91–100 of 123 posts
1. https://twitter.com/mikel01/status/1163709573984899072?s=21
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Additional batteries in trailers doesn’t seem unreasonable.
Or, you could just put a generator on the trailer, and get unlimited range! =)
Found it on archive.org: http://web.archive.org/web/20121105135914/http://www.mrshark...
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Additional batteries in trailers doesn’t seem unreasonable.
Or, you could just put a generator on the trailer, and get unlimited range! =)
I wonder if a electric car with a generator in a trailer would still be tax exempt...
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I’d love an electric car but I also like my caravan (nice cheap (£20 a night) walking holidays in the countryside). I had to settle for a small diesel instead. Towing isn’t something a lot of electric cars seem to be homologated for. I think the only current exception is the Tesla Model X. Unfortunately the post-1997 EU licence restrictions (in the UK) mean that lots of people are restricted to a total gross weight o…
Towing should be a strong point of electric vehicles, with all that torque, shouldn't it?
As others have pointed out, the range also tanks when towing (it tanks with gas cars too but not as badly). This is a bigger deal in an EV because you can't just gas up in 5min but not that big a deal if you're taking a pre-planned trip IMO.
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Or, you could just put a generator on the trailer, and get unlimited range! =)
There was an excellent old website (it when by the name Mr. Sharkey but is sadly no longer around except in some archives with missing photos) which detailed a guys experiments with an old VW Rabbit EV. He actually built a range extender trailer for it based on the front of another VW rabbit. One interesting thing is he wasn't powering a generator but actually pushed the car via the tow ball and the engine and transm…
I'm sure that handled spectacularly on on-ramps. It would be like flat towing another vehicle and coming into a corner too hot.
IMHO the future of personal transportation is vehicles like that. We don't have the space in cities to support 2-3 tons of steel per traveler, and plain bicycles are uncomfortable in bad weather, or when you are physically impaired. But small (electric?) velomobiles with three or four wheels are perfect for city commutes when cycling is not an option. They also don't need 15-20kWh/100km like an electric car would.
Sir Clive Sinclair thought so too and tried to make it happen about 35 years ago, but it didn't quite catch on, to say the least: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5
The hedgehog thing is easily found on Youtube, but did I just imagine the C5 episode?
In any case, that was when I had pretty much given up hope with Sinclair QL (a home/business computer with 68008 CPU and 128K RAM).
IMHO the future of personal transportation is vehicles like that. We don't have the space in cities to support 2-3 tons of steel per traveler, and plain bicycles are uncomfortable in bad weather, or when you are physically impaired. But small (electric?) velomobiles with three or four wheels are perfect for city commutes when cycling is not an option. They also don't need 15-20kWh/100km like an electric car would.
And it pretty much is already. For much of Asia, a 150cc scooter is a standard of personal transportation. Just wait until they change to electric.
In the UK can traffic police stop motorists for no reason? No probable cause required?
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Towing should be a strong point of electric vehicles, with all that torque, shouldn't it?
I would think so, but I wonder what effect that has on the range? You can certainly feel the difference a 1300kg trailer makes to pulling away and accelerating, it effectively halves my miles-per-gallon.
But since you are limited to 60mph towing, I often find that my MPG is the same if not better when towing, though pulling away and uphill is affected. Not sure my current car would cope with a caravan!
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I think the news story is also that it was spotted on the M25 which is the orbital motorway round London that is quite busy and that it is, in fact, perfectly legal. Edit: Also it is the BBC which has a track record of regarding unusual vehicles as entertaining: https://www.topgear.com/car-reviews/top-gear-technology-cent... From the 'review': "Against: The crash protection is a bit fleshy"
Also it's mildy amusing that the police stopped it because OBVIOUSLY that's not road legal, but it turns out that actually there was nothing they could cite it for - unlike a good number of cars on the road.