I found this video about the Riversimple car very interesting, both
from a technology and business model sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utmkddBFUg0
The car has 4 hub motors, specifically because they want all braking to
be electric. They have a large bank of capacitors to absorb 50 kW of
braking that are also used to power accelerations.
For people who don't like hub motors, the video shows that they can work
in an actual driving test mule, and their justification for using them
make sense (lots of excess electric braking power, ease of packaging to
reduce aerodynamic drag, etc).
More interesting than the technology was the business model they are
proposing. Instead of selling the car, they "lease" it via a service
contract (X$ a month and $N cents per mile). This way, the cost of
manufacturing the car can be higher, as long as the total cost of
operation is less than a gas car. It also makes longevity, reliability,
and low total cost of ownership a motivator for the company, aligning
their interests with those of the customer.
(Disclaimer: The whole system is powered by an 8kW fuel cell, but I
could also see a small sized lithium battery serving as the main motive
force, as they only need to draw 8kW at a time from it. Acceleration is
very good due to the capacitor bank, but top speed is limited to 60 MPH
average (with limited bursts above this using the capacitor) due to the
11 HP equivalent (8KW) supply.)
Jay
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