# Conversion questions



## KiwiEV (Jul 26, 2007)

I think you'd be a pioneer converter using the hub motors/motor per wheel setup. Good for you.
If you do find any information on these super-capacitors that sound too good to be true let us know. I've heard of them myself and I'd love to get my hands on them if they're as good as they say they are.
Do you have a donor car yet?
Keep us posted!


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## Craig (Aug 30, 2007)

no, not yet, I want to finish planning it first (well at least get more info on the motors - i sent emails three days ago), but I could probably get my parents' old car back from the garage... it's a chrysler voyager with a dead gearbox, and it should still be there, they sold it less than a year ago for about 1000$ 
But even if they got rid of it, I'm sure I can find another minivan (or even another chrysler voyager... the 2nd generation was so crappy  )
In the meantime I'll make a blog to post updates...I'll put the link here when it's done


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## moldiebrownie (Aug 29, 2007)

The only thing I've heard about hubmotors is that Mitsubishi is gonna produce a car that usese 4 of them...what brand..I don't know. 
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9717035-1.html?&ag=rssad.6182152&ubj=news

This 8 wheeled Japanese EV also uses hubmotors http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliica


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## KiwiEV (Jul 26, 2007)

Maybe. Someday.
I remember getting excited about the new Mitsi EV's almost 2 years ago. They predicted the EV's will be in production by now. And noooow they're predicting production to start _next_ year. I've heard this before... 
By 2010, they'll be _just_ around the corner!


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## Craig (Aug 30, 2007)

Mitsubishi are making their own motors, and it's going to (or rather, it might eventually perhaps) be a production vehicle, so I doubt they'll sell the motors separately.
As for the eliica, I don't really see there being a market for a huge 8-wheel drive car, but who knows? Maybe they'll sell the 200 cars they want to make...


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## rbgrn (Jul 24, 2007)

Why have 8 wheels? That seems inefficient. I'd prefer to see 2 sets of 4 motors coupled together to make an all-wheel drive train using 4 wheels.


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## moldiebrownie (Aug 29, 2007)

Maybe you've already seen this Craig but heres an interesting video I found on Yootube about the 8 wheel Japanese car http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UltoB9hvLNk


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## veperformance (Aug 17, 2007)

Wheel motor are the ideal setup on a track but in real world will they survive road hazard , water and most of all how do you deal with a flat ?.
If the company making these motor stop producing would you be able to get a replacement of exact size in case of failure.A high quality motor replacing the ice unit is a much more practical option for now if you want tu use your car dayli.You should also look into the power use of these hub motors since company are showing very impressive output but they also consume equaly when driven very hard.You coud get similar result using a high quality electric motor placed in without using the original transmission.Keep on with your project .


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## Craig (Aug 30, 2007)

@moldiebrownie : I like how the creator of the 8-wheeled car is convinced it's the way of the future, and that an EV must be superior to replace IC cars...I wonder if he ever paused to think how 8 wheels are better than 4 

@veperformance


> will they survive road hazard , water


Err... they look water resistant? ^^ Seriously, I don't know... But I'll be driving in the mountain alot, so if they can't withstand water and salty snow, I guess I'll use a "normal" motor...



> how do you deal with a flat ?.


Well, either you get run-on-flat tires (to be able to limp to a garage to replace the tire) or you carry around a (probably) heavy pump, and a spare (not great options, but that's all there is..) Or in PML's case, the wheel actually attaches to the motor, so it's easily replaceable.
As for e-traction, I'll probably be using the SM350 motor. It's not an in-wheel motor, so there shouldn't be any problems for tires and mechanical brakes.
I also browsed their website a bit, and it turns out they've been making these motors for 10years.. So in the (unlikely) event a motor fails, they'll probably still be in business to supply another one (at least I hope ^^)



> You coud get similar result using a high quality electric motor placed in without using the original transmission


What do you mean? That the motor can be placed between the wheels to eliminate the transmission? Or that it's possible to use more efficient transmissions? One of the points of direct drives is that there's much less (or none at all) mechanical parts that are prone to break...(plus it removes a little weight)

Anyway, little update (I don't have much, since e-traction haven't answered my email yet...): After a little more browsing, I noticed that thewheel 500 is much too big for a car - it's what they used for their 2nd gen bus, and even there it's bigger than the original wheels.... So I'll probably use the non-wheel hub motor they make (sm350)...It's supposedly better suited for personal vehicles, but I'm waiting to know if it's powerful enough to take a minivan on mountain roads and motorways...


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## Craig (Aug 30, 2007)

Hi,
My weblog is up, even though there's just 1 relevant post for the moment...
I'll post updates as I get more info (progress is pretty slow right now)


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## sedonix (Sep 11, 2007)

The problem with wheel motors as I understand it is the principle of unsprung weight. The less weight that is unsprung that is the wheel, hub, brakes the better the ride and handling is. Putting a motor, even a light one in the wheel is going to cause major changes to the ride. Will need larger shock absorbers, and no matter how much effort you put into retuning the suspension , the ride will be worse. Get a book on auto suspension and handling. Ever seen race cars with the brake rotors on the inboard side of the drive shafts? This is why. Of course, you are gonna add a lot of battery weight on the sprung side of the car, so maybe you can get by with heavier wheels.

Greg C.


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## Craig (Aug 30, 2007)

Actually there won't be any added unsprung weight, since I'll (well I hope I will) use 2 out-of-wheel motors (see my website for more details about them). With those I'll have all the advantages of in-wheel motors, eliminating the transmission, differential etc, but they wont add weight to the wheels themselves...


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