jerry freedomev wrote:
GM actually built something similar called the GM UltraLite.
Yes; it was a very advanced concept car. It exemplified Amory Lovin's
hypercar principles, using lighter high-strength materials and
techniques to simultaneously improve both fuel economy and safety. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Ultralite
The ability to swap out/ rent, lease or own drivetrains takes away
any bad points EV's might be perceived to have. And the lightweight,
aero design means for a Volt's 24kwhr pack it would get well over
200 mile range and only 10 kwhr would get 100 mile range making it a
very cost effective EV but big auto doesn't want that.
I don't think the Ultralite actually implemented this idea. But there
have been real cars that did. The 1959 "dream car" originally mentioned
in this thread actually got built in the 1970's. Dr. Harold D. Kesling
built the "Yare" and exhibited it at the 1978 Electric Auto Show in
Chicago IL.
The Yare was a bright yellow ultra streamlined composite "pod for the
absolute minimum wind resistance. The driver sat in the center up front,
2 passengers in the center seat, and a smaller "jump seat" or storage
area behind that. The pod had one centered front wheel, two in the
center on the left and right, and one centered rear wheel. The front and
rear wheels both steered. The two center wheels were driven.
It had a range of about 50 miles with the lead-acid batteries of the
time. The rear wheel was actually a removable trailer, which could be
uncoupled and replaced in a few minutes. He had both an ICE and an EV
"trailer". The EV trailer had more batteries to extend the range. The
ICE trailer has the ICE and a generator.
As of 2009, the Yare prototype was in the LaPorte County Historical
Society Museum in Laporte IN.
--
Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
-- Albert Einstein
--
Lee A. Hart, http://www.sunrise-ev.com/LeesEVs.htm
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