Its gonna come soon....wheeling a hybrid???

C co Crusader 2/127 · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 2:16 pm

DarbyWalters wrote:

A few years ago there was a TV special on a Rover with just an electric motor (never electric engine). The thing about electric motors is that the torque is instant...like a train. You can get gobs of torque from an electric motor.

like darby said electric get tons of torque. An there atre also a lot of other benifits to electric. One would be that you dont have to have a conventional drivetrain. Each wheel would have its own motor inside of the rim eliminating most of the axels and giving a lot better ground clearence. Think something like a HMMWV on steroids. An even if we incorperated train type deisel electric technology we would get a lot better gas milage. My brother in law works for cn as a conductor and says that they get about 9 or 10 miles to a gallon on a good day. To me that amazing because they are pulling about 5 thousand tons.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 7:47 pm

Considering the amount of stuff they haul the modern locomotive is very efficient and has tons of torque. They have been diesel electric hybrids for years. They do work a little different in that the diesel runs a generator which in turn powers electric motors on the axles. No batteries. The individual motor on each axle/wheel is the way to go in my opinion and then use a small diesel to run a generator or charge the batteries. I am not sure how we got into the current concept of sometimes gas and sometimes electric but it is not the best solution for simplicity.

Edvalencia · **Posted:** Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:06 pm

Cowcatcher wrote:

Considering the amount of stuff they haul the modern locomotive is very efficient and has tons of torque. They have been diesel electric hybrids for years. They do work a little different in that the diesel runs a generator which in turn powers electric motors on the axles. No batteries. The individual motor on each axle/wheel is the way to go in my opinion and then use a small diesel to run a generator or charge the batteries. I am not sure how we got into the current concept of sometimes gas and sometimes electric but it is not the best solution for simplicity.

This is what I meant by a "Series or Serial Hybrid"
The ICE engine is only used to power the batteries/motor. I belive the Chevy Volt uses this concept, although I could be wrong.

Universeman · **Posted:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 6:21 pm

What ever happened to Flywheel technology? Diesel/electric combo and regenerative breaking spins up a high tech flywheel that stores the energy which is released to the motors. Not sure if this would work off road but you could run on batteries for rock crawling.

Edvalencia · **Posted:** Thu Nov 29, 2007 7:22 pm

From what I remember, there are a couple of issues with Flywheels.
The amount of energy they can store is directly proportional to the mass and inertia of the disk. The faster the rotational speed, the more energy it can store. This means that the material must be both dense, and capable of handling the inertial forces created when spinning somehwere close to 100,000 RPMs. Most materials have a tendency to shatter at these speeds, which leads to another problem... The containment unit must be strong enough to hold the debris, should the flywheel come apart. It also has to keep te flywheel in a vacuum, as aerodynamic drag will seriously decrease it's efficiency. There are other issues that I can't remember right now.

This is from personal research I did years ago and my memory is not that great, so I could be talking out of my butt.

Ed

Fulltimer · **Posted:** Fri Nov 30, 2007 7:49 pm

Not exactly what your talking about but....an ATV, all electric, 4X4, 170lbs. of torque, 2,500lbs winch and a 15hp. motor on each axel etc. http://www.badboybuggies.com/

Terry

Guest · **Posted:** Mon Dec 03, 2007 10:38 pm

Dje Ryu wrote:

Jeep4me99 wrote:

DarbyWalters wrote:

A few years ago there was a TV special on a Rover with just an electric motor (never electric engine). The thing about electric motors is that the torque is instant...like a train. You can get gobs of torque from an electric motor.

yea, but can the electric motor be matted to a tranny (not the cross dressing type :lol:

) and transfer case allowing it to withstand the rigours of off road driving, not only the bumps, constant stop starts, but also the conditions, mud, snow, water, dirt ect?

It could be possible but with electric motors today, it would take one about the size of a Civic to match the HP and torque of even the 3.7. They're trying to make them smaller but, most current all-electric cars are using a motor on each wheel to have enough power to move at any decent speeds. They have lots of torque as Darby said but, severely lacking in HP. Basically, in order to 'wheel with one, I think you'd have to either regear all the motors and wheels or put a t-case (which probably hasn't been invented yet) in at each motor/wheel.

This is something I've been dreaming of making - an electric off-road vehicle. With an electric motor on each wheel you wouldn't need a traditional transmission, t-case, or axles. You could control each motor with a control panel and computer and set up each engine with the optimal gearing for offroad. Suspension could be fully independent with lots of articulation and ground clearance. Also, electric motors are quiet. Years ago, in my robotics course I made a robot that had two engines and 3 wheels. That was a difficult but rewarding experience.

Its gonna come soon....wheeling a hybrid???

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