Electric Elio May Be Closer Than You Think. Or Not.

[johnsnownw]

I'd look into panels for my house but I'm concerned about hail... it can get damaging and often in Nebraska!

 

[acamara]

As far as the possibility of an Elio HEV or PHEV....... why not as a future endeavor.

To have more room for the Batteries, the new design could incorporate a double wheel in the Rear, making the Elio a bit wider at the back to accommodate the Batteries. a 6 or 8 Kw-hr battery could be looked into. or Keep the single rear wheel and add a few inches on each side of the Body for Batteries. A modified Gas/Elect Motor could be look into as well.

With will Power, desire and lots of cash, anything is possible

 

[johnsnownw]

Latest craze on Batteries that I was reading was to use Lithium/Sulphur instead of Lithium/Iron

One of the Universities is working on it now and they claim that the weight of the Lithium/Sulfur Mx is half the weight of the Lithium/Iron and has 10x the Kwhr rating and charges in half half the time as current Lithium Ion Batteries.

Can't recall what University it was.

Li-S batteries have poor cycle performance, and lower density than Li-Ion. The attempts at overcoming these shortcomings has been to utilize carbon nanotubes. The problem with this approach is that no one has figured out how to mass produce carbon nanotubes...and any batteries that utilize them would be cost prohibitive.

 

[Sethodine]

As far as the possibility of an Elio HEV or PHEV....... why not as a future endeavor.

To have more room for the Batteries, the new design could incorporate a double wheel in the Rear, making the Elio a bit wider at the back to accommodate the Batteries. a 6 or 8 Kw-hr battery could be looked into. or Keep the single rear wheel and add a few inches on each side of the Body for Batteries. A modified Gas/Elect Motor could be look into as well.

With will Power, desire and lots of cash, anything is possible

At least down here in the states, putting two wheels on the back would make it a 4-wheeled vehicle, thus a car, and would require bumpers and loads of other equipments and crash testings.

 

[Rickb]

At least down here in the states, putting two wheels on the back would make it a 4-wheeled vehicle, thus a car, and would require bumpers and loads of other equipments and crash testings.

Could be a single dually......still only 3 wheels, 4 tires that would allow taking advantage of a buy 3 get 1 free sales opportunity.

 

[acamara]

Could be a single dually......still only 3 wheels, 4 tires that would allow taking advantage of a buy 3 get 1 free sales opportunity.

View attachment 10823

Yes exactly what I was thinking. With the slightly wider rear Body I am sure that a 4kWh battery could be mounted. Perhaps 2 banks of 2kWh Batteries.

I took the liberty of posting a reply here which is kind of related

http://www.elioowners.com/threads/48-volt-hybrids-coming-in-just-over-a-year.3355/page-5#post-155195

 

[Sethodine]

As an all-electric, I think anything less than a 16kw battery would be insufficient for an Elio attempting to hit the 200+ mile range mark.

 

[johnsnownw]

As an all-electric, I think anything less than a 16kw battery would be insufficient for an Elio attempting to hit the 200+ mile range mark.

I agree, though I would add that 20kWh, with a 3-4kWh buffer would probably be a good target. If Tesla is to be believed, their battery pricing should be around $100/pack KWh by 2020...so that would be $2k. The extra buffer should allow a bit faster charging, on top of extending battery life, but not sure it's enough to make a huge difference at the EVSE.

 

[Rob Croson]

If you look at the new Dolphin class subs the Israelis just bought, you'll see that advances in everything -- diesel technology, air filtration technology, battery technology, etc. -- has produced submarines that cost a fraction of what nuclear subs cost, can run much, much further and faster underwater than your granddad's sub, and are almost as quiet as a nuclear sub. .... These new subs can run their diesels underwater for periods of time, and their batteries can run their electric engines much, MUCH longer than the old-fashioned batteries.)

FWIW - Diesel-electric subs running off battery power are significantly quieter than nuke subs with operating reactors. there is a substantial amount of rotating and otherwise noise-producing equipment involved with nuclear power.

You can't run a diesel while submerged, short of using a snorkel. Well, technically, you can, using stupid-dangerous methods like liquid oxygen. It's deadly as hell, and no one has done it since the 50's. Several submarines suffered explosions, included one boat lost at sea before they sensibly stopped trying it. (The French are using some kind of Oxygen/Ethanol powered system, but it's not a closed-cycle diesel.)

Modern AIP methods (Air Independent Propulsion) use things like fuel cells and Stirling engines. They work, obviously, but they don't produce a lot of electricity. The boats are very quiet, and also very slow. The Swedes claim 18 days at 5 knots, and the French claim 21 days, no speed specified. Modern nuke boats tend to have problems running that slow, tending to lose steerage.

Lead-acid batteries are still the battery of choice for submarines. They are simple, effective, durable, and you can beat the hell out of them without too many consequences. And they don't tend to explode or catch on fire when mistreated. The hydrogen gas evolved from the operation of the battery is a well-known and easy to account for factor. The major risk is seawater contamination, which is also a known risk, and accounted for by design and procedure.

I don't expect that there will be a move away from lead-acid until someone invents some quantum leap in mass-storage batteries.

Also, lead acid batteries serve a much-needed role in submarines: ballast.

 

[johnsnownw]

Lead-acid batteries are still the battery of choice for submarines. They are simple, effective, durable, and you can beat the hell out of them without too many consequences. And they don't tend to explode or catch on fire when mistreated. The hydrogen gas evolved from the operation of the battery is a well-known and easy to account for factor. The major risk is seawater contamination, which is also a known risk, and accounted for by design and procedure.

I don't expect that there will be a move away from lead-acid until someone invents some quantum leap in mass-storage batteries.

Also, lead acid batteries serve a much-needed role in submarines: ballast.

Israel's Dolphin-class subs use Lithium-ion.