EVDL Administrator via EV wrote:
On 9 Jan 2016 at 12:56, Lee Hart via EV wrote:
The ComutaVan fixed most of the concerns with the early CitiCars.
I never owned one, but from what I could see of them from a distance, I
think you're right.
At one time I considered buying a partly gutted Comuta-Van and trying to
transplant its drivetrain into my Comuta-Car. I eventually decided against
it because I thought it would have ended up costing mroe than the car was
worth. Besides, when I was done with the project (IF I ever got done), I
would still have had a Comuta-Car. :-\
One problem with the CitiCar/ComutaCar was its short wheelbase. This
exaggerates the fore/aft pitching on bumps. The ComutaCar made this even
worse by locating all the batteries at the extreme front and rear. The
short wheelbase also meant there wasn't room for a transmission.
I'd be more inclined to use a ComutaCar for parts to fix up a ComutaVan
than the other way around. :-)
The Kewet, CitiBee, and Smart cars are all similar in size to the
CitiCar. If someone was really "into" it, I wonder if a CitiCar could be
upgraded with parts from these other small cars to be more civilized?
Bob Rice always complained that the "ShittyCar" (his words) could have
been far better if he'd had the time and resources to do it right. But
Beaumont was always broke and in a raging hurry to "git 'er done".
So, Bob was forced to design it with "nothing but bear skins and stone
knives".
For example, Bob wanted to use two motors, and series/parallel switching
to get the effect of a 2-speed transmission. "Too expensive; one's enough".
He was given *one week* to design the doors from scratch. Car doors are
among the most difficult parts of a car body to get right. It's a
testament to his ingenuity that they worked at all. (Most kit cars have
even worse doors.)
He wanted to use a steel frame; far cheaper and easy to weld. But they
used aluminum because Beaumont's factory was a bankrupt irrigation
company, which came with tons of scrap aluminum pipe.
--
Knowledge is better than belief. Belief is when someone else does
your thinking. -- anonymous
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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