Dateline/Stateline SBS Electric Vehicles

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 8:40 pm

I am s'prised no one has mentionerd the program on SBS Wed night with George Negus

appears to be a promo for a movie due at the cinemas here 02 Nov , "Who Killed The Electric Car "

Featured a Californian woman and her FACTORY EV RAV4 (ten years old) . She has a house roof full of solar cells to power her house which includes recharging her RAV at least every 120 km for 'free'. Fuel costs worked out if paid for electricity cost would convert to US20 cents per litre of petrol for same distance covered.

What caught my attention was dudes and their Dartsuns. One enthusiast was at the drags pitching against the real petrol heads. Did they say 12.0 second quarter mile ?? A Dartsun 1200 body that used to be 69HP petrol engine , now a 300HP 600ft/lbs electric motor !! whooping the ass of the petrol heads (representing us !)

Now there is talk of 600km charge batteries.

Toyota? had other electric vehicles on a 3 year lease plan where after three years the cars were scrapped, shredded. Reason given was there was not a parts supply to allow cars to remain safe !! pfft Brand new looking Honda HRV EVs went the same way

vincentvega · Post by **vincentvega** » Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:50 pm

oil makes the world go round mate. While mr big oil is still making trillions off petrol cars, the alternatives dont stand a chance.

sad but true

subanator · Post by **subanator** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 12:28 am

jono wrote: A Datsun 1200 body that used to be 69HP petrol engine , now a 300HP 600ft/lbs electric motor

That fact alone of a 300Hp DC electric motor seems almost farscial, because to actually see what that is physicaly in actual size would be massive - bigger than a 44 gallon drum, and would weigh some 1/2 tonne in copper plus batteries and control system components.

I should know, as this is my trade!!! I did my time on 120T to 240T Diesel-Electric Haulpak trucks. Essentially a true hybrid.

What shits me with all the politics surrounding alternative energy and low emmissions etc, they dont encourage or set any examples, except the token Natural gas bus etc. What they should be doing is lowering the import taffifs and sales tax on hybrid vehicles like eg Toyota Prius and all the other models that are appearing to encourage them as alternative vehicles. The pollies themselves should be setting an example driving them, not the V8 limos that we pay for with our taxes. The head office of the company I work have a whole fleet of Prius cars - pity about all the other shit they get away with by way of emmission releases from their process plants!!

Just my 2 cents rant.

tim_81coupe · Post by **tim_81coupe** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:16 am

Well said Roger. The Prius is an excellent idea in an alright vehicle. They drive brilliantly, they have heaps of twist! The electric motor apparently generates 300Nm on its own! It has its own coolant system, and all the 500V wires are well shielded and bright orange - great from a mechanics perspective too. Rumour has it the hybrid system is moving to Rav4 and 40 series Camry (the intuitive one) when their facelifts arrive. Lexus also offers a hybrid in the form of the GS450H.
The biggest problem with the hybrids is their price. Its about $45000 to get a Prius on the road - same as a WRX! Cutting the tariffs would help this a lot.

It is a real pity that EV vehicles haven't taken on yet, their time will come though. My guess is the hybrids will move in and begin to take over, and from that EV's might begin to appear. In a useable and practical form I mean.

fredsub · Post by **fredsub** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 10:45 am

300HP

?,thats got to be a mistake...50-60HP electric DC should be quite enough to smoke a 12sec 1/4mile.
DC Electric motor have near full torque at ~0 rpm, and a flat torque/rpm,(provided the battery can supply the load), unlike a IC engine.

The main issue I see with EV vehicles is that the electricity here in Australia all comes from carbon sources (a few wind generators hardly count). I guess we do need that debate on nuclear power eh? Oil production is on the slippery downslope..anyones guess as to how long that will go..30,50,or100yrs but it WILL go to zero eventually.
Its bloody amazing isn't it? its taken millions of years for the vast quantities of oil to form, and will take merely 200yrs to fully deplete it

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 1:24 pm

prob less than 200 years of motoring by the looks

I did see a late model , if not current, Corolla with a hybrid badge or decal on it recently

must have missed something ??

Tim ! Is it just a prankster ?

MUDRAT · Post by **MUDRAT** » Fri Sep 15, 2006 6:15 pm

fredsub wrote:The main issue I see with EV vehicles is that the electricity here in Australia all comes from carbon sources (a few wind generators hardly count).

Not true at all. Green energy is available to every house in Australia, you just need to specify when you buy your electricity. SnowyHydro alone has a capacity 3.7 GW.

Actually, induction motors make their most torque when they're stalled.

A 200 kW electric motor can be the size of a 20B rotary, it all depends on the voltage supply (remember your PIVR laws?). I've got a photo here somewhere of a 600 kW motor that's as big as a 44 gallon drum. Notice how all power stations run there base voltage at 640 V? Saves a motza on infrastructure.

BTW, Wheels Magazine stated in 2004 that a Prius must run for a minimum of 3 years continuously before the environmental damage caused during its construction is compensated over a conventional IC powered car.

subanator · Post by **subanator** » Sat Sep 16, 2006 1:18 am

Yeah Muddy, the motors I am quoting are old school frame types, as technology has them smaller these days. LOL......Ward-Lenard System, amazing to see what goes around, comes around!

But a lot of progress in industry is with the AC motor, and I believe that what is in alot of the hybrid cars (someone confirm this?). They have a inverter/controller to change the DC to AC. Even the latest Haulpak trucks now have variable AC setups to the traditional DC ones.

The title of this movie "Who Killed The Electric Car ", does this relate to the GM EV? They were produced a few years back, then mysteriously were all recalled, as they were released as experimental for duration testing to US govt dept and uni's etc. I read something that GM gave no clear reason.
Anyone know more about this?

steptoe · Post by **steptoe** » Mon Sep 18, 2006 10:26 am

EV seems to be used by all makers for their electric vehicles

Toyota RAVS featured, Toy sedans ? too, also saw Honda HRV bodies !

2 November not too far away ...

environmental damage ?? i am more concerned with personal financial damage!! and imagine , no many small components to cause big problems,

no need for jerry cans or fuel quality, cross the continent by driving at night and charging up by day !