Electric Elio?

[NSTG8R]

I'm not sure if there would be room inside the Elio to fit both the battery/electric motor and a gas engine/generator. I could see a couple possible solutions though.

• Install a hub-mounted electric motor on the rear tire, and batteries in place of the second seat. This would give you a limited electric range before needing to resort to the gas engine. The car would be driven by idle-ing in Neutral, using a seperate throttle for the electric motor. The battery would be constantly recharged via the car's existing 12v system.
• Same as above, except that the battery is not recharged from the engine. Instead, you would recharge the battery by shifting the gas engine into drive and using the regenerative braking ability of the rear electric motor to recharge the battery. This would result in decreased MPG, however.
• Install a complete electric front-wheel drive, with batteries under the hood and replacing the gas tank. Then tow a uni-wheel trailer with a small gas generator when you need extended range.

Deja Vu! It was about a year ago, but we hashed over the same concept. Started out with the hub motor, but the extra unsprung weight could possibly cause a handling issue...Enter the idea of a belt-drive motor mounted to the swing-arm pivot area and battery pack mounted in the fuel tank/rear wheel housing area [leaving room for a smaller fuel cell], etc, etc.... It was a good 'brainstorming' session! Love to hear some new perspectives. Sounds like you've put some thought into this.

 

[Rickb]

Perhaps Elio dual twin front wheel motors would elimnate the rear wheel drive single hub unsprung weight issue.

I think it may be more productive if EM concentrates on the ICE three wheeler and Arcimoto concentrates on the pure electric three wheeler with actual market acceptance determined after they make it to production. Maybe Arcimoto will offer a future V-Twin ICE SRK Model and EM will offer an Electric Elio model based on market demand. I doubt it.

 

[AriLea]

Lithium-ion is sooooo 2012. The new thing is Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4). They have an even greater energy density than Lithium ion.

Note to self: It will take less money to convert an Elio to EV than any other vehicle with 3 or more wheels. In fact the size of hardware that street-warrior motorcycles use will do just fine.

 

[Sethodine]

Note to self: It will take less money to convert an Elio to EV than any other vehicle with 3 or more wheels. In fact the size of hardware that street-warrior motorcycles use will do just fine.

I don't know. Converting old pickup trucks is actually super straightforward, and could be done to just about any truck built from 1930-1990 (electronics start getting wonky on newer trucks). So buy a non-runner off craigslist for a steal, get a rear axle EV kit, and build a box in the bed for the batteries and call it a day

 

[AriLea]

I don't know. Converting old pickup trucks is actually super straightforward, and could be done to just about any truck built from 1930-1990 (electronics start getting wonky on newer trucks). So buy a non-runner off craigslist for a steal, get a rear axle EV kit, and build a box in the bed for the batteries and call it a day

The fact is, the car is less car. That tales less batteries, which is again less weight. And the controller and motors can be less as well. If you want some range at a good cost, that will be one way to do it. At one point it took $12,000 to convert a $10k used sedan most in Li-Ion. Older things often are a bit heavy too. All put together, as a newer finished product, the Elio is interesting. (if you want to wait)

But hey, in two years when used elio are out there, why would you convert anything else for commuting?

 

[Marshall]

As a Prius owner, I love the city MPG of 53 I get from it. It just makes sense that you can do better with the smaller cross section of the Elio and get the benefits of 84 MPG Hwy/ 90+ MPG City (based on 48 Hwy/53 City on the Prius) and get the extended range of the hybrid eliminating the range problem of the Electric Only route.

I apologize if I, as a newbie keep bring up old topics, but it's new to me.

 

[NSTG8R]

As a Prius owner, I love the city MPG of 53 I get from it. It just makes sense that you can do better with the smaller cross section of the Elio and get the benefits of 84 MPG Hwy/ 90+ MPG City (based on 48 Hwy/53 City on the Prius) and get the extended range of the hybrid eliminating the range problem of the Electric Only route.

I apologize if I, as a newbie keep bring up old topics, but it's new to me.

No apologies necessary! New insights are always welcome. EV's aren't practical for my situation at the moment, but the topic is interesting and I learn something every time it comes up [again ].

 

[Sethodine]

The fact is, the car is less car. That tales less batteries, which is again less weight. And the controller and motors can be less as well. If you want some range at a good cost, that will be one way to do it. At one point it took $12,000 to convert a $10k used sedan most in Li-Ion. Older things often are a bit heavy too. All put together, as a newer finished product, the Elio is interesting. (if you want to wait)

But hey, in two years when used elio are out there, why would you convert anything else for commuting?

OH, you meant it would take less money to convert an Elio into an effective EV What I described could be done today, with Lead-acid batteries, for just a couple thousand dollars (less, if you use Chinese components). But it certainly wouldn't have the range of an Electric Elio with lithium batteries.

Used Elios....no there's a thought. Although, to incorperate EV-appropriate gauges we'd probably want to replace the factory dash

 

[TCBronson]

Mechanics Illustrated built a hybrid back in the 1980's using a VW bug chassis. Mounting a jet engine starter motor to the transaxle and using a lawnmower engine to power a generator to charge the batteries. I always thought that it was a cool idea. I had an idea about a wind powered hybrid using two squirrel cage fans mounted up front and on the roof to spin a generator to charge the batteries instead of the lawn mower engine. I thought I had invented perpetual motion until I realized there was this thing called friction.

 

[NSTG8R]

OH, you meant it would take less money to convert an Elio into an effective EV What I described could be done today, with Lead-acid batteries, for just a couple thousand dollars (less, if you use Chinese components). But it certainly wouldn't have the range of an Electric Elio with lithium batteries.

Used Elios....no there's a thought. Although, to incorperate EV-appropriate gauges we'd probably want to replace the factory dash

Nice! Subtly bring the Elgin haters into considering an EV conversion...and they don't even know why.