EV Digest 4137
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) Re: Dave Cloud's Rules ideas.
by Ryan Stotts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
2) Re: Dave Cloud's Rules ideas.
by "Rich Rudman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
3) Re: 3 phase PM
by Ryan Stotts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
4) Re: Question: Max efficiency charging with 3 phase alternator
by "Rich Rudman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
5) Re: Question: Max efficiency charging with 3 phase alternator
by "Mark Hanson" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
6) Re: AC vs. DC / 100 mph club with AC?
by "Rich Rudman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
7) Re: AC vs. DC / 100 mph club with AC?
by Lee Hart <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
8) RE: 3 phase PM
by "Myles Twete" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
9) EVLN(Aficionados know: more hybrids being buit with li-ion packs)-Long
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
10) EVLN(Increase efficiency by adapting batteries its environment)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
11) RE: 3 phase alternator-why not an induction machine?
by "djsharpe" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--- Begin Message ---
> Dave wrote:
> I believe the potential quarter mile time difference between a 72V system and
> a >360V setup is less than 0.5 seconds.
Please explain.
>I have pondered the idea of classes divided based on battery weight
(never >wattage).
LiIon vs Lead? I like voltage vs. voltage. There's endless
combinations of battery brands and types all having different weights.
Too much confusion trying to say how much my batteries might or might
not weigh. I'm not going to unbolt and disconnect them so they can be
removed and weighed.
>I believe it would have more validity than voltage and would be much
easier to >verify. [A cheater could more easily move a wire than hide
a battery.]
If my car was built, you could search it and count all 29, 12 volt
batteries and see that it was wired up for 348 volts.
>If I were to propose a new way to separate class divisions, it would
be based on >money, a standard claimer system used in many forms of
racing. What makes a >vehicle go faster is more money, not more
voltage.
I only see this hindering innovation. If everyone were only using
unmodified off the shelf parts, this might work. But if people have
done motor and controller tweaks, how are they ever going to
constantly refine on it? If there were a lot of races, and motors and
controllers were constantly being bought up, what's going to be done
with them? Where's all this big money coming from anyways?
Bikes vs bikes.
Street cars vs street cars.
Rail cars vs rail cars.
1 motor vs 1 motor?
2 motors vs 2 motors?
I do like the voltage classes though.
> If you think voltage by itself is still a good way to define class
> divisions, why >not let low voltage record holders with better ET's than the
> higher voltage in the >same class have the higher record also? This change
> would probably benefit me >greatly, but I believe it is the most fair and
> logical approach which treats everyone >equally.
100, 125, 150 mph "clubs"
http://www.nedra.com/hedlund_100mph_club.html
That works for me and really gives me something to aim for and work towards.
If your not running at least 100 mph in the 1/4, what are you going to
have to do too your EV to make it so?
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Hey Rod Dave has Comcast now... better connections than I have.
So he is listening but in Digest mode...
Yea claiming that volts doesn't really matter, and then looking at the
reality of the argument, and it matters Like Heck!!!
----- Original Message -----
From: "Roderick Wilde" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 12:10 PM
Subject: Re: Dave Cloud's Rules ideas.
> Dave Cloud is one of only 16 people in the Roger Hedlund 100 MPH Club and
he
> did it with relatively high voltage (192) and very low bucks. Note: He did
> not do this on 72 volts. I do not think Dave is a lunatic but I will go
> ahead and print this and wait for a year to see an 8 second, 72 volt car.
> Horsepower is still watts and watts is volts times amps. Let's see, to
make
> a 600,000 watt car you divide by 72. That is over 8000 amps. Show me the
> batteries. Drag racing is still horsepower per pound. You can only build a
> car so light before you are pushing safety limits. Rich, please pass on to
> Dave.
>
> Roderick Wilde
> "Suck Amps EV Racing"
> www.suckamps.com
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Rich Rudman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 10:16 AM
> Subject: re: Dave Cloud's Rules ideas.
>
>
> Rich:
>
> Would you please post this for me on the EV Discussion List?
>
> Thanks. Dave
>
>
>
> 02/27/05
>
> My name is Dave Cloud (not Steve/Dave Cloud). My brother and I are
> not connected at the brain and never have been. We are not in business
> together and don't always have the same opinions.
>
>
>
> I have never proposed a NEDRA rule change that would benefit only me
> as Rich Madman posted (although he later apologized to me on the phone).
>
>
>
> I have discussed my ideas with Rich and others about class divisions
> based on voltage. I believe the potential quarter mile time difference
> between a 72V system and a 360V setup is less than 0.5 seconds. I realize
> that this is a controversial point of view, but I expect to prove it at
the
> racetrack. Obviously, if this were the case, I hope we would all be in
> agreement that 10 separate divisions within a 0.5 second difference would
> be ridiculous.
>
>
>
> I have pondered the idea of classes divided based on battery weight
> (never wattage). I believe it would have more validity than voltage and
> would be much easier to verify. [A cheater could more easily move a wire
> than hide a battery.]
>
>
>
> If I were to propose a new way to separate class divisions, it would
> be based on money, a standard claimer system used in many forms of racing.
> What makes a vehicle go faster is more money, not more voltage. Dragster
> class might have something like 6 divisions: $5K, $10K, $20K, $50, $100K,
> Unclaimable. For example, it you entered your vehicle in the $10K
> category, you would have to sell it at the end of the event for that
price.
> The vehicle would have to be in the same condition and have the same
> contents (less driver & driver's gear) as when it crossed the quarter mile
> light.
>
>
>
> Records would be rewarded in each division based on low ET. If
> someone had a better ET than in any division above, they would be awarded
> that record also. I believe claimer divisions would have several
benefits.
> The concern that someone with unlimited funding could sweep all the
records
> would be eliminated since they would not put their expensive vehicle at
risk
> in a lower $$ class.
>
>
>
> I believe competition would be tighter than voltage classes since
> vehicle built with similar funding are more likely to have similar
> performance. Looking at past performance NEDRA records, it is true that
> generally the higher voltage vehicles are faster. However, these same
> vehicles also are much more expensive.
>
>
>
> Claimer classes would also result in more competitors. More
> spectators would come to the races with the idea of possibly claiming a
> vehicle so then the original owner would have to build a new one. This
> would help the development of low cost EV's in general.
>
>
>
> If you think voltage by itself is still a good way to define class
> divisions, why not let low voltage record holders with better ET's than
the
> higher voltage in the same class have the higher record also? This change
> would probably benefit me greatly, but I believe it is the most fair and
> logical approach which treats everyone equally.
>
>
>
> It has been suggested that a 20 second minimum ET be enforced.
> This sounds like a good idea to me, but we should also let all voltage
> classes including the 96V and under run the full quarter mile under this
> limitation if they so choose.
>
>
>
> If any of you NEDRA members (Rich, Otmar, Lee, Bill, Dennis) think
> this post was written by a lunatic, please print this, save for one year
and
> then read again.
>
>
>
> This message has been approved by Dave Cloud.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
------
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.5.7 - Release Date: 3/1/2005
>
>
>
> --
> No virus found in this outgoing message.
> Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
> Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.5.7 - Release Date: 3/1/2005
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
On Tue, 1 Mar 2005 10:00:18 -0800, Myles Twete <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> Ryan suggested:
> > Would one of these work any better?
> > http://www.performancedistributors.com/alternator.htm
>
> Maybe...who knows?
> We've tried 60amp and 100amp alternators.
> Neither put out much more than 20amps at full-out steam rate.
If I remember right, alternators are rated at full duty cycle. You
have to spin it at ~6,000 rpm to get the advertised amps out of it.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Yea I know all this and So does Lee.
Which brings up the question... Why did he tag me for it???
----- Original Message -----
From: "Victor Tikhonov" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 10:36 AM
Subject: Re: Question: Max efficiency charging with 3 phase alternator
> Sync rectigication with lousy body diodes in MOSFETs isn't worth
> the effort. You must use conduction of the mosfer itself to take
> advantage of it. Regular Si rectifier will yield beter efficiency
> that synchronous with body diodes (not that anyone would do it
> that way).
>
> FYI, a "body diode" is by-product of manufacturing these devices,
> and will be there even if manufacturer doesn't want it.
> This has to do with doping certain areas on the silicon substrate
> and using inevitably resulting p-n junctions to your advantage, but
> the parameters of these diodes are never optimized.
> They just happen to be there.
>
> Some devices nay have specifically built diodes conected in
> parallel to the body ones, this is different story. These diodes
> have their target ratings.
>
> Victor
>
> Peter VanDerWal wrote:
>
> >>Rich Rudman wrote:
> >>
> >>>The best in the Buisness are PM windturbine power sections.
> >>>They use FETs and Diodes. The top of the 3 phase bridge is Diodes,
> >>>Low voltage, low conduction losses. Ultra fast soft recovery.
> >>
> >>Who cares if they are fast or soft recovery? We're only dealing with low
> >>audio frequencies. I would think they would choose the diodes based on
> >>forward voltage drop (probably schottkys).
> >>
> >>
> >>>The bottoms are FETS that can be PWMed. This allows normal
> >>>rectification when there is enough windblowing.
> >>
> >>Presumably by using the MOSFET's body diode? This is a high-drop diode.
> >>
> >
> >
> > I don't think that's what he meant, I think he meant they were doing
> > synchronous rectification (sort of).
> >
> > They are probably using fast diodes as much as freewheeling diodes as
well
> > as rectifiers.
> >
> > I'm thinking you could probably set it up to do buck/boost with MPPT to
> > maximize power output over a variety of windspeed vs. battery SOC.
> > At least that's what I would try to do.
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
When the SW windpower Air-X goes into boost mode the upper diodes need to be
fast at 20kHz boost frequency (when I visited them in Flagstaff in Jan).
They (an engineer) were thinking of having a separate boost converter which
would be less complex and more efficient with an OC current boost at
resonance to reduce blade flabulation at 30mph (like the one I made on my
roof with an Ametek 30V gen). mark
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lee Hart" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 1:43 PM
Subject: Re: Question: Max efficiency charging with 3 phase alternator
> Rich Rudman wrote:
> > The best in the Buisness are PM windturbine power sections.
> > They use FETs and Diodes. The top of the 3 phase bridge is Diodes,
> > Low voltage, low conduction losses. Ultra fast soft recovery.
>
> Who cares if they are fast or soft recovery? We're only dealing with low
> audio frequencies. I would think they would choose the diodes based on
> forward voltage drop (probably schottkys).
>
> > The bottoms are FETS that can be PWMed. This allows normal
> > rectification when there is enough windblowing.
>
> Presumably by using the MOSFET's body diode? This is a high-drop diode.
>
> > When there is not sufficient wind for conduction into the Batteries,
> > but there is voltage, they switch the bottoms Fets as a boost
> > converter.
>
> Clever.
>
> > Fet can be better than a diode, if switched properly.
>
> True, but if they are using ~1v drop body diode and non-schottkys, there
> goes efficiency.
> --
> If you would not be forgotten
> When your body's dead and rotten
> Then write of great deeds worth the reading
> Or do the great deeds worth repeating
> -- Ben Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac
> --
> Lee A. Hart 814 8th Ave N Sartell MN 56377 leeahart_at_earthlink.net
>
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan Stotts" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 11:59 AM
Subject: AC vs. DC / 100 mph club with AC?
> Can AC "run the number"?
>
Yea AC can run the numbers.
Nobody that can afford a AC drive had taken it drag racing...
At a 10sofK$ for AC inverters that can make 600 amps per phase... it's not
cheap or easy to pull it off.
Because of the cost of the silicon... really high voltages and modest Amps
is the best way to get the most watts into a AC motor. So you see 450 volts
and 300 amps, instead of 240 volts and 2000 amps as in the DC world. Still
it's cheaper to make a 2000 amp controller and use the brushes to invert,
that it is to pony up for 600 volt 1200 amp 1/2 bridge modules.
A couple of us Sure would like to try...Flat torque out to 6000 rpm is to
kill for in racing. And frankly when one of us does get it done...It's going
to change how "fast" fast will be.
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Ryan Stotts wrote:
> I've read several times in various places that the brushes in a DC
> motor can last up to "80,000 miles". If I had a ~348 volt vehicle
> with a 9" Advanced DC motor in it, that I drove hard nearly every day
> and also raced it at the local 1/4 mile track often, would this motor
> not consume brushes on a regular basis? Would it need new brushes
> every two weeks or every month?
Keep in mind that the ADC 9" is basically a 100v motor. If you run it at
348v, of course the arcing will be worse and brush life shorter.
Probably not as bad as a set every 2-4 weeks, unless you are also
running more than rated current.
Brushes *can* last 80,000 miles. At an average of 40 mph, that's only
2000 hours. Lots and lots of brushed motors have run this long and more.
But most EVers choose to run motors well beyond their ratings so they
spend less. If you run double the voltage, you may get only 1/4th the
brush life; 20,000 miles.
> I was looking at the 4WS24 motor; I like how it red lines at nearly
> 10,000 rpm <http://www.metricmind.com/motor.htm>: Will this motor
> produce take off torque comparable to a DC motor?
As we've said many times, you can't compare based on just the motor. You
have to include the controller and battery pack. You have to look at how
much POWER (volts x amps) the controller+motor combination can pull from
your battery pack.
> If this motor was connected to a stout 5 speed transmission in a rear
> wheel drive vehicle at 348 volts, could it run 100 in the 1/4?
With what inverter? What battery current?
If you compare an AC inverter limited to (say) 348v at 250 amps to a DC
controller with the same limits, their performance will basically be the
same. Of course, practical considerations (motor and controller
availability) may mean you use a 174v pack and 500amp controller for the
DC case. No matter. If the power is the same, the HP is the same (to a
close approximation).
> Are the AC controllers; because of their seemingly low amps, what are
> holding back AC motors from being "really fast"? (excluding their
> relatively high price)
Basically, yes.
> I want to build an impressively fast, streetable EV. I just worry
> with the 9" motor setup at "max voltage", that the car will be stuck
> in the 13's. I mean, that's pretty good and all and nothing to sneeze
> at, but for me, a lot of the fun is making it faster and faster. I
> could always put a controller bypass on it, and even couple another
> motor onto it. But then how fast would it be and then, how to make it
> faster?
>
> With the AC because of it's higher voltage potential(650v?), and also
> it's high rpm, it right now has some mystique too it..
Maybe you should consider building an AC/DC hybrid. Use an AC drive for
efficient, long-range cruising. Use a brute-force DC series motor and
contactor controller for racing. Then you can compare, and find out for
yourself!
--
If you would not be forgotten
When your body's dead and rotten
Then write of great deeds worth the reading
Or do the great deeds worth repeating
-- Ben Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac
--
Lee A. Hart 814 8th Ave N Sartell MN 56377 leeahart_at_earthlink.net
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
Rich suggested:
> Why don't you spin the Alternators a bit faster???
Did I say this is a steam engine?
A fully enclosed 2-cylinder steam engine w/overhead slide valves
(e.g. Stuart Models 'Sirius': http://tinyurl.com/3ur3k ) could happily and
quietly do 2000-2800RPM.
An open-frame 2-cylinder 2-cylinder 1.5HP Tiny Power arrangement like my
friend's gets noisy above 5cps (300RPM) and loud at 10cps (600RPM).
With about a 6:1 belt gearup, this limits the alternator max speed to
between 1800 and 3600RPM. I'd like to keep it under 1800.
There are "low speed" alternators out there.
We tried one---a 100amp job that was "low speed".
It didn't do any better than the 60amp one---guess "low speed" is relative.
The PMA alternator claimed low speed performance as well---NOT!
But you're right, Rich----the best thing to do is spin the damn thing faster
and use a regular alternator. It's just not a pretty option in this
case---unless he bites the bullet and adds another belt gear-up stage.
Andre asked:
>Is is possible that the steam engine is giving all it can at the
> pressure and speed you are running?
Not a chance.
The alternator loads the steam engine down very little even at max steam
rate---a rate of steam and speed that is higher than I'd consider good quiet
and efficient design. The engine should be loaded down at least 2-4x what
it now sees from the generator.
>Is the 1.5HP a calculated or measured value?
It was my guess based on size and operating pressure.
I see from the Tiny Power site that it may only be rated for 1HP steady.
I believe that his steam engine is essentially this one from Tiny Power:
http://www.tinypower.com/store.php?crn=56&rn=251&action=show_detail
Gene Goebel claims there that it's good for charging 12v with 50amps.
Given the 600watt claim, and given the inefficiencies in the engine, I'd say
the 2-cyl steam engine absorbs 1.5HP to deliver that 600watts.
>...guessing you know how fast the torque can drop off at high speeds...
Sure...thanks.
-Myles
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(Aficionados know: more hybrids being buit with li-ion
packs)-Long
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://www.spectrum.ieee.org/WEBONLY/publicfeature/mar05/0305car.html
Mon Feb 28 2005 16:20:45 GMT-0800 Home >> Feature Story Weekly
Feature Top 10 Tech Cars A Year of Stability By John Voelcker
"Your mileage may vary." Yes, indeed�it could be as much as 30
percent lower than government ratings, as some new owners of
hybrid-electric vehicles discovered, to their dismay, last year.
If 2004 began with drivers in the United States and a few other
places giving hybrids a heartfelt hug, it ended with a more
subdued embrace. One of the reasons was disappointment over
real-world mileage. Official ratings for fuel use, based on the
outdated driving patterns of U.S. government tests, turned out to
be a poor predictor for what typical buyers could expect.
But if the hybrid honeymoon is over, the marriage is still in
solid shape. In some areas, a buyer must wait months for a Toyota
Prius. Toyota plans to build 100 000 Priuses in 2005, up from 67
000 last year. Waiting in the wings is the Lexus RH 400h luxury
hybrid sport utility vehicle, now scheduled to go on sale 15
April in the United States. As of December 2004, buyers had
already paid deposits for half of the year's production of 20
000.
Hybrids are now also offered or planned by Ford, General Motors,
Honda, Nissan, and Toyota. GM and DaimlerChrysler announced that
they would get together to develop a full-hybrid system to be
offered in the 2008 model year. Even Porsche confirmed that it
might license Toyota's hybrid technology for its sport utility
Cayenne, infuriating die-hard fans of the company's signature
lithe, high-performance sports cars.
Still, though hybrids are hot, no single vehicle is likely to
make as much of a splash this year as the revamped Prius did in
2004. The closest thing to a recurring theme in 2005 will be
electronic stability control. It will shift from an expensive
option to a necessity on the tall, heavy sport utility vehicles
that still make up one of the most popular categories in the
United States. Daimler, Ford, and GM announced that stability
control would be standard on all their SUVs by the 2007 model
year. The notice followed the release of a study by the U.S.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration that found
stability-control technology reduced single-vehicle crashes in
SUVs by 67 percent and fatal crashes by 64 percent.
Among concept cars, hybrid electrics are still going strong, and
more of them are being built with lithium-ion batteries rather
than the standard nickel-metal hydride. Lithium-ion, now used
mostly in consumer electronics, offers close to twice the energy
density of nickel-metal hydride. The wildest lithium-ion vehicle
so far has to be the luxury-sedan concept Eliica from Keio
University in Japan, reminiscent of nothing so much as the
nuclear-powered, six-wheeled pink Rolls-Royce that ferried Lady
Penelope Creighton-Ward in the 1960s children's TV puppet show
"Thunderbirds." Built by a team from the Electrical Vehicle
Laboratory at Keio University's Faculty of Environmental
Information, the Eliica has eight wheels and a projected top
speed in excess of 368 km/h (229 mph). Unlike Lady Penelope's
car, it will not be offered with a machine gun that deploys from
the front grille.
ELIICA Eight wheels, eight motors, no tailpipe
Aficionados know that every auto show has its share of
malproportioned design exercises, technical oddities, and just
plain weirdness. But to make jaws drop in awe at an international
auto show�that takes some doing.
Hats off, then, to the students at the Electrical Vehicle
Laboratory at Keio University's Fujisawa, Japan, campus. Their
Eliica electric concept car, unveiled at the last Tokyo Motor
Show, has a 60-kilowatt motor, including the reduction gear,
wheel bearing, and brake, in each and every one of its wheels�all
eight of them. The advantages of using eight small wheels rather
than four larger ones, says the Keio team, include increased
interior space, better road holding (owing to the greater tire
contact area), and a more comfortable ride (because shock
absorption is spread over twice as many wheels). It can
supposedly go from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in four seconds. A
version tuned for top speed is said to exceed the 368 km/h (229
mph) it has recorded in tests.
The 328-volt battery pack itself, along with the inverters and
all control electronics, is sandwiched in a trough just 15
centimeters high in the vehicle's flat floor. A version tuned for
fastest acceleration can generate torque of 100 newton-meters at
each wheel motor and can accelerate the car at a G-force of 0.8.
That version's range is approximately 320 km (200 miles); it
requires up to 10 hours to recharge from full discharge.
The first two axles are mechanically steered, and the wheel angle
on the rearmost one is varied electrically to assist in
cornering. Shock absorbers on each wheel pair are hydraulically
connected to spread the force of wheel movement. The driver can
command the vehicle to park itself�in garage spaces or
parallel�as well as to make U-turns.
The car was created in partnership with 38 companies. The drag
coefficient of a model built to one-fifth scale is just 0.17,
better than that of any current production vehicle, though no
figures have been released for the full-size version. And there's
no typo in that name: it's short for Electric Lithium Ion Car, of
course.
[...]
2005 TOYOTA VITZ CVT4 Lithium-ion to go
Toyota often tests new and advanced technologies in the Japanese
market years before launching them elsewhere. For example,
all-wheel drive using only an electric motor to power the rear
wheels�soon to be offered on the company's Lexus RX 400h luxury
hybrid sport-utility�was first seen on hybrid delivery vans sold
only in Japan.
So it's worth looking at one home-market version of the Toyota
Vitz, a small four-door hatchback related to the Echo sold in
North America. Along with a continuously variable transmission
(CVT), the CVT4 model features a 14.4-volt, 12-ampere-hour,
four-cell lithium-ion battery pack�the first in a low-cost
production vehicle. The battery is part of the car's idle-stop
system, which shuts the engine off when the car stops, switching
to those battery cells to power the lights, heater, air
conditioner, and radio. The cells also restart the engine when
the driver releases the brake. Unlike those in a full-hybrid
system, the Vitz's batteries don't actually move the car.
The batteries are charged by the engine's alternator as well as
through regenerative braking. A motor-driven hydraulic pump keeps
pressure on the pulley of the CVT to ensure the car can move away
from stops without pause.
The small Vitz batteries store about 180 watthours, equivalent to
a couple of laptop batteries. But the resulting fuel economy in
highly urban Japanese driving cycles is impressive: 3.92 L/100 km
(60 mpg), the highest in Japan for vehicles other than hybrids or
microcars.
The Vitz is not the first Japanese-market auto ever to use
lithium-ion batteries. The Nissan Almera Tino Hybrid was powered
by a 1.8-liter, 74-kilowatt (99 horsepower) four-cylinder engine,
combined with a three-phase 20-kW electric motor driving a CVT.
Its 345-V, 25-kW lithium-ion battery pack lets the electric motor
power the vehicle from a stop and at low speeds and also lets it
supplement the engine under higher load conditions. Nissan built
only 100 Tino Hybrids, however.
Lithium-ion batteries do have some drawbacks. Most use
metal-oxide cathodes that are highly flammable when heated. Also,
calendar life, as opposed to just accumulated charge-discharge
cycles, is a concern for lithium-ion batteries. Still, energy
densities of 110 to 130 Wh per kilogram, as compared with,
typically, 60 to 70 Wh/kg for nickel-metal hydride, make them
extremely attractive to automakers. Last June, Japan's Hitachi,
Hitachi Maxell, and Shin-Kobe Electric Machinery Co. announced
they had formed a joint venture to make rechargeable lithium-ion
batteries specifically for hybrid cars.
[...]
2005 VENTURI F�TISH Makes Ferraris seem so common
Yes, it is a production car. Only 25 copies, granted, each one
built to order at a cost of �540 000 (roughly US $705 000)...but
Venturi is a legitimate low-volume manufacturer that has been
around since 1984. Based in Monaco since declaring bankruptcy
four years ago, the formerly French company seized center stage
at the Paris Motor Show last year by repositioning its F�tish
concept as the world's first production electric supercar.
It certainly has supercar specifications. The car weighs just
1100 kilograms, including the batteries, and the company says it
accelerates from zero to 100 km/h (62 mph) in 4.5 seconds. That's
slightly faster than a Porsche 911 Carrera S. The advantage of an
electric car, of course, is that peak torque is available
immediately and pretty much noiselessly. The F�tish's top speed,
however, is a less enthralling 170 km/h (105 mph).
The car's sole power plant is a 180-kilowatt (241-horsepower)
electric motor that can spin at 14 000 revolutions per minute.
It's mounted behind the seats and powered by 350 kg of
lithium-ion batteries. Venturi quotes a range of 350 km (220
miles), adding that the car's 80-ampere recharger stores enough
energy for 1.6 km every minute, "easily covering the needs of
daily urban transport." But let's face it, does anybody really
spend upwards of $700 000 on daily transport?
The F�tish gains a measure of credibility from electric-vehicle
R&D firm AC Propulsion Inc., of San Dimas, Calif. Company founder
Alan Cocconi has designed many electric drivetrains, including
the one for the GM Impact, forerunner of the late, lamented GM
EV1 electric car. Venturi uses AC Propulsion's drive and battery
systems in the F�tish�essentially the same technology that is
going into another AC Propulsion project: all-electric
conversions of Toyota's boxy, utilitarian Scion xA and xB
vehicles.
2005 HONDA ACCORD HYBRID The invisible hybrid
Toyota's coolly futuristic Prius is instantly recognizable�one
automotive writer likened it to a "set piece from a Kubrick
film." Honda, on the other hand, has lately taken a different
design tack with its hybrids. Its tiny two-seat Insight,
introduced five years ago, was designed from the ground up as a
unique vehicle, but since then Honda's hybrids have been visually
indistinguishable from standard models. In 2002, the Civic Hybrid
offered a "mild hybrid" system�the electric motor supplements the
gasoline engine but cannot move the car by itself�and now the
company has taken the same approach with the larger Honda Accord
Hybrid.
Honda's Integrated Motor Assist System consists of a 12-kilowatt
(16-horsepower) electric motor, just 68 millimeters wide, mounted
between the engine and the transmission. It is powered by a
6-ampere, 144-volt nickel-metal hydride battery pack. The motor
is mated to the same 179-kW (240-hp), 3-liter V6 engine that
powers top-of-the-line Accords. The added power, instantly
available from the electric motor on takeoff, cuts the hybrid's
zero-to-60 mph (97 km/h) acceleration time to 7.5 seconds, from
the 7.9 seconds of a regular V6 Accord, according to Honda.
The car's idle-stop feature shuts off the engine whenever the car
stops. When the engine is off, Honda, like most manufacturers,
maintains the functions of its accessories, such as the
air-conditioning compressor, by switching them from mechanical to
electric power.
While full hybrids such as the Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape
use continuously variable transmissions (CVTs) to maximize
mileage, the Accord Hybrid uses a conventional, electronically
controlled five-speed automatic. The resulting driving experience
is identical to that in a regular car, whereas a CVT user is
sometimes nonplussed to find the engine speed rising or falling
independently of road speed.
At cruising speed, Honda shuts down half of the cylinders in the
V6 hybrid to cut down on fuel usage. The problem with running on
three cylinders is that the uneven firing of the odd number of
cylinders causes a booming vibration. Honda cleverly masks it
with an active noise-control system that uses input from the
engine-control unit and microphones in the headliner and the rear
parcel shelf to generate opposite-phase "negative noise" through
the audio system.
At a price of US $29 990, the Accord Hybrid costs $3400 more than
its closest nonhybrid counterpart, the luxury Accord EX Sedan.
2007 SATURN VUE HYBRID
A "value hybrid" Among major automakers, General Motors will
arrive relatively late to the hybrid party. Its first high-volume
offering, a mild-hybrid version of the Saturn Vue sport utility,
won't arrive in showrooms until fall 2006.
The company's goals are ambitious: provide a low-cost system that
is simple and modular enough to be easily integrated into other
vehicles, perhaps one day becoming more common than today's
inefficient alternators. GM's stated target for fuel savings is a
10 percent improvement over the conventional Vue in combined city
and highway use, says Steve Tarnowsky, the assistant chief
engineer for the system.
The vehicle will use a 2.4-liter version of GM's ubiquitous
Ecotec four-cylinder engine. However, the hybrid will shut it off
during idling, deceleration, and stops. A motor/generator unit
will sit in the same position as the conventional car's
alternator, replacing both it and the starter.
The extra control logic for the hybrid system is integrated into
GM's highest-capability engine-control module�one usually fitted
to big engines with multiple cam phases rather than the Vue's
simpler four-cylinder. This module controls the power electronics
that convert the generator's three-phase, 42-volt ac into dc to
charge the hybrid system's 36-V battery during regenerative
braking and when engine load is low. It also inverts that
battery's voltage to power the motor, so it can supplement the
engine, and it replaces the alternator to charge the separate
12-V lead-acid battery used for lights, power steering, air
conditioning, and the like.
The biggest design challenge actually didn't involve the control
electronics, Tarnowsky says. Rather, it was creating a
sufficiently robust accessory belt system so the motor/generator
could both receive power from the crankshaft and spin the
crankshaft when restarting the engine after idle-stop. On
nonhybrids, this belt uses torque from just a single source�the
engine's crankshaft�to spin the alternator and other accessories,
such as an air-conditioning compressor. Coping with the two
different torque modes greatly increases the mechanical demands
on the Vue's belt, which has seven plies (one more than usual).
And the designers ultimately had to deploy two different belt
tensioners, rather than the usual one, to keep the belt tight
enough to drive all the components on it.
Ahnold's Hummer: Hydrogen or Hot Air?
No stranger to elaborate photo ops, California Governor Arnold
Schwarzenegger arrived at a newly built hydrogen fueling station
at Los Angeles International Airport this past October in a
gleaming dark-blue hydrogen-powered Hummer. The cameras clicked
and the video rolled as 300 dignitaries watched the smiling
governor lift a hose from the pump and put it into the Hummer's
fuel filler. The implication: his "hydrogen highway" of refueling
stations, a key promise of his campaign, had arrived.
What's wrong with this picture? First, no hydrogen was actually
transferred into the Hummer; the station wouldn't open for
another month. Second, it wasn't Schwarzenegger's Hummer at all,
but a one-off research vehicle constructed by General Motors.
Third, GM had actually built the vehicle at his personal request.
And fourth, the station is unlikely to open to the general public
for five or more years.
The Hummer H2H is so far GM's only foray into hydrogen-powered
internal combustion (IEEE Spectrum covered the Ford Hydrogen
Hybrid Research Vehicle, or H2RV, in last year's "Top 10 Tech
Cars"). The H2H uses the Hummer H2's standard 6-liter V8 engine,
which delivers 134 kilowatts (180 horsepower) under hydrogen
power with the addition of a supercharger. The 350-bar compressed
hydrogen fuel system includes three carbon-fiber fuel tanks,
storing a total of 5.5 kilograms of hydrogen. Despite all that
fuel storage, the 2950-kg vehicle can go only 97 km (60 miles)
after a fill-up.
The U.S. armed forces, which buy the military Humvee that sired
the consumer Hummer, have no interest in the hydrogen Hummer. The
U.S. Marine Corps, for example, is now testing a fast, quiet
vehicle called the Reconnaissance, Surveil-lance, and Targeting
Vehicle, or RST-V, nicknamed "the Shadow" [see "U.S. Military
Goes for Hybrid Vehicle," IEEE Spectrum, March 2004]. Even with
armor, this diesel-electric hybrid weighs half as much as a
standard military Humvee, which has no armor. It's driven by four
50-kW in-hub motors, two lithium-ion battery packs with peak
power delivery of 80 kW and a 20 kilowatthour capacity, and a
103-kW (138-hp) turbocharged 2.5-liter diesel engine. It can
travel at 100 km/h and go 32 km on battery power alone, allowing
silent movement with low thermal signatures. A 60-kW generator is
built in, and the Shadow is small and light enough to be carried
in a V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft.
It just makes the Hummer seem...oh, very last year, doesn't
it?�J.V.
Michelin "Concept" It's all in the wheels In just six years, the
Michelin Challenge Bibendum has become the showcase for
environmentally friendly automotive technology. Last year's
event, held in Shanghai, China, in October, attracted more than
150 vehicles. And for the first time, sponsor Michelin entered
two concept vehicles of its own creation, which it designed with
partners at its network of research centers. While the company
doesn't plan to enter the car market, according to Michelin
engineer and spokesperson Pierre Varenne, it does want to offer
new electromechanical technologies to its automaking customers.
One of the two research vehicles, known simply as the Concept,
was a skeletal structure that served as a platform for the
company's new Active Wheel Technology. The car contains a
73-kilowatt (98 horsepower), 1.1-liter, air-cooled flat-twin
gasoline engine, but that's hardly the point. In fact, the engine
has no mechanical connection to the car's drive wheels. It simply
powers a central generator, whose outputs to four electric
motors�one in each wheel�actually move the vehicle. The electric
power also operates the electric active-suspension and
chassis-stability control systems.
Each of the four 30-kW electric motor/generators powers its own
wheel and regeneratively brakes it, too, in combination with more
traditional disk brakes. Packaged with each motor are not only
the traditional springs that suspend the wheel but also
electrically actuated dampers. Together they constitute the
suspension. All shock absorbing and attitude control is done by
the electric dampers, so the driver can vary the car's handling
and other factors�including ground clearance, which can be raised
from 10 to 35 centimeters. Basically, the handling can be varied
from a smooth ride that absorbs bumps to firmer, lower-roll
settings for more aggressive driving. And as Lotus demonstrated
to amazed journalists 20 years ago on an experimental Esprit,
such a suspension even lets a car be programmed to bank inward on
turns, as a motorcycle does.
The approach offers vehicle designers tremendous packaging
flexibility by removing lots of components from the mix. With the
electrical technologies integrated into the wheels, the Concept
needs no transmission, clutch, differential, drive shafts,
constant-velocity joints, shock absorbers, or antiroll bar.
Traditionally, the drawback to wheel motors is what designers
call "unsprung weight," or the relatively high mass of the motor
components in addition to that of the wheels, whose movements the
suspension must accommodate. The more mass in the wheels, the
beefier the suspension must be�increasing weight and complexity.
Michelin's Varenne, however, notes with pride that the mass of
each wheel and its motor unit is just 30 kg, roughly comparable
to that of a wheel in a standard vehicle.
[...]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John Voelcker has written about automotive technology, home
building, and other topics for 20 years. He covered software and
microprocessor design for IEEE Spectrum from 1985 to 1990. A
connoisseur of vintage British automobiles, he has owned five
Riley One-Point-Fives, four Morris Minors, three Pontiac GTOs,
and a handful of Subarus.
URL: http://www.spectrum.ieee.org (Modified: 28 February 2005)
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EVLN(Increase efficiency by adapting batteries its environment)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://www.primezone.com/newsroom/?d=73568
Source: Omni Alliance Group, Inc.
Omni Alliance Group Signs Letter of Intent with Active Grid
Technology
ORLANDO, Fla., March 1, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- Omni Alliance Group
Inc. is pleased to announce that they have signed a letter of
intent to form an alliance with Active Grid Technologies (AGT),
Inc. in which they will be receiving rights to a patent pending
technology. The technology will increase the electric drive
train's efficiency by 'adapting the batteries performance' to its
environment rather than accepting the batteries performance 'as
is.' In addition, application of its technologies significantly
reduces the batteries' degradation over life. This method of
control will ultimately solve several of the issues currently
plaguing the energy storage industry.
The final agreement will include funding for research &
development, plus management and marketing support from Omni
Alliance Group. Both Omni Alliance and AGT expect to have a deal
finalized within the next twenty days. Mr. Shawn P. Kelly, CEO of
AGT developed the technology. Mr. Kelly has a strong engineering
and nuclear science background. He is also the Engineering
Manager for a large electronic controls manufacturer. As a
retired Nuclear Submarine Officer, Mr. Kelly was awarded several
accommodations for his service.
"The relationship with Active Grid Technology is one of the
pieces to the puzzle, which will allow Omni Alliance Group to
develop a platform that will revolutionize the Personal Electric
Vehicle market," stated Scott Spor, CEO of Omni Alliance Group.
"With the support of Omni Alliance Group, Active Grid
Technologies can speed up our time table for developing and
expanding our patented technology and product line. Our
technology has applications in industries outside Personal
Electric Vehicles, such as; telecommunications, emergency backup
systems, industrial, home battery packs and the portable
electronic device (PED) market. Battery management systems
monitor the battery's electrical operating characteristics in
order to 'change' a condition of the peripheral systems - thus
enhancing the 'batteries' performance. AGT's technologies monitor
the battery's electrical operating characteristics and 'change
them' to adapt it to peripheral system's environment - thus
enhancing the 'systems' performance," stated Shawn P. Kelly, CEO
of Active Grid Technologies.
About Active Grid Technologies, Inc.
Active Grid Technologies is a private corporation that researches
and develops various technologies and products focused around
efficient energy management. The company also holds a license to
develop, market, and sell a patented technology that increases
the efficiency and life of batteries.
About Omni Alliance Group Inc.
Omni Alliance Group, Inc. is a holding company currently engaged
in the leisure lifestyle industries. The Company currently
identifies opportunities in the Personal Electric Vehicle (PEV)
industry, including manufacturing, distribution and sales; and
the Luxury Motor Coach Industry (sales, rental & leasing
programs). http://www.omnialliancegroup.com
Safe Harbor: This press release discusses [...] "forward-looking"
statements [...] CONTACT: Big Apple Consulting USA, Inc. for Omni
Alliance Group, Inc. Matt Maguire 407-884-0444 or 1-866-THE-APPLE
� 2005 PrimeZone Media Network, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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You need a certain amount of uF to get the right charging current at the
selected speed. Too little & too many revs are needed. Too much & the
engine cannot deliver enough torque to drive the IG. A governor is
recommended also.
David
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On
Behalf Of Lee Hart
Sent: Wednesday, 2 March 2005 4:06 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: 3 phase alternator-why not an induction machine?
djsharpe wrote:
> I have a 5kW 3ph induction generator wired up in delta... The power
> source is a 4 cylinder Morris side valve motor ex 1950s Morris Major
> car running at 1000-1500 RPM and burning natural gas.
Now *that's* a unique engine!
> It is auto excited via 100uF per phase. I can advise if this system
> loses its battery load high voltages are produced to the limit of
> saturating the core. I haven't measured the voltage under these
> conditions but a device rated at 500V blew once.
This would indicate that you have too much capacitance and/or too little
load. The no-load voltage should rise 20% or so at most. With no load,
the motors's inductance and the load capacitors can form a resonant
circuit that could certainly build up enough voltage to saturate the
core and make the motor overheat.
> Because of the unstable load/voltage nature it is not suitable for
> variable loads
Correct. Usually, you regulate the speed of the engine driving it to get
the desired voltage/current output. Otherwise, if you lose the
electrical load, the ICE speeds up, the generator's voltage skyrockets,
and something breaks!
> Auto excited induction machines occasionally fail to excite if a
> critical amount of residual magnetism is not present. This can be
> overcome by flashing the windings with low voltage DC before starting.
Yes, I've found the same thing. Some motors never seem to need a pulse
of DC to start generating; others seem to need it regularly. I haven't
played enough to figure out how to predict it.
--
If you would not be forgotten
When your body's dead and rotten
Then write of great deeds worth the reading
Or do the great deeds worth repeating
-- Ben Franklin, Poor Richard's Almanac
--
Lee A. Hart 814 8th Ave N Sartell MN 56377 leeahart_at_earthlink.net
--- End Message ---
