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Best Electric Car Motor

by Carlos
(LA)




What's the best electric motor out there?

Hi, Carlos!

This isn't Consumer Reports, darlin', there's no 1-5 lightning bolts rating system for electric car motors. "Best" really depends on what you want out of a motor.

Best value for your money?
Best torque at low speeds, i.e. liftoff?
Best match to your midsize sedan's gas engine system?
Best value over time?

Easiest to install? Easiest to lay hands on? Easiest to open up and repair? Least likely to break?

Most efficient? Fastest? Most controller-compatible? Is less expensive better than more expensive, or the other way around?

I can't tell you what motor is best, but I can tell you which electric car motor is most commonly used, and you can draw your own conclusions.

Advanced DC's FB-4001 (series wound DC) is the most popular electric car motor by a landslide...

...but it's not the motor that Tesla went with; )

Regards,
Lynne

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Best Electric Car Motor

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starstarstarstar 		Transmission for EV?
by: BillWilliam

Hi ECG, I have been wanting to build an EV or plug-in EV for a long time. The time was not right. No suitable power storage. Now the LIFe cells and batteries are priced almost low enough to consider.
I am an engineer but not the electric kind so if I am wrong it won't be the first time,or the last. When I look at EV motor out put graphs, AC or DC, the motors have a narrow power range. Worse than a diesel. To me it looks like a transmission would reduce the required motor size and provide max hp at max speed as you would want for a car. I have a snowmobile powered open wheel race car. The variable ratio belt transmission seems ideal for an EV drive. This one is off a Polaris 600cc power plant. It can change from 7:1 low to 1:4 high, an 11 ratio range. All in a small lightweight package. Because the transmission can be adjusted for input RPM the motor can be run at max efficiency and some range could be improved over no transmission.
On your comparison of AC and DC EV motors I think you missed cost as an important factor. On line I see DC motors selling for $1000.00 to $2000.00 and AC motors selling for $10,000.00 and up. Anyone can build a $100,000.00 EV and they work OK. But can the driving public find a newly built car for $15,000.00 to $25,000.00? Not with a $15,000.00 motor and a $35,000.00 battery pack. What will work now. For an EV to work in today's market it needs to be a plug-in hybrid. The ICE could be a 9 to 10KWh continuous duty gen set. Just enough to run the car about 70 to 80 mph. This leaves a little head room for the gen set to charge the battery while maintaining the speed limit. Around town the car could be charged at home. This would allow a much smaller battery pack, the size would depend of the owners comute distance. This may range from 10 to 150 miles round trip. For hotter climates an A/C would be required. Get a $100.00 5000 BTU window unit and power it with an inverter. Modification would be required to intergrate it into the vehicle, if the owner wants. For the budgit minded just mount it in the rear side window behind the driver.
Hope this information helps,

Bill Browning

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