No matter where in the world David goes, it always seems like he’s found the least exciting corner of it to podcast from. Watch as he realizes that he’s left one of the nice weeks in Detroit to go to Australia, where it’s cold! What’s breakfast down under? An ANZAC biscuit and some tea. What’s Australia like? It’s a great line, but it’s basically true: Australia is like if England had a Texas. Why is he there? A reader pointed out there’s a Valiant Ute in Australia and he had to go buy it and try to get it running. This is an insane thing to do, of course, so it’s worth listening to why David does it. I mean, just look at the dipstick in this thing:
Later on the crew talks about the 2023 VW ID.Buzz that Jason reviewed and reflected on what it’ll take to get the world into electric vehicles. To listen to the podcasts episodes you can go to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or you can use the RSS feed and point your favorite Podcast player at it. I’m embedding the three most recent episodes below if you want to listen to it from your browser.
Enjoy! One significant difference: In Australia, everything wants to kill you. In Texas, it’s just the people who want to kill you. Highs of 50c (123F for the Americans) are a thing, and then there are the bushfires… They’re a thing in California too. It is not doable if you insist on having a design friendly to planned obsolescence that ignores ultimate streamlining and efficiency in the interest of variables such as appearance. I built a vehicle that at 30-35 mph cruising speeds can do 150-200 miles range on only 1.5 kWh. It’s a proof of concept and a laughable mockery of a car, but the concept is proven none the less, in real world usage. 1.5 kWh of Li Ion batteries can be manufactured for somewhere around $100 if Tesla’s figures are accurate. This vehicle has less than $3,000 invested in building it as shown in the photos, using all new parts off the shelf in purchase volume for a one off(imagine how much cheaper it could be if everything was purchased in a quantity of thousands). An actual car-sized vehicle could easily be made to do that same 150-200 miles range on 15-20 kWh, at least under normal driving(significantly less on a race track, of course). You’re going to need to target a drag coefficient in the low 0.1X range and keep the frontal area comparable to something like a Triumph Spitfire or MGB GT, and keep the weight down, which a small battery pack makes easier to do. That is all VERY doable. And get this, there’s not much cost difference relative to the price of a completed vehicle in manufacturing an EV powertrain that can handle 50 horsepower, versus one that can handle 500 horsepower; they both use most of the same components and materials. So build the car to handle more power! See what I’m getting at here? Inexpensive electric supercars for the masses, where every component costs less than $1,XXX to replace if something goes wrong. It could happen, 5+ years ago. But then how is the auto industry going to justify six and seven-figure price tags for their overpriced high-maintenance halo cars when they can purchase a car that will run circles around them for $20k? And you could build a slower version of such for under $10k… Load reduction is the key. The less energy per mile the vehicle consumes, the less batteries you need. This leads to less mass. Which then leads to components that don’t need to be as beefy. Which leads to less cost. It’s a feedback loop. As shown in the photos, it could top out at 45-50 mph depending on state of charge and added pedaling, with the motor’s BEMF built up to the point where the motor was only delivering about 1 horsepower at that speed, but at lower speeds, the system peaked at 4 horsepower. It could do donuts, on only 4 horsepower. 0-30 mph acceleration was about 6 seconds in that configuration, which isn’t fast, but acceptable. When I complete the upgrade to 13 horsepower, I’m targeting 0-60 mph in under 9 seconds accepting that I’m going to have wheelspin out the ass, albeit if I can get enough traction, simulation suggests 0-60 mph in under 7 seconds is possible. It’s getting a roll cage, safety cell, solar race car tires, light duty motorcycle rims, fully enclosed with roof and windshield, weatherproofing for riding in rain, among other features to make it more “sports car” than “bicycle”. The completed vehicle will weigh under 100 lbs, and will certainly be safer than a motorcycle, even if it won’t be nearly as safe as a modern car. As shown in the photos in my profile, I’ve placed more than 60,000 miles on it since building it. I can travel 150-200 miles on $0.15 of electricity. There’s no range anxiety. If I deplete the battery, I can still maintain 20+ mph all day long on flat ground by pedaling it, thanks to its aerodynamics being much better than those of a normal bicycle. Surely, if I can do that without access to a wind tunnel or even CFD software, the auto industry can build something that is 1/10th as efficient as mine at 70 mph. In fact, there’s no shortage of concept cars where the auto industry did exactly that! Ever hear of the GM Lean Machine? How about the Solectria Sunrise? There are many more. Technology is not the issue. It’s more than good enough. I used coroplast as a quick and dirty method to get a prototype together. I built my first prototype in the kitchen of an apartment and designed it to be able to be carried through a doorway by rotating the bike 90 degrees. Surprisingly, it provided some degree of collision protection when I was rear-ended by a truck. I was unhurt, and was able to repair the vehicle with some scavenged election signs. It’s a good thing I designed the rear bulkhead the way I did and reinforced it with aluminum. Fiberglass is about the same weight as the coroplast I use, and lb for lb, much stronger. Coroplast sandwiched between fiberglass may even be strong enough for a monocoque. I’ve also considered working with aluminum honeycomb composite, at least for a safety cell around the rider. The main concern for my next shell is getting the aerodynamics right. I want to be able to reach 45 mph on flat ground completely under my own power via pedaling with the motor shut off. That’s a good test for efficiency as it also means I will go further per kWh of battery. Once that goal is achieved, it’s a matter of making sure everything in the bike is accessible, serviceable, and repairable. The next stage of the build, once upgrades are done, this is going to have a 2-2.5 kWh pack of around 120V. The hope is to get a 100-120 mile range at 70 mph with light pedaling, but be able to top out at triple digit speeds. Once that is done, then I can think about ditching the heavy steel frame and going monocoque to lose 10-20 lbs, which will allow me to have more batteries, perhaps increasing the pack size to 3-4 kWh, and accordingly range. It is at this point that I’d seriously be thinking about making a commercial version of this vehicle, without a bicycle drivetrain, and in its place, AWD via hub motors in each wheel and enough power to do 0-60 mph in under 2 seconds. The possibility to make a vehicle of this sort, that can perform like a fast motorcycle, but have a purchase cost similar to a moped in high volume production, while being cheaper per mile to run than it is to take the bus or light rail, is enticing. “NO WAY ASSWIPE! I SAW HER FIRST BUTTHEAD! Heh-heh heh.” “I’m gonna’ smack you Beavith. Huh-huh huh.” WHOOPASH “AHHHH! Heh-heh heh. Boi-oi-oi-oi-oingg. Heh-heh. Heh.” “She’s mine Beavith. Huh-huh huh.” HERE–> https://netcareer54.blogspot.com/
