On 21-Apr-17 8:47 AM, harry wrote:
On Thursday, 20 April 2017 19:24:26 UTC+1, Nightjar wrote:
On 20-Apr-17 6:18 PM, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , Nightjar
wrote:

On 20-Apr-17 8:18 AM, harry wrote:
On Wednesday, 19 April 2017 19:47:29 UTC+1, Murmansk wrote:
I've just been for a ride in someone's Nissan Leaf - it was
impressive, so
quiet and amazing acceleration.

Do electric cars have a gearbox (an automatic one I presume)? Or
does the
motor just run faster the faster you go? I was told by the owner the
optimum speed for economy of battery usage is about 55mph.

It doesn't sound like it's changing gear.

Internal combustion engines are inherently unsuitable for traction,
hence
the need for gearboxes/clutches etc.
Electric motors can be designed to be ideal for traction.
Max torque at zero rpm.

I could get that with a steam engine.

And a small one at that for a car. But AIUI, it's the condenser that's
the problem.


With a 24 gallon water tank, the 1924 Doble E had a 1500 mile range and
it could move off from cold in under 30 seconds.

Drivel.
Water is not fuel.

I was answering the point about the condenser. However, recent advances
in catalytic splitting of water could make it feasible to use water as
fuel, if you really wanted to.

It actually did about 3mpg (equivalent)due to the inherent inefficiencies of steam engines and boilers.

It is said to have been comparable to internal combustion engines of the
time. Those have improved considerably since and there have been some
serious investigations of steam powered cars in recent years, which
suggest that steam cars could still be competitive, as well as being
inherently less polluting.

Maintenence/repair costs were huge too.

As they were for contemporary cars of the same class.

Dobel was just a rich idiot.

Rich visionary.


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Colin Bignell