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Any EV Astro / Safari?

2K views 9 replies 5 participants last post by  Matrixx 
#1 ·
Has anyone considered EV powering their van?

How about using a van instead of a Datsun?

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/videos/ ... rag-Racing

I bet V8 van can't bet this Datsun.

More!
http://www.nedra.com/videos.html

Wouldn't it be cool to have an 800 mile to charge van.

Drop engine, transmission, transfer case, gas tank - 1k pounds?

Replace gas tank with NMh battery packs

1 motor per wheel.

Probably a sweet van. Where's all this dreaming heading without funding!
 
#2 ·
Wow, now that's thinking at it's best. Thanks for the links 2002Safari, great post.:)
 
#4 ·
As long as the gas companies don't get wind of its potential. Back in the late 70s early 80s their was a team of researchers at a university here where I live that design a carburetor that would give V8 engines 35-40 MPG and had proven it.

As soon as they went for a patent, the gas companies came in and bought the rights to the patent pending and buried everything relating to that project and was never seen or heard of again. I'm sure they will try the same with the EVs once it poses a real threat to them. Hopefully the EV designers will be a bit smarter and wiser to see the huge potential this project would have in the long run to the consumer and keep the patents.

That's awfully quick times for something like the EVs just starting out. Amazing. Thanks for the other link as well.:)
 
#5 ·
Matrixx said:
As long as the gas companies don't get wind of its potential. Back in the late 70s early 80s their was a team of researchers at a university here where I live that design a carburetor that would give V8 engines 35-40 MPG and had proven it.

As soon as they went for a patent, the gas companies came in and bought the rights to the patent pending and buried everything relating to that project and was never seen or heard of again. I'm sure they will try the same with the EVs once it poses a real threat to them. Hopefully the EV designers will be a bit smarter and wiser to see the huge potential this project would have in the long run to the consumer and keep the patents.

That's awfully quick times for something like the EVs just starting out. Amazing. Thanks for the other link as well.:)
Yeah, I remember that. :roll: There was a link I had a while ago that told you how to modify your carb to get results like that but for some reason it disappear. And Matrixx, not that I doubt decency of the human race but I just see those designers just asking for more money for the patents.

I just wish in that video, the EV raced a comparable car, not a 14 second vette.
 
#6 ·
I had thought about taking the brushless setup out of an electric forklift gearing it up and dropping it in to see what happens. If it will move a 7000lbs forklift and a 500lbs pallet at 7mph it should be able to move the van well. I know they will run a forklift for 8 hours so It should have a decent mileage in the van. I was thinking hard about this but money is tight so I shall remain a dream for now.
 
#7 ·
kidhauler said:
I had thought about taking the brushless setup out of an electric forklift gearing it up and dropping it in to see what happens. If it will move a 7000lbs forklift and a 500lbs pallet at 7mph it should be able to move the van well. I know they will run a forklift for 8 hours so It should have a decent mileage in the van. I was thinking hard about this but money is tight so I shall remain a dream for now.
Hey KH-what's shaking?????. :wave: :wave:

Opps-sorry off topic. :shifty:
 
#8 ·
Hi 55
Your absolutely right their, more money for sure, just think where we would be at today if they followed through with it.

Hi KH
Forklift is a great idea for sure, the only thing I could see being a problem is the battery that runs them. It's close to 3000 lbs alone. Those batteries are of very old design. If you could get the Lithium Ion batteries to work some how with the forklift, then I think you would be onto something big their for sure.

Maybe theirs other make of batteries out their that I'm not familiar with.
 
#9 ·
you could have a custom made Nimh pack or if you have lots of money a Lipo pack made like what we run in RC cars. The Lipo packs are light and very powerful but are alot of money. I figured if your taking out the engine transmission and fuel tank your probably removing 1500lbs from the van if the tank was full so that gives you alot of load room for battery weight. You could probably mount the engine as a near direct drive to the rear end and fill under the hood with batteries to get the front end down to where it was with the engine and trans in. Depending on how far you drive to work you probably will not need a huge range on any electric car.

My drive is 16km round trip and my wife and I car pool so if the car had a 100km range in my case I could drive for a week on one charge and still have enough left to pick up a gallon of milk once a week on the way home. Now I know that I am on the low side for driving but you get the point. I was looking at the new Chevy volt and with a 64km charge and it only costs around 80cents a charge I could drive to work for a month on less than 10 bucks. This really has me thinking. If my brother (Bikehauler) who sells forklifts ever comes across a used engine for cheap I might be really tempted If I could find a car that needed engine to put it in.

P.S. hi gary
 
#10 ·
Well definitely keep us updated on that idea for sure KH. Thanks.:)
 
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