# Tango drive arrangement?



## Kreb (Apr 30, 2008)

Does anyone know about the Tango's drive arangement? It looks like two motors, each powering a wheel via a chain or belt. presumably there's a paralel-link suspension arangement as well. Does anyone have more info on it? Also, why does such a tiny car weigh 3000 lbs. and have such blistering performance? I know that they run a Zilla controller, but how do they get so much power from a relatively small array of lead-acid batteries?

Any thoughts?

http://www.evworld.com/images/rwoodbury_tango.jpg

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/5727...7EC77F5F8D1CE039F0730BEEDF88CA40A659CEC4C8CB6

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/5727...7EC77F5F8D1CEAD08200C83622BC2A40A659CEC4C8CB6


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## TX_Dj (Jul 25, 2008)

It's been many years now since I last corresponded with Rick, but it is my understanding that the Tango does, as you suggest, use two motors, each one driving a separate rear wheel. Also, as I recall, the two are separate, permitting a differential style action so the car can turn effectively without the suspension binding up.

The reason the Tango weighs so much is that there are over 2500 lbs of lead-acid batteries installed under the floorboard.

The reason the Tango accelerates so quickly is due to the dual motor design, gear ratio, and sheer amperage of the Zilla controller.

Hope this helps.


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## Kreb (Apr 30, 2008)

2500 lbs of batteries! The array doen't look that large. Wow. 

It's an inherently efficient layout in many ways. The low cg makes it stable. The narrowness offsets the hight in terms of wind resistance. The length makes for superior parking capablities and less overall mass to move. His website says that they're doing a batch right now. Obviously not mass production, but I wish them the best. 

Do you know if they're belt, chain or gear drive?


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## TX_Dj (Jul 25, 2008)

Unfortunately that detail escapes me. I want to say gear, but I could be wrong. Belt wouldn't be a very good choice in that configuration, because belts stretch under torque. Chain is noisy and adds a lot of extra drag into the drivetrain (stuff like sprockets meshing with the side plates of the chain and such).

As I mentioned, my info on that car is outdated- but it was always my understanding that they were going to maintain the same weight of battery when they moved to more advanced battery technologies so that the weight and balance of the car remained the same and so the cornering ability (center of gravity) remained stable. 2500 lbs of LiFePO batteries in that little thing would equate to a lot of range.


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