First, Welcome. Introduce yourself and tell us what brought you to the site and what you want to build.
I write some of the articles on the site and would be happy to answer some of your questions as best as I can. Now remember, we are just garage mechanics and discover alot of the intricacies of ev design and function from discussing it here. That's also why I thank Mike for making such a great community. Plus, it is so much easier to discuss here instead of getting lost in the EVDL (from which we are an offshoot). Thanks, Mike. > 1. On El Ninja (from the book "The Secrets of El > Ninja") it shows the motor mounted outside the frame > kind of hanging off the rear. That motor has vents. > Wouldn't that be crazy if you were driving in the > rain? Wouldn't mud and water be splashed onto and > into it? If the builder is worried about that he would build a guard. It's not that hard. Bidwell says you can add one if you want. > 2. In an interview with GoWheels.com Ryan said they > use an AC motor on the evDaytona "because > we see that as safer, we get regen, and we think the > industry will standardize on AC in the near > future.". > A. How exactly is an AC motor safer? I left the article in interview format because that is Gowheel.com's opinion. They didn't elaborate any further. Typically, AC motors werent available for our lower voltage until earlier last year. > B. And is AC the only way to get Regeneration? No, DC motors can be generators. Its just DC controllers dont have the feature nor are there separate regulators at this time. > C. What is a good AC motor I can research for an > electric motorcycle? http://www.thunderstruckev.com and http://electricmotorsport.com market AC motors as well as some Golf cart parts manufacturers. > 3. I saw one EM where a guy used a transmission. But > I see most are direct drive. I would assume a > transmission would eat a lot of power. Examples are: edd rannberg's the first kawashocki, Transitron's 1978 electric harley, ray wong's ride. I think there are a few more. > A. Is that why transmissions arnt used much brcause > they too much power? You are openning a big discussion with this question with people opinionated on both sides of the argument. I am one of those that believe in a transmission for the following reasons: a). per physics, it takes less amps to get the same motor-to-wheel torque with the right gearing b). single gears reach an RPM or max speed limit due to voltage of the pack (for a DC motor) c). single gears require a delicate selection of choosing either not enough low end torque before reaching topspeed (slower take off), or more low end torque with a lower top speed d). performance selection for driving needs e). a clutch is usually included for freewheeling On the opposite end, a). transmissions add rotating mass and weight reducing efficiency b). trannys use up the limited space on a bike for batteries c). trannys have to be found or modified to work because the ones that come with the bike arent designed for the electric motor (or money) d). single gearing is simpler e). greater speed can be done simply by adding more batts and battery switching (for a DC motor) > B.Has anyone tried, or even heard of, > continuously-variable transmission (CVT)? It's > basically two pulleys that can change size automatically. Seems > like it would eat less power than a regular > transmission. Anyone using those on EM's? I see > some scooters and even cars use them. Ray Wong's ride. He just did a nice discussion on how to tune a CVT to operate with an electric motor. It's in the EM Listserver archives. > C. Do most electric motors just not need a > transmission? It's up to the builder for above reasons. > 4. What books, stores, ect... are best for > researching and buying parts? I dont want to show a bias toward any ONE supplier because I write. There are quite a few suppliers and I am sure the guys will chime in here. I will let you know that I have compared the prices from each supplier that I know of for a similar style build, but I havent written the article. > Well, I got a lot more questions but I'll try to > only ask a few at a time. Thanks for any replies! > ..........Sam > Hope this helps. Lyle __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
