4 ms·

> No, you can't run the car without the engine running; you won't have oil flow in the transmission, power steering, or power brakes You might have missed some

by kibibu 3y ago

> No, you can't run the car without the engine running; you won't have oil flow in the transmission, power steering, or power brakes You might have missed some key points in the pitch. Slide 4 has e-hydraulics for steering and braking.

coryrc 3y ago
They're just clip-art on a slide. It's not possible for a reasonable price. NRE costs per model would be high, making a farce of "Make your car electric for 5k". For the mechanic installing the device, you have to have an installation manual listing where every cable and hose needs to go and be secured. And you need to choose well, because if it rubs anywhere: recall and fix (is there enough money in $5k for recalls? No). You have to hack the ECM, /per model/, to allow you to drive without the engine actually running. It's preposterous.
KennyBlanken 3y ago
That doesn't solve lack of lubrication to the transmission. Go read your owner's manual under the section regarding towing. There are almost always restrictions on maximum speed and distance with the drive wheels not lifted. As the other commenter pointed out, there's a lot of hand-waiving going on by the kid who won the contest; it's like the farside comic where there's a giant "magic happens" in the middle of a board full of mathematic scribbling. For example: running HVDC to the engine compartment (for the AC, power steering, and vacuum pump) from the spare tire well in a vehicle whose undercarriage isn't designed for it requires pretty substantial armoring. The other problem: in-wheel motors are not new (Mistubishi sunk a LOT of R&D into it), and they haven't taken off for a reason. They massively increase unsprung weight. Your average car wheel weighs maybe 30-40lb at most. He's probably doubling that. That means atrocious ride quality and traction issues, because the tire's going to be bouncing around like crazy due to the suspension not being designed to dampen that much weight. The motor is also subject to all the vibration normally soaked by the suspension and vehicle frame. Trying to get an electric motor to withstand that sort of vibration is not a trivial problem. This is just a bunch of hogwash from Dyson. The kid figured out that what they care about is a nice big fat PR grabber, and he gave them one.
- kibibu 3y ago
  My reading was the the motors selectively decouple the wheels from the drive train, in which case the transmission would be inactive.

by kibibu 3y ago

coryrc 3y ago

They're just clip-art on a slide. It's not possible for a reasonable price. NRE costs per model would be high, making a farce of "Make your car electric for 5k". For the mechanic installing the device, you have to have an installation manual listing where every cable and hose needs to go and be secured. And you need to choose well, because if it rubs anywhere: recall and fix (is there enough money in $5k for recalls? No). You have to hack the ECM, /per model/, to allow you to drive without the engine actually running. It's preposterous.

KennyBlanken 3y ago

That doesn't solve lack of lubrication to the transmission. Go read your owner's manual under the section regarding towing. There are almost always restrictions on maximum speed and distance with the drive wheels not lifted. As the other commenter pointed out, there's a lot of hand-waiving going on by the kid who won the contest; it's like the farside comic where there's a giant "magic happens" in the middle of a board full of mathematic scribbling. For example: running HVDC to the engine compartment (for the AC, power steering, and vacuum pump) from the spare tire well in a vehicle whose undercarriage isn't designed for it requires pretty substantial armoring. The other problem: in-wheel motors are not new (Mistubishi sunk a LOT of R&D into it), and they haven't taken off for a reason. They massively increase unsprung weight. Your average car wheel weighs maybe 30-40lb at most. He's probably doubling that. That means atrocious ride quality and traction issues, because the tire's going to be bouncing around like crazy due to the suspension not being designed to dampen that much weight. The motor is also subject to all the vibration normally soaked by the suspension and vehicle frame. Trying to get an electric motor to withstand that sort of vibration is not a trivial problem. This is just a bunch of hogwash from Dyson. The kid figured out that what they care about is a nice big fat PR grabber, and he gave them one.

kibibu 3y ago
My reading was the the motors selectively decouple the wheels from the drive train, in which case the transmission would be inactive.