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Local guy builds Electric Van

Discussion in 'Other Cars' started by efusco, Oct 2, 2007.

  1. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Couple conflicting stories about this guy that lives pretty close to me (Mansfield, MO, I'm in Nixa, MO).
    The KY3 Story (watch video) claims he can go 500 miles on his Lead Acid batteries on an 8 hour charge.
    The other story I found says 150 miles and mentions his company LEI Global, for which I could find nothing with a Google search.
    Link to that Video

    Ah, if you listen to the video he says it goes 150 miles on the PbAcid and he says it'll go 500 on Li ion batteries if/when he gets them.

    No comments at all in either story on top speed, price, etc. Very sketchy details about any real novel components or techniques at all. In all honesty this guy looks more like a hacker and I'm pretty skeptical of his claims, but I'll keep an eye out in my neck of the woods for an EV van.
     
    #1 efusco, Oct 2, 2007
  2. daniel

    daniel Cat Lovers Against the Bomb

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    He claims that his transmission is the "missing link" between batteries and electric motors. The video shows the electric motor running even when the van is standing still (the way the gas engine on conventional cars runs even when the car is standing still) and then his "electromagnetic" transmission transmits the power to the wheels.

    This is totally suspicious: An EV does not need a transmission. Rather than improving efficiency, a transmission loses power. Conventional cars need a transmission. An EV can be designed without one. So his great invention is actually superfluous.

    Then the discrepancy about range: In the first video he himself says "THIS van can go 500 miles on a charge." [Emphasis mine.] But elsewhere he says this van has lead-acid batteries and it's only with lithium batteries that it can go 500 miles.

    The one thing I do believe is that you could build a van with a 150-mile range and an 8-hour charging time, providing you had a circuit with sufficiently high amperage rating and a suitable charger. To get a 500-mile range on an 8-hour charge, you'd need more than three times the current.

    Finally, he says the van cost $200,000 to build. For that money you could build a 150-mile-range van without any new inventions, just using off-the-shelf components. In other words, assuming his claims are true, they are mundane and unimpressive.

    And as Evan points out, he does not say how fast the van will go.
     
    #2 daniel, Oct 2, 2007
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