THIS ELIICA?......
Posted on 03/14/2008 10:02:32 AM PDT by CarrotAndStick
The Eliica (or the Electric Lithium-Ion Car) is a battery electric vehicle prototype, or concept car designed by a team at Keio University in Tokyo, led by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu. The 5.1 metre (16.7 feet) car runs on a lithium-ion battery and can accelerate from 0-100 km/h (60 mph) in four seconds. In 2004, the Eliica reached a speed of 370 km/h (230 mph) on Italy's Nardo High Speed Track. The team's goal is to exceed 400 km/h (250 mph), breaking the record set by today's street-legal gasoline-powered vehicles.
The Eliica weighs in at 2400 kg (5291 lbs) and seats the driver and three passengers. The body of the four door car has a futuristic, bullet shape design which was tested in a wind tunnel. The front doors open forward and the rear doors open upward like wings. The car's platform contains 4 tracks of 80 batteries, which make for one third of the vehicle's cost. They currently require about 10 hours of recharging from empty to full charge, and can be easily charged off of a residential power grid.
The car has eight wheels enabling it to be closer to the ground for better traction. Each of the wheels has a 60 kW (80 hp) electric motor, giving a 480 kW (640 hp) eight wheel drive which can tackle all kinds of road surfaces. The four front wheels steer. The electric motors mean that the Eliica can deliver a smooth acceleration free from gear shifts of about 0.8 g. Each wheel contains a disc brake and employs a regenerative brake system to recover energy.
There are currently (as of 2005) two versions of the Eliica: a Speed model and an Acceleration model. The Speed model is made to challenge gasoline-based records and has a top speed of 370 km/h (230 mph) with a range of 200 km (125 miles). The Acceleration model is made for the street and has a top speed of 190 km/h (120 mph) with a range of 320 km (200 miles).
The estimated cost of development was in excess of US$320,000. Once the team receives corporate sponsorship, they plan to produce at least 200 units. As of early 2007, the projected pricetag was ¥30,000,000, or about $255,000 US.
On December 19, 2005, the Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi tested this vehicle in a 10-minute ride to the Parliament. In 2006, the car was tested by Shintaro Ishihara, the governor of Tokyo, as well as by the Crown Prince Naruhito.
Sites
http://www.eliica.com/
English
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliica
Português
http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliica
Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?doc
Video on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS8jqmBh4M0
Ping!
THIS ELIICA?......
LOOKS VAGUELY FAMILIAR..................
P.M.Koizumi: "Ah so! 10 minutes, and honorabre car need 10-hour recharge arready!"
Hehehe!
Li-Ions don’t take too long to charge, BTW.
Provided the necessary current is supplied, it can be recharged from flat upto 90% in 10 minutes or so.
That may be the ugliest car created since the Gremlin.
1. Electric motors have HUGE torque in a standing start, which means very strong acceleration.
2. Because electric motors don't vary in output when altitude changes, that means performance loss is minimal at high altitude for an electric car. In fact, it's likely that within 15-20 years an electric sports car will hold the record for the fastest Pike's Peak hill climb.
3. Improving technology will soon have electric cars with each wheel individually driven by its own electric motor. That could make it possible for extreme driving control, since by controlling the motor driving each wheel with special computers we could have the mechanical equivalent of four-wheel drive with limited slip/locking differentials, traction control, stability control and anti-locking braking.
Hehehe!
Not to mention the increased reliability from the lesser number of mechanical parts used, lower maintenance, more legroom and floor flatness... the list goes on.
It’s the battery and / or chemistry and part that needs to see massive improvement.
One of the big changes we’ll see in electric cars once battery technology matures is that instead of a space-wasting engine compartment in the front or rear of the vehicle, the entire drivetrain can be tucked on the bottom of the car. This frees up more interior space, which means by 2025-2030 an electric car will be subcompact sized externally but compact sized internally.
But electric motors have a problem that mechanical 4WD don’t have. They don’t like to be immersed in water. Sealing the motors against water will be a big problem over long periods of time..........
"The car has eight wheels enabling it to be closer to the ground for better traction. Each of the wheels has a 60 kW (80 hp) electric motor, giving a 480 kW (640 hp) eight wheel drive which can tackle all kinds of road surfaces.
For driving in waist-level water, the wheels could be driven through a train of gears to keep the drive motors elevated, and away from the water.
Even conventional engines don’t really do that well when immersed in water, unless specifically designed for that purpose.
That's what I told my brother when he called me at 3 AM one morning when he'd left his truck on the beach that afternoon and the tide came in. It was worth it getting up and driving 30 mile to pick him and his girlfriend up and watching his truck bobbing up and down in the surf.......
Heh heh!
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