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Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

bbc.co.uk

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Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#111

Post by C1sc0cat »

flyingfences wrote: post #108
C1sc0cat wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can still hit road furniture , and things like moose's

That vehicle looks like it would just go cleanly under the moose.

I am now imagining an updated Jeux Sans Frontières with the competitors driving those round a course avoiding mooses.

For non Europeans it was a Europe wide televised game series which "featured teams from different European countries in outlandish costumes (often large latex suits) competing to complete bizarre tasks in funny games. "

Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#112

Post by isoprophlex »

klingonopera wrote: post #56
isoprophlex wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it illegal anywhere? That's good to know as I often drive barefooted, like... Once every ten trips or so?

Yes, in Germany it is illegal. AFAIK, the law states something along the lines of having "proper shoework" in order to operate the vehicle. EDIT: Whoops, no, it's actually legal [1][2] (in fact, it's perfectly legal to drive a car naked in Germany in public - though you shouldn't leave your car then, because being naked in public is not actually legal, the fine-print is that your car's interior is considered your pri…

What a fantastic legal quagmire, thanks for looking that up

Tangentially, I once had German autobahn police laugh at my 'gummistiefel' when they pulled me over... The opposite thing of driving barefooted, but hardly proper shoework for driving a car

Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#114

Post by bananapear »

ljf wrote: post #99
bananapear wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Wow - interested to hear it is that dramatic. My only experience is towing a folding camper - this fits nicely in the 'slipstream' of my car, and I assume weighs less than your caravan no doubt. 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!

I think the air resistance is the main factor. Even with the roof bars/cycle carriers on I notice maybe 5-10 less average mpg. They’re the Thule aero ones which are designed to reduce drag!

Also my car has a 6th gear for more efficient cruising on the motorway, but you can’t tow in 6th, it just sounds like it’s struggling.

Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#115

Post by thecatspaw »

klingonopera wrote: post #56
isoprophlex wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it illegal anywhere? That's good to know as I often drive barefooted, like... Once every ten trips or so?

Yes, in Germany it is illegal. AFAIK, the law states something along the lines of having "proper shoework" in order to operate the vehicle. EDIT: Whoops, no, it's actually legal [1][2] (in fact, it's perfectly legal to drive a car naked in Germany in public - though you shouldn't leave your car then, because being naked in public is not actually legal, the fine-print is that your car's interior is considered your pri…

From what I recall driving barefoot in switzerland is legal as well, but insurance companies are just gonna say "nope" when you enter a claim.

Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#116

Post by dsfyu404ed »

schiffern wrote: post #110
dsfyu404ed wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but actually pushed the car via the tow ball and the engine and transmission from the donor car. I'm sure that handled spectacularly on on-ramps. It would be like flat towing another vehicle and coming into a corner too hot.

That project was inspired by a pusher trailer built by JB Straubel[1] (co-founder and former CTO of Tesla), and in Straubel's write-up he addresses this: > Dynamics: > Despite the facts that I shortened the trailer of the Gen-2 pusher by two feet and added more IC horsepower and much more pushing force with the ability of the AT to downshift...I have still found it basically impossible to get into a condition of over…

That contradicts the experience of basically everyone that's ever towed anything. I'm gonna ignore a bunch of second order variables here but if you come into a turn too hot for the weight of the trailer compared to the tow vehicle the trailer can and will push the rear of the car straight (over-steer). This is exacerbated by long trailer axle spreads and short tongue length (hence why flat towing a car feels the way it does).

Maybe he just drives really conservatively everywhere (wouldn't surprise me since a light foot was key for extending range on early EVs and many people developed that habit) or maybe the trailer is just light enough and being single axle makes it easy to steer enough that the natural tendency of the car to straighten out is greater.

Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#117

Post by rhinoceraptor »

epanchin wrote: post #72
kgilpin wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Towing kills the range

Additional batteries in trailers doesn’t seem unreasonable.

I'm not sure what the rocket equation for EV battery capacity would be, but EV batteries are very heavy, pretty bulky, and they need fluid heating/cooling for optimal performance. It's not as simple as hooking up the lights for a trailer.

Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#118

Post by VBprogrammer »

dsfyu404ed wrote: post #116
schiffern wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That project was inspired by a pusher trailer built by JB Straubel[1] (co-founder and former CTO of Tesla), and in Straubel's write-up he addresses this: > Dynamics: > Despite the facts that I shortened the trailer of the Gen-2 pusher by two feet and added more IC horsepower and much more pushing force with the ability of the AT to downshift...I have still found it basically impossible to get into a condition of over…

That contradicts the experience of basically everyone that's ever towed anything. I'm gonna ignore a bunch of second order variables here but if you come into a turn too hot for the weight of the trailer compared to the tow vehicle the trailer can and will push the rear of the car straight (over-steer). This is exacerbated by long trailer axle spreads and short tongue length (hence why flat towing a car feels the way…

I wouldn't trust anyone crazy enough to build this contraption to evaluate how safe it is. I mean, it's probably fine for him, but you wouldn't want your [stereotypical poor driver of choice] to be driving it on a wet day.

Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#119

Post by VBprogrammer »

epanchin wrote: post #72
kgilpin wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Towing kills the range

Additional batteries in trailers doesn’t seem unreasonable.

You know, there might be more to that than meets the eye. If you are adding batteries to the trailer you might as well add a pair of electric motors and make it almost self propelled (like a multiple unit train). It would avoid needing to make the tow car overpowered.

Re: Homemade Electric Motorcycle Stopped on M25 in Hertfordshire

#120

Post by zik »

chrisseaton wrote: post #39
zik wrote: post #16

It's a velomobile. They're somewhat unusual but surely not so unusual that they're worthy of a newspaper article? There are quite a few manufacturers: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile#Velomobile_manufact...

I think a velomobile is human powered - a pedal bike. This was a motorcycle.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velomobile#Electric_assisted_v...
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