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Comments 4
  1. — Dan    Jan 18, 2006 20:48 PM    #
    I did an electric car design for an engineering class in 1976. For the batteries, I chose Sodium-Sulphur (NaS) because it had the highest energy density of all the electrocouples I researched. The battery operated at somewhere around 700 F, but on the other hand, once the electrodes were allowed to cool and solidify, there was zero charge leakage. It also had 4-wheel independently controlled direct-drive series-wound motors mounted between the wheels and connected through drive shafts and CV joints (to keep the unsprung weight down) set into a mcpherson strut suspension. BTW, I got the battery ‘technology’ out of an electrochemistry library book that was printed in the late 19th century.

    The only thing new in the World is history you don’t know. – Harry S Truman
  2. — James May    Jan 19, 2006 08:58 AM    #
    Here’s a slightly unrelated question:

    Does anyone know about gear oil and gear oil additives with a view to reducing the friction (and possibly noise) of my gearbox. It doens’t have to withstand high temperatures or high loads but I’d love to get a little extra efficiency here.
  3. Jerry Halstead    Jan 19, 2006 09:13 AM    #
    Hi Dan,

    When you say “design” does that mean you actually got to build it too? Sounds like a fun project.

    Back in ‘95 when I was researching our first EV I went to an EV show in Rhode Island and got a ride in a Ford EV (converted Taurus I think) which used sulphur batteries. Hadn’t heard much about them since until I read this article yesterday.

    James, I’ve seen the guys on the EVList mention replacement oil, but can’t remember what the name was. Maybe something geared towards racing?
  4. — Dan    Jan 19, 2006 12:30 PM    #
    I didn’t implement the NaS battery. I vaguely remember NaS promising a W/lb performance improvement over Pb/H2SO4 of roughly an order of magnitude, but only half that of gasoline (of course, motor efficiency made the EV superior).

    I did build a working scale model of one wheel/motor/suspension. For the rest of the car, I had 3-view drawings showing internal components, and performance calculations/graphs including a comparison to ICE for reference.

    I wish I could find that stuff now. (sigh)