The NASA guys say warp bubbles are possible, they just havent done it yet. And as i recall my history lessons, a heavyer than air flying machine was pretty unlikely to happen prior to 1900. Good thing Bell and the wrights didn't listen to the nay sayers. :-)

I've tossed the idea to some EV people to see what sort of practial issues i'm going to run into. Most of the equipment is on the shelf so the only thing i'll have to get made is the motor mount and the connection to the front drive shaft.

After that it's looking at any safety issues that need addressing.

I expect there's likely going to be a co-ordination issue with switching from the front drive to the rear drive once the desired cruising speed is attained.

And if the thing works, i won't be buying a new suburban and i'll send a letter to ford asking "whats da matter for you huh?"


Zurc.

 

Wow.... I'm all about full on electric vehicles and know only about a billion times more than you apparently. This is something I wanted to do myself... back when I was in HIGH SCHOOL! I thought a 4 door f-350 or EX would be bad *** electric. Is it easy? Yes. Is it that expensive? Depends. Is if doable in a month? Yes. Will you be any closer to doing it in 20 years than you are now? No. End of story. Next thread.

EDIT: High school was about 12 years ago for me, just thought I'd let you know how old you have to be to believe in things like this

 

So what do you think of a solenoid clutch disconnect between the electric motor and the front drive assembly.?

Zurc. :-)

 

1hp could get an X to 30mph if geared right I am sure.

 

Aren't solenoids solely on/off? Combinations of solenoid activation are used to shift a transmission. Would the solenoid clutch to the front end be intended to replace a transfer case?

I wouldn't think you would want an electric front drive system on an Excursion. You would need a limited slip so only one tire would drive at a time. But then you would probably want to a locker for higher traction demands. I think the truck would drive quite differently, affecting steering primarily. I have a front wheel drive car and don't care for the constant steering influence of the drivetrain on the front end.

I think rear wheel 2 wheel drive would be ideal for highway driving while retaining the NVG273. Unless you're talking about replacing the Dana 50 or 60 that comes under the front of the Excursion. I've broken axles on both sides of my Dana 60 so I wouldn't trust anything weaker at all. Powering the front axle all the time, especially with the torque of an electric motor would greatly induce wear on the front axle.

For a small diesel generator to be charging the batteries, what about one of the Webasto or similar units. Many of the class 8 semi trucks I've worked on also have one or two small diesel generators on board just to run electronics and heat and a/c when parked. But what's the point of having to run a diesel generator to be charging batteries. You could just swap in a more efficient, reliable, and powerful combustion engine. I could suggest such an improvement.

As mentioned previously the diesel would have to do the vast majority of driving above 35 mph, thus a need to select gearing. Some hybrids have a torque assist that engages the electric drive for more torque under load at highway speed, but otherwise only shut off the engine at low speeds to let the electric drive do the work. I guess without a transmission that electric motor(s) would be at very high RPMs and like a computer hard drive, would fatigue more quickly.

A CVT has been one of my fascinations in an an Excursion for many years. Surely someone builds one the right size for the application. Maintenance is usually just a matter of adjusting or replacing belts like on a snow machine and many other ATVs. I've only worked on a few but I'm curios why they aren't all over the highways. I imagine a transmission of some sort would still be required in a combustion/electric hybrid Excursion.

There are simpler solutions to fuel economy, usability, performance, and reliability that don't require the expense, fabrication, and wear items of a hybrid. No battery packs required for CNG, propane injection, water/methanol, Brown's gas (hydrogen injection), and WVO. All but hydrogen injection have been in use and proven for decades. Then again, there are quite a few diesel electric trains and buses in service today. There just aren't enough systems sized right for this application to make it plausible for us gearheads to scavenge from.

 

I'm sure there are at least several different combinations doing as many functions where solinoid acutated devices are concerned. I'll have to do some research on exatly what i'll need.. Initialy my idea was to have the solinoid actuate the clutch to the drive position and when the desired speed is attained simply turn it off. The default no power postion would have to be drive disconnected and it will need to shut off when the brakes are applied as well.

One of the items that came back from my simple highschool type questions today was that EV motors don't like to run over 5000rpm. So with the axle ratio being between 3.73 and 4.30 theres going to have to be a disconnection and a reduction gear of some sort to be able to take off faster than an average snail. I'm figuring roughly 2500 rpm to do 25mph given the Axle ratio and the Ex's tire circumfrence.

So i'm thinking of your coment on the CVT. Its a smurfy idea if it can be made to work. I'm going to play with that idea a bit. A CVT certainly works well for a snowmobile.

As for driving the EX via the front wheels, I've had ocassion to do it and it worked very well. Max speed at the time was about 50mph which is plenty in the city.

Zurc.

 

I've had to drive with front wheels only when I've broken u-joints and had to remove the rear driveshaft. The wider the front axle track the more exaggerated the power transfer's influence on steering. These front axles really weren't designed for that. Even if converted away from the unit bearing design, like my Dynatrac Free-Spin hub kit, the front end just isn't made for full time highway use. I'm very interested to see what you dig up on the CVT.

 

I've been looking at "Team" . They make CVT's and a few other things.

I also got a fairly good response to the electro-clutch idea.

Zurc.

 

Recently read an article about an electro-magnetic drive that bolts to each hub between wheel and axle.

IIRC University of Tennessee?

Battery is mounted in the trunk....

Might be something useful there.

 

if i wanted to save money on gas i'd have not bought an excursion.

thats just the way i see it. how goofy would a big excursion look driving down the road all quite like some battery powered Prius. LOL

 

Keep the Excursion as is and buy a more fuel efficient vehicle for when the size of the Excursion isn't necessary?

 

I'd say just as goofy as one sitting in front of a gas pump with the total reading over $200..... I mean if we can have excursions and save gas I say let them eat cake I didn't buy an X to save gas, but I don't think I look goofy trying to save gas, anymore than I look goofy to begin with Or better yet, how goofy do you look stooped over picking up a $50 bill?? LOL

 

Its as simple as a 6 cylinder turbo diesel, voila, fuel mileage.

 

hope you guys can figure it out...more has for me and my daily drivers

 

what he said !