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DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
91–100 of 343 posts
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#92> The DeLorean was memorably featured in the Back to the Future movie trilogy (1985, 1989, and 1990) as the model of car made into a time machine by eccentric scientist Doc Brown, although the company had closed down before the first movie was made. Woah! Can you imagine what the cars today would look like if they hadn't and became a huge hit following the movie's status!? Truly iconic.
> Can you imagine what the cars today would look like if they hadn't and became a huge hit following the movie's status!? What cars today are you talking about?
You know, modern cars, which all feature straight edged unpainted stainless steel.
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#93Earlier quoted context omitted.
> On the other hand, different axles don’t have to use the same gearing ratio. That’s how dual motor Teslas work - the front wheels are geared for higher speeds, and more power is shifted towards those as you go faster. No gear-shifting required. Yep. Alternatively, the Porsche Taycan has an 2-speed transmission gearbox (cf. https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a28903274/porsche-taycan-t... ). I don't think gearboxes ar…
Do the Tesla’s still have differentials then? It would be cool to eliminate those two but then you’d need a motor for each wheel I guess.
Rivian has an independent 4-motor setup. It's a compelling case of extra parts allowing for simplicity.
It also allows for the ever-entertaining tank turn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzwM8KE2L3I
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#94Earlier quoted context omitted.
The year Tesla started manufacturing Model 3s got Elon back to the ground from dreaming about special cars, like the new Roadster: to get to a huge company and deliver on sustainability, they have to focus on cheap cars in huge volume, and can't afford many fun projects (except things like Tesla Tequila, that they can mostly outsource :) )
TIL that Tesla Tequila is an actual thing, and it's somehow even more ridiculous than Tres Comas.
Tesla Tequila is a spoof off of Tres Comas (was priced at $250, limit two, as an alleged nod to their imminent inclusion in the S&P500), and honestly it’s pretty good tequila for a marketing spoof.
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#95Earlier quoted context omitted.
>Seems to me this is a giant loophole. the key for those loopholes is low volume and similar limits. It allows to start making cars, like Tesla had with original Roadster which otherwise wouldn't be let on the public roads. I think it is a great approach in US to have those limited loopholes in various domains which allow to start making things - such loopholes are absent in for example Russia (my old country) and th…
>that affects the entrepreneurship and innovation. It very likely does but it also saves a lot of peoples lives each day. I mean, not only niche cars, but not having good basic safety in general on the roads. Road fatalities per one billion vehicle km is at 7.3 in the US according to Wikipedia. The worst Scandinavian country is Denmark with 3.9. I guess it comes down to if you want Freedom To Do Stupid Things (like n…
>Freedom To Do Stupid Things
something like this. Though those stupid things aren't niche cars or any other innovations. It is plain old stupidity - US has 10K/year DUI related deaths, Denmark - 75/year, 2x less per capita. Also bigger cars popular in US like trucks - while fully public road certified, they are conceptually and engineering wise are relatively behind the curve - resulting in more deadly accidents.
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#96> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has completed a regulation permitting low volume motor vehicle manufacturers to begin selling replica cars that resemble vehicles produced at least 25 years ago. Congress enacted a DeLorean Motor Company-backed bill backed by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) DeLorean Motor Company, and others into law in 2015, which streamlined requirements for…
Electric motors don't need a transmission. Adding a stick shift is just adding complexity for no benefit. It's more stuff to maintain and more parts to break and is going to make the car slower due to parasitic losses and inefficiencies. If you're shooting for 200kph+ speeds there might be a time where a simple high/low transmission may be helpful, but that's supercar territory. Interestingly, Formula E cars have a 5…
>Interestingly, Formula E cars have a 5 speed gearbox, but mostly because the rules says they have to.
This is no longer required. A few teams stuck with the five speed, but most have dropped to three or four speeds.
The Formula E cars still need gearboxes because there isn't a single gear ratio that can provide optimal acceleration between 0 and 175mph with an 18,000 RPM redline. The massive powerband of the motors means that they don't benefit from as many gears as piston engines do, but there is still a benefit to having more than one gear.
The next generation cars will go dual-motor, presumably each with different final drive ratios: a shorter gear on the front motor for low-speed power, and a taller rear end gear for top speed, but this is speculation on my part.
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#97> National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has completed a regulation permitting low volume motor vehicle manufacturers to begin selling replica cars that resemble vehicles produced at least 25 years ago. Congress enacted a DeLorean Motor Company-backed bill backed by the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) DeLorean Motor Company, and others into law in 2015, which streamlined requirements for…
> They could even do a stickshift EV if they wanted to, though most car companies seem to not think it's worth the complexity/maintenance, and I get the impression that electric motors are hard on transmissions. Electric motors have a wider power band, so there’s less need for gear shifting. They could get more efficiency with multiple gears, but it’s be a smaller benefit than in an ICE vehicle. One of the big early…
For anything that isn't a car you're gonna want gears for the same reason electric drills have gears. Think of it like low range.
"muh instant 0rpm torque" is absolutely nothing compared to the inertia of a hired driver who doesn't care (or is just a novice) dumping the clutch. Building a transmission to handle electric motor loads isn't a particularly remarkable engineering challenge. (Though you can make any engineering exercise challenging if you add sufficient weight and budgetary constraints)
Imagine a medium or heavier truck that's expected to both get a load moving at low speed and to cruise at 80. Putting anything near peak power through an electric motor at low speeds lets the magic smoke out in short order. Sure you can gear it down but then you have insane rpm at high speed and the wonderful engineering problem of getting that insanely overbuilt motor to not fling itself apart at those speed. A simple two speed transmission is a far more elegant solution. Especially since a transmission for an electric motor can be far simpler than one for an ICE. Letting the magic smoke out was a big problem in early EV conversions because power was low and consequently the vehicles available for conversion didn't have lots of good options for deep gearing.
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#98Earlier quoted context omitted.
they don't need a clutch because they can't stall. but, like ICEs, they cannot make peak power at 0 RPM. unless the vehicle is already traction limited (quite possible), it could accelerate faster with a shorter first gear. my guess is in reality it's usually cheaper to just overbuild the motors than to add lower gears to hit your desired 0-60 time, but this isn't a law of nature.
I wonder what torque looks like at 0 rpm. I thought that was peak? But If it’s bad maybe a torque converter would be useful?
Peak torque is at zero, but peak power is not.
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#99It's 2021 now, and any vehicle on the drawing board won't go into production until ~2024.
Many jurisdictions around the world are already banning the sale of new ICE vehicles from about 2030
I would be shocked if any company anywhere is sinking R&D money into designing new ICE motors, and I believe we're seeing the last evolution that will ever come. They'll keep building what they've already designed, but they're not going to sink billions into designing new ones.
Yes, yes, tractors and transport trucks and whatever will persist, but I think for mass produced passenger vehicles, we'll never see another big ICE R&D breakthrough like Variable valve timing or variable vane turbos or overhead camshafts. It's over.
Re: DeLorean considering all-electric reboot
#100There’s a huge opportunity for the manufacturer that could streamline an hypothetical chassis with integrated electronics and batteries. We could be looking for a future resembling what we have today in some formula categories that are basically a power unit paired with a dallara or lolla chassis.
Lots of EV manufacturers are investigating the "skateboard" model where you drop a chassis on a unified battery platform.
VW has invested monumental amounts in this but I imagine will keep it all locked down to the VAG family. Perhaps they're open to licensing opportunities. Canoo ($GOEV) on the other hand is in the news for their skateboard platform being adopted by Hyundai/Kia and potentially being the base of the new Apple car.
In theory DMC could build upon a Canoo skateboard, or license another EV startups skateboard.