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Last Update 8/16/08
Crossover Technology
Since I watch many different discussion groups, some related to motorcycles, some related to trikes, and others related to various types of technology; I run across things that I realize could be applicable to a reverse trike design. Electric car technology is a good example, because this technology is probably even more efficient in a lighter vehicle like a trike, which also might have the advantage of better aerodynamics or less rolling resistance. Since most of our trikes use motorcycle engines, then any new advances in motorcycle engine design might be a help to us as well.
I've already put a few things on this sites links page that are relevant, so here I'll concentrate on specific vehicles or technology especially if they're already being used in a 3-wheel format. First I'd like to mention the 'EVette - Electric car of the future' mentioned on the links page. This is a 1F2R trike with claimed spec's of 200 miles or more between recharge, with charging time as little as an hour depending on the battery charger that's used. It's also street legal and registered in Florida as a motorcycle. Someone needs to give this a serious look, because from what I understand, he's not even using Lithium-ion batteries to get that range, but regular deep cycle lead-acid batteries, and a 200 mile range is more than adequate for most commuters. The vehicle is reasonably cheap to build, and built with currently available materials as of 2005 I think. It could even be put in kit form I imagine. How hard could it be to rearrange the drive-train to a 2F1R design, or for that matter who cares, lets just use it as is.
There are a number of articles on "nano-battery" technology which should be shipping to people in 2007. Here's a link to one article that explains a little about how it works, and here's another at altairnano.com that gives you a better list of some of the benefits of this battery technology:
* Innovative technology
* Large configuration choices
* No operational safety issues
* Three times the power of existing batteries
* A one-minute recharge
* High cycle life—10,000 to 15,000 charges vs. 750 for existing batteries
* The capability to operate in extreme temperatures: -22° to 480° Fahrenheit
* Low life-cycle costs
There's also a phosphate based Lithium-ion battery utilizing Saphion® technology being sold by Valence Technology, Inc. that holds a lot of promise. They state "Saphion® technology does not contain any heavy metals and does not exhibit the memory effect of Nickel-Cadmium and Nickel-metal Hydride solutions...". So the point is that we have the technology right now to put electric vehicles on the road and mass produce them.
To get certified by the government to sell a complete vehicle means a major monetary investment, but in some type of kit form I think it could be done. There are some amazing vehicles that are being produced right now like the Venturi Fetish which is billed as the world's first production electric sportscar, the Tesla Roadster they say is six times as efficient as the best sports cars while producing one-tenth of the pollution, and the Tango labeled the world's fastest urban car just to name a few. But how many of us have $100,000 or more to purchase one of these?
It's interesting to watch some of the videos posted to the web, just go to google video or youtube.com and put the names of the vehicles in. Here's a few videos in particular I'll give you links to on the Venturi Fetish, Tesla Roadster, and the Tango. The Tango is advertising an 80 mile range with a battery upgrade for even more range, while the Tesla is advertising a 250 mile range out of the box so to speak. Keep in mind that this is all subject to change based on what battery technology you install. With some of this new Nano battery technology hitting the market, who knows where they'll be in a few years.
Still, when I look at the EVette I mentioned to begin with, and its 200 mile range and low cost, I'm thinking that someone is missing the boat. We need a kit. Take something like the Riley XR3, mount some Saphion® technology batteries in the front and forget the diesel electric hybrid thought and go all electric. That combination might make a $30,000 vehicle for the roller kit and all the parts. I don't know, but I'll assemble my own car if need be. I'm all for buying a Tesla or a Tango if you can afford it, but there's only a small percentage of guys reading this page that can do that. If we could get a 200 mile range with lead acid batteries like the EVette does, and keep the price below $15,000 I'm all over that. We don't know what the XR3 kit is going to cost at the moment anyway so maybe it can be cheaper than I think.
There were some other proof of concept vehicles around like the TZero, which had a 300 mile range at approximately 60mph. They outran some of the fastest sports car in the world with that thing, but without some capital investment there's not much you can do. We could duplicate it in kit form no doubt. The company that made the TZero - AC Propulsion, is now doing a conversion called the eBox, where for $55,000 they're converting your Scion xB 5-speed to electric power. I wonder how much of that is for the Lithium-ion battery pack. A much lighter trike would undoubtedly need a lot less battery power to go the same distance. Why aren't they thinking along those lines instead? Who really wants a $70,000 Scion xB when all is said and done?
There's a company called Gorilla Vehicles that has a simple page showing the math on solar charging an electric vehicle. They say they could have the first practical solar powered vehicle. It's basically a $7000 electric ATV, but the Gorilla is designed to carry a 650 pound load, tow up to 4000 pounds, or climbs hills to 30 degrees. Looks like it's designed as a work vehicle, not something to play off-road with, but I bet the kids could have a lot of fun on this thing.
And to top it off, if you think batteries are too expensive these days, too heavy, too short of a life-span, hard to recycle, detrimental to the environment if not recycled properly, and the fact that we simply couldn't provide enough raw resources to build these in large enough quantities to put in electric vehicles on any type of large scale production, there is something better! The ultracapacitor or hypercapacitor! See the article at treehugger.com -
The batteries fully charge in minutes as opposed to hours.
* Whereas with lead acid batteries you might get lucky to have 500 to 700 recharge cycles, the EEStor technology has been tested up to a million cycles with no material degradation.
* EEStor's technology could be used in more than low-speed electric vehicles. The company envisions using it for full-speed pure electric vehicles, hybrid-electrics (including plug-ins), military applications, backup power and even large-scale utility storage for intermittent renewable power sources such as wind and solar.
* Because it's a solid state battery rather than a chemical battery, such being the case for lithium ion technology, there would be no overheating and thus safety concerns with using it in a vehicle.
* Finally, with volume manufacturing it's expected to be cost-competitive with lead-acid technology..
Among EEStor's claims is that its "electrical energy storage unit" could pack nearly 10 times the energy punch of a lead-acid battery of similar weight and, under mass production, would cost half as much! They have a website address with noting on it at -
More to come...
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