Outer Limits 4x4 Board

picture says enuff ......................

there was a landrover with the same setup when I was in the US a few years back. Worked great, but had limited range. Very weird as it was basically silent except for tyre noise, could sneak up on you and scare the heck out of you. Had heaps of torque and climbed really well.

top speed of 80mph !
range of only 20miles !!

battery technology is coming a long way. It wont be long before this sort of thing is the badast mod around. That setup looks waaay heavy for a zook though.

in the land rover his setup was pretty much the same weight as the engine but the good thing was he could distribute it better for better balance etc. I'd imagine you could do the same in the Sierra

Theres used to by a Mighty Boy cruising around newie with a similar setup.
Seemed to be a pretty impressive effort.

Engineered by Athol Mullens (the best in the region imho).
100% torque from 0rpm.
Offered enough range for him to do a days driving and make it home for an overnight charge.

its one of those thing that I cant understand why car manufacturers haven't ever gone beyond prototypes. the amount of money that is spent on developing engines is huge, imagine where we would be with batteries and electric motors if that sort of money/research was put into it. Hybrid cars are not helping. They make people feel like they are doing something for the environment when really they would be doing more if they switched their power to renewable energy, or caught public transport.

because the oil companies contribute huge amounts of money to car manufacturers to not make electric vehicles.

grimbo wrote:because the oil companies contribute huge amounts of money to car manufacturers to not make electric vehicles.

Ive heard that but it sounds too much like a conspiracy theory. can it actually be backed up?

Actually, I think you will find that massive advances in in relation to battery tehnology have been occurring.

Our desire for battery life in every more power hungry and smaller devices is driving it.

Twenty years ago, the best consumer available rechargeable 'C' cells had a 1200mAh capacity. No we can buy 4400mAh in the same package size. That is a far bigger increase in efficency improvement than conventional engines over the same period.

However, at least part of the reason why electric cars haven't taken off is that they are a crap idea. Batteries will tend be a very heavy way of powering a vehicle which creates its own problems, and if we are digging up and burning brown coal to run our cars we are better off driving an efficient petrol, or ethanol type vehicle.

They do make sense in countries with a high population density, nuclear power, and small travel distances.

Fuel cells might well be the best solution of all.

Don't even get me started on hybrids. they are soo dumb and have a massive environmental footprint over their lifetime. I actually think that the hybrid thing is funny - It gives people who know nothing about cars and are totally disinterested with driving something to feel smug about. I actually think they are the new four wheel drive- people are so deluded about them and at least as smug, and they are just terribel to actually drive, but that's fine, because 90% of car buyers haveno actual interest in how their cars drive anyway, which is why they drive %^&%$ Rav 4's, CRV's 100series lancruisers and anything Korean around the streets to pick their kids up from school, when they could choose a car that drives properly.

EVO magazine (UK) road tested a Prius alongside a Fiat Panda 100hp. The Panda used a tiny bit more fuel (about 4-6%) , was acutally interesting to drive, and will have a far smaller environmental footprint over its life.

Electric cars and petrol/electric hybrids are not the answer all the time that we burn coal to generate power.

muppet_man67 wrote:

grimbo wrote:because the oil companies contribute huge amounts of money to car manufacturers to not make electric vehicles.

Ive heard that but it sounds too much like a conspiracy theory. can it actually be backed up?

there's a pretty cool doco called "Who killed the Electric Car?" which is worth watching. It deals with this issue

Gwagensteve wrote: Electric cars and petrol/electric hybrids are not the answer all the time that we burn coal to generate power.

well obviously they are only better if your using renewable electricity sources which are available. there is no such thing as petrol that doesn't pollute. I don't think that ethonal or biofuels are the answer either because the farmland and water used to produce the crops would otherwise be used for food.

Correct me if im wrong but I always thought that hydrogen fuel cell is really just another form of electric car. electricity is used to create the hydrogen which is then turned back into electricity. so the environmental impacts are similar. The advantage is that refueling is waay faster then charging batteries and you can travel further on a tank then on a battery charge.

One interesting thing I heard about Ethanol production is that it uses more energy to produce/transport ethanol than the ethanol itself provides...

As for battery power, when I was into Datto 1200s, a guy in America used to have a couple of electric drag cars - Crazy 1200s filled with batteries - Man he was running sub 9 second passes!

Yes, that's correct - I guess that as a society we will have to face that if we need a quick solution to the carbon emissions problem the only real solution ATM is nuclear. It the very least, nuclear power might tide us over until renewable/solar technologies can catch up to meet the need.

IMHO if the real problem is carbon emissions, we will have to accept some form of pollution from our requirement for power. I don't really see the problem with nuclear power. Sure, it has some nasty potential problems, but continuing to burn fossil fuels has some nasty side effects too.

Maybe solar/wind/biomass whatever can provide enough power to run our houses etc, but to run our transport and industry too?

Sorry, this is way too deep for a 4WD forum. Look what you started Moose!

Anyway... a sierra full of batteries is uncool. And won't save the planet

looking on the electric car site months ago they have some really cool looking zooks that go offroad with

Gwagensteve wrote:Yes, that's correct - I guess that as a society we will have to face that if we need a quick solution to the carbon emissions problem the only real solution ATM is nuclear. It the very least, nuclear power might tide us over until renewable/solar technologies can catch up to meet the need.

IMHO if the real problem is carbon emissions, we will have to accept some form of pollution from our requirement for power. I don't really see the problem with nuclear power. Sure, it has some nasty potential problems, but continuing to burn fossil fuels has some nasty side effects too.

Maybe solar/wind/biomass whatever can provide enough power to run our houses etc, but to run our transport and industry too?

Sorry, this is way too deep for a 4WD forum. Look what you started Moose!

Anyway... a sierra full of batteries is uncool. And won't save the planet

that is basing it on current technology and thinking. The solution to this problem most likely will occur outside the realms of current technology. At the moment most vehicles are fossil fuel powered and the currently most manufacturers are just developing more efficient and less polluter versions of the same thing. What is needed is people outside this closed loop to try and match new technologies to our need for transport.

Why can't wind or solar power be efficient means of transport power. They can work and with shifts in thought could be one of many viable power sources in the future.

Oh and do a search, this thread is worthless without pics, what size tyre can I run with a coal body blocks blah blah blah

What size tyre can I run if I SPOA my Prius?

I understand your point Grimbo, but if action is needed now, (and most say it is) then we have to deal with the technology we currently have to develop a stop gap whilst better solutions are sought. This might be a combination of lots of current ideas liek renewables and solar, but unless we are going to experience a real drop in our standard of living, we are going to have to come up with a solution to the massive output of existing thermal power stations.

Lucky my Sierra is painted green, it shows I care.

Steve.

Gwagensteve wrote:What size tyre can I run if I SPOA my Prius?

I understand your point Grimbo, but if action is needed now, (and most say it is) then we have to deal with the technology we currently have to develop a stop gap whilst better solutions are sought. This might be a combination of lots of current ideas liek renewables and solar, but unless we are going to experience a real drop in our standard of living, we are going to have to come up with a solution to the massive output of existing thermal power stations.

Lucky my Sierra is painted green, it shows I care.

Steve.

I think a stop gap won't make much of a change to the overall scheme of things other than allowing people to say "Yeah I'm environmentally conscious as I drive a Toyota Supermius Wankerus"

I think we need to be trying to find alternatives now and quick smart. Some one needs to have the balls to actually really do something outside the square.

Nuclear is fine as a power source that can potentially be a greener solution for large scale usage. But also so can solar. Why isn't the governement making it an affordable energy source by providing tax cuts and incentives to make it a viable alternative.

that is pretty cool. I think you could make a pretty awsome 4b with an electric motor.

it would be similar to a rc crawler.


like Gwagensteve said, battery tech has come a long way. I'm not saying battery cars are the answer, but it would be great to build a 4b with one.

I have watched "who killed the electric car" was a very interesting video, just hired it from the vid shop.

shows how much money talks and the relationship between money, oil companies and government.


watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqqtJpfZElQ


enjoy ashley

couple more electric zooks

http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/567

http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/1149

http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/71

http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/1059

http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/188

Just think about the arguements we could have over "whats the best battery"......

And running a 500 VDC electric winch would be fun.

No more river crossing I am betting...

lump_a_charcoal wrote:No more river crossing I am betting...

the landrover I saw with that setup had done some river crossings without any dramas. Just need to make sure all your electrical connectors etc are treated to some good waterproofing like marine grease etc