · 
vado retro

you'll have to wait for the soon to be offered Cash For Classics program...

Aug 2, 09 9:44 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller

Getting charged up to test drive a few EVs at the The Electric Vehicle Store in the next few weeks! Didn't know The Current was still available, but they seem to have 2 in stock...


Also:
Electric/Plug-in Hybrid Cars and Renewable Energy: A Critical Marriage
Friday, October 2, 7pm program (vehicles on display at 5pm), 100 Rapson Hall

In cooperation with the University of Minnesota's College of Design, the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society (MRES) will present the in-depth program, "Electric/Plug-in Hybrid Cars and Renewable Energy: A Critical Marriage." This event will feature a speech by Marc Geller -- co-founder of Plug In America, and a California solar installer -- followed by a panel discussion including Geller, Minnesota State Senator Scott Dibble, Fresh Energy Executive Director Michael Noble, and Eric Jensen, Energy Coordinator for the Isaak Walton League.There will be a display of electric and hybrid vehicles outside Rapson Hall beforehand, starting at 5 p.m.

Sep 28, 09 6:03 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller
The [2010] Wheego Whip... has a $7,500 federal tax credit and a net cost of $13,000. It will go 55 miles on a charge and while it max speed is undetermined (~55 mph+), but right now is limited to 35 mph in MN as a NEV.









wow! I can afford this car and it's ends up being less then a smart fourtwo!

Now to find out if the U has a place I can park and charge?

Sep 28, 09 9:16 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller
wired magazine on the wheego

& green auto blog too...

Sep 28, 09 9:31 pm  · 
 · 
aspect

why does eco-green car always looks so powerless?

Sep 29, 09 12:40 am  · 
 · 
vado retro

the man who confused his car for a doorstop.

Sep 29, 09 8:31 am  · 
 · 
aspect

why do we need a smooth body n all these fancy interior gadgets to be green? take the ariel atom for example, without it, its fast, light and WASTE less gas^^




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaWoo82zNUA

Sep 29, 09 9:11 am  · 
 · 
vado retro

how many cupholders does the atom have?

Sep 29, 09 12:50 pm  · 
 · 
Distant Unicorn

I was just reading up on the BMW 7 hydrogen car.

It goes 125 miles on 45 gallons of liquid hydrogen. That tank is so well insulated-- it would take a block of ice 13 years to completely melt. However, it only takes 9 days for half the liquid hydrogen to boil off.

2.7 gallons of liquid hydrogen per mile.

At 98 cents pert gallon, it is almost two times cheaper to drive a Bugatti Veyron in a city.

At hydrogen retail price of 4.99 a gallon, it is ten times cheaper to drive a Veyron.

At peak fuel consumption for the Veyron, traveling at 253 mph, is 2 miles per gallon. 0.7 miles shorter per gallon than the BMW 7 Hydrogen traveling at 55 mph.

However, gasoline is only 46 megajoules per kilogram while hydrogen fuel is 143 megajoules per kilogram.

So, hydrogen to gasoline equivalent, the BMW 7 Hydrogen is almost 3.1 times less efficient traveling 55mph than a Bugatti Veyron traveling at 253 mph.

WHO THINKS THIS IS A GOOD IDEA?

I know a fuel that can get a person 46 miles to the gallons and has an energy density (0.68 megajoules per kilogram) 1/67th that of a gallon of gasoline. It is also carbon neutral, requires almost no infrastructure and consumes less energy per kilogram in production than producing gasoline.

With the average of miles per gallon of fuel consumption for passanger cars being 22.4 miles per gallon.

That's 131 megajoules per gallon of gas. And my fuel is only 2.56 megajoules per gallon.

That's 5.84 megajoules per mile in an average car. My mystery fuel only uses 0.055 megajoules per mile.

That makes my fuel 106 times more energy efficient than gasoline. At an equivalent energy density, that would be 2378 miles per gallon.

An increase of what? 106,000% efficiency?

So, what is this mystery fuel and how do you burn it?

Drink milk and start walking!

Sep 29, 09 3:10 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller

orochi, the math never added up for hydrogen - the previous president wasn't known for his mathematical/policy brilliance.

Sep 29, 09 10:09 pm  · 
 · 
aspect

the problem is where does the hydrogen come from? i think u need miles of solar panel to generate hydrogen enough for a car monthly consumptions.

Sep 29, 09 10:28 pm  · 
 · 
NLW2

This is why the car is going bye bye. Let's just let the thing die rather than scramble to replace it with all this crazy one-off chicanery (electric supercars? Who the hell needs an electric supercar?). If pre-automobile humans saw us now, how crippled we've made ourselves, I suspect they would either laugh or be horrified. Then they would kill Henry Ford.

Sep 29, 09 10:36 pm  · 
 · 
chupacabra

You gonna toss your computer too? Carpal tunnel and an aching back wasn't their vision either. But if you think I am schlepping the kid, my laptop, and groceries...nope, gonna drive a car.

And we didn't go from feet to cars...just so you don't get your history all out of whack.

Cars are wonderful. Can they be made better? Yes. Can a lot of things be made better (like say buildings)? Yes. Since buildings can be made better should we do away with buildings?

There will always be a wide range of transportation - many options should be considered daily. I walk, ride my bike (with kid in tow), and drive when need be too. No need to create some false guilt based on temporal realities.

Sep 29, 09 11:30 pm  · 
 · 
SDR

Maybe you're both right -- on a theoretical level, anyway. We developed so much technique so fast -- 150 years, after hundreds of centuries of slow development -- that we've scarcely had time to assess the effects, on us and on the planet. Americans at least are suffering a plague of obesity and other physical effects, due (apparently) to simultaneous indulgence in an unnecessarily rich diet, in indoor "activity" and effort-free mobility. How could we not be changing ourselves into something new -- and not necessarily better ? Unless we are in fact on the way "out" of our bodies and into an alternate existence in cyberspace ?

Sep 30, 09 12:48 am  · 
 · 
Distant Unicorn

I'm mostly going to point out that at 2.96 a gallon and you get 46 miles to the gallon... milk is a pretty cheap and earth friendly "fuel."

Also, the calorie calculation was for a 18- lb man. Skinny dudes and most girls are going to get even higher mileage.

Sep 30, 09 1:11 am  · 
 · 
SDR

An 18-lb man is pretty light on his feet !

Do the British still use "stone" weights ? What would 11 stone-6 be, in pounds ? And what does the 6 stand for -- pebbles ?

Sep 30, 09 2:02 am  · 
 · 
Distant Unicorn

180.... god.

Sep 30, 09 2:35 am  · 
 · 
Distant Unicorn

And yes, the british still use stones.

11 stone 6 would be 11 and 3/5ths stones or 11 stones, 8 pounds, 6 ounces, 102 drachm and 280 grain.

Sep 30, 09 2:47 am  · 
 · 
Yumtoder

great POST all

Oct 3, 09 7:52 am  · 
 · 
SDR

Thanks, Orochi. So, a stone is about 14 "poonds" ?

Oct 3, 09 1:56 pm  · 
 · 
NLW2

@ chubacabra, the way the auto has increased productivity compared to the way computers have increased productivity are quite different. The mass produced car, in general, has led to laziness, suburbia, and plenty of CO2, at best, we have ambulances. Computers, though they do indeed consume energy, have led to mapping the human genome, nullifying long commutes in many work settings, eliminating life-draining manual labor in others, etc.

You could say that, without engines, how would we get our computers from China? That I don't know. Perhaps we could build them here and move them by train.

Backpacks, bikes, and well-orchestrated density could make the car obsolete. Inevitably rising gas prices and our slow response to such WILL make the car obsolete.

For a computer to be useless? We'd have to resort to pre-Industrial Revolution lifestyles.

Buildings are to cars as water is to iPods. Shelter: basic need of any living thing. Driving: superfluous want. Their are tiers at work here, cetarus paribus my patoot. If we had the choice to only improve one, I'd hope it would be buildings.



I'm sorry, this is silly. What were you saying about drachms Orochi?

Oct 3, 09 3:43 pm  · 
 · 
SDR

Classic either-or argument ?

Objectively, wheeled transport has been an enormous boon to man, starting with the oxcart and its like. Because a particular form of motorized cart has taken over, and admittedly polluted and wasted much, do we then ban it in all forms ? Naughty auto -- go into the corner. We'll use trains or nothing !

Rather, isn't it clear that the mix of vehicles in the future will include autos and trucks of approximately their present size, only made and powered much differently ? Amory Lovins of the Rocky Mountain institute continues to argue for, and research, lightweight cars of carbon fiber, and has numbers to show that something like 90% of the fuel presently consumed in cars is used to accelerate and push the weight of the vehicle itself.

The vehicle made to carry one to four individuals, and a similar-sized commercial transport, are simply too reasonably necessary and practical, in scale and in the overall scheme of things -- aren't they ? -- to be dispensed with outright. Evolution, not revolution ?


I think Orochi was being whimsical, on my behalf -- for which I thank him. Not a part of the discussion, actually. . .

Oct 3, 09 4:00 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller

the impact of cars isn't just limited to the wheels or emissions - the road has significant impacts associated with being there too.

Oct 3, 09 7:40 pm  · 
 · 
SDR

As it happens, I am wrestling this week with whether I will give up what may be my last car -- after owning it for 21 years. I no longer need it to get to work, and if it needs repairs that I can't afford, I guess that will be it. Local car-sharing operations are apparently thriving. I won't have the expense, and the worrying about staying ahead of the street sweepers. But it will be a loss, nevertheless. . .

Oct 3, 09 7:55 pm  · 
 · 

SDR, I had to do the same. My car was having electrical problems, which were being exacerbated by my low use of it (I'd drive it once or twice a week just to make sure it still started), and it got to the point where I couldn't pay for repairs and the city was about to tow it if it didn't move. So I donated it to Goodwill. I'm lighter for it (physically and mentally) but it can be a hassle sometimes.

In general, I think the key is to have reasonable options: right now most people think that cars are their only option. A big part of this is perception, not reality.

Oct 3, 09 8:07 pm  · 
 · 
NLW2

I guess I was doing the extremo thing, which has it's time and place. Heck, I drive my Volvo everywhere, even right over there. But mentally, I'm preparing... You'll see.

I'll be ready.

... and $20 a Gallon is really a good read, y'all should check it out.

Oct 3, 09 10:34 pm  · 
 · 
SDR

I was reading a novel the other day, and a character says of her father, "If he could get his car into the house, he'd drive it from room to room."

I laughed.

Oct 3, 09 11:12 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller
E-WOLF!!!!



spotted on inhabitat:

Not since Tesla electrified the auto world with its lean green supercars has an all-electric vehicle gotten pulses pounding this quickly. Germany-based auto manufacturer E-Wolf recently unveiled images and specs of their new e2, a 537 horsepower plug-in sports car that boasts slick Italian styling and a 0-60 speed of under 4 seconds.

Even though supercars tend to be ridiculously fast and ludicrously expensive, the trend towards high performance plug-ins proves that electric vehicles can more than keep up with their gas guzzling counterparts.

Upping the ante in this field, E-Wolf’s e2 will be propelled by four in-wheel 134 horsepower electric motors that produce a total of 536 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque. All-wheel drive gives the vehicle plenty of traction to stay on the road, which is handy when cruising at the vehicle’s top speed of 155 mph. E-Wolf claims that the vehicle will have a 187-mile range on a full battery and will be capable of charging completely in 30 minutes thanks to an innovative flat cell Li-Tec battery.

Kai Schönenberg, Marketing Manager at e-WOLF has stated “Our aim is to offer a 2-seater extreme sports car in 2011: the e-WOLF e-2 . . . It will achieve dynamic vehicle performance that is sure to be very impressive . . . Here at e-WOLF, we can certainly envisage our e-2 participating in a 24-hour race in the next few years.” The first prototype of the vehicle will launch in 2011, with full production to start soon thereafter.

Oct 6, 09 8:52 pm  · 
 · 
mikeross

I own a porsche but it's not an electric car. I hope in the future there would be more electric cars made by car manufacturers and i just hope that porsche parts for their electrics would not be that expensive.

Oct 12, 09 9:40 pm  · 
 · 
treekiller


The hybrid garbage truck has arrived! nytimes

Nov 28, 09 11:04 am  · 
 · 
SDR
http://tinyurl.com/yh8cwvn


Aptera's latest communiqué. Less (information) is more ?

Nov 28, 09 2:41 pm  · 
 · 
SDR

Guess this is the best way to stay on top of these people.

https://aptera.com/

The latest newsletter arrived today. Written by the sales department -- naturally -- and not particularly well edited (or proofed). But informative nevertheless.

Going backwards, we learned last month that the composite body shell has been redesigned to be assembled from right and left (as opposed to top and bottom) halves. Reading between the lines of last month's newsletter, one understood that the guys at Aptera were concerned that the seam would be difficult to control, build-quality-wise, and that the impact strength (and repairability ?) were compromised with the older design. (Earlier, a design change had introduced -- or modified ? I forget -- a triangular rear quarter lite that, unfortunately, doesn't align well with the sill line of the door window. Oh well. . .)

In today's missive we are told that an outside manufacturer has been brought on board to make the body -- a luxury boat manufacturer hit by the recession. Also, the government program set up to encourage new energy-efficient ("green") cars was modified to include cars with fewer than four wheels -- so Aptera has gotten in line for a grant. This in turn necessitated some long-range planning (apparently not previously a high priority ?) so the company is now seeking a larger manufacturing facility -- still in the San Diego area, a given -- so that more units could potentially be built than just the ones already on order.

That's all I got. Anybody ?

Dec 31, 09 6:14 pm  · 
 · 
archebald23

everyone in the automotive industry seems to be going the Hybrid way, Just recently, Mercedes joined in with the wave with its first hybrid car. Just by looking at it, those
mercedes benz parts arent cheap.

Feb 11, 10 10:37 pm  · 
 · 

The X Prize is in it's final validation round, and I'm getting pretty excited about the vehicles that have made it this far. Consumer reports has extended coverage
[Photos & info from huffpo]


E-Tracer 7002 and E-Tracer 7009 ($100k)
• Best mpg to Date: 350 mpge (miles per gallon equivalent) at constant 62 mph
• Acceleration (0–60 mph): < 4 sec
• Top Speed: 155 mph regulated, but 180 mph unrestricted
(electric)


TW4XP
• Maximum speed > 80 miles/h
• Acceleration: 0 – 60 miles/h < 12 sec
• Range > 100 miles
• Energy Consumption < 16 kWh / 100 miles
(electric)


Wave II
(electric)


Very Light Car 97 and Very Light Car 98
• Top Speed: > 100 mph
• Range: > 600 miles
(E85 fuel)


Aptera 2e
(need I say anything else?)


RaceAbout
• Acceleration 0-100 km/h 6 sec.
• Operation range 200 km
• Energy consumption is equivalent to fuel consumption as 2,35/100 km
• top speed 200 km/h
(electric)


Alias (under $35,000)
• 0 – 60 mph : 7.8 seconds
• Max Speed: 75+ mph
• Range: 100+ miles
(electric)

Aug 1, 10 11:02 pm  · 
 · 

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