On 20-Apr-17 11:41 PM, Tim Streater wrote:
In article , 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.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars...le-steam-cars/


Presumably it needed fuel as well as water. What was that, and how much
was needed, and how was the boiler kept stoked etc.


According to the link I gave, they usually burned kerosene, but, being
an external combustion engine, almost anything would do. However, my
main point was that if they managed to get that range from one tank of
water in 1924, we should expect better today.

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Colin Bignell