Tesla Electric Car Motor?

by Art
(Long Beach)

Which motor is used in the Tesla? And does anyone convert old cars?

Hi, Art -
The Tesla, I believe, has a 3-phase, 4-pole AC induction motor. Someone correct me if I heard wrong; )

As for your second question, yes, people convert old cars, but old cars have their pitfalls to avoid.


Pitfall one: Even if you find an old girl that's not falling apart, old cars get tired, and need things replaced. Those things become scarcer the more years go by (and so more expensive). Conversion is a big investment, so people tend to make that investment in a younger car rather than an older one.

Pitfall two: Old cars were built when gas was cheap, so they tend to be heavy and about as aerodynamic as a brick. Nice to look at, but a heavy, draggy car will take a lot more battery juice to drag around, so they're not as practical to convert as a newer, lighter car.

Having said that? Sometimes you just gotta ignore everybody's good advice and convert the car you love.

Regards,
Lynne

Multi Pole Electric Car Motors

by Adam
(Brisbane)

Does anyone use multi pole motors in EV's, in industry they are quite unusual but I once saw one used to drive a slow continuous oven at either slow or even slower off a variable frequency drive.

When I say multi pole I'm referring to having say a 2 pole, 4pole or 8 pole motor. at say a 50hz supply it gives 3000 rpm, 1500 rpm or 750rpm ignoring slip.

My thoughts were that this could provide three interesting torque curves and if built right could behave like gears. I also thought it would work to remove the transmission and drive straight onto the diff with correct ratio.

Could this work?

Hi, Adam!

The short answer? I don't know. Nobody has done an electric car with a multi pole motor, that I know of. You might try the smart folks over at the EV Discussion List to see if anyone's working on something like this.

With that disclaimer, and since you asked, I would say probably not. Why? Because the application you describe is so different from an EV. An EV needs a motor that is heavy on the low end torque, light on the weight, tolerant of an automotive environment, and tolerant of variable loads.

That's pretty specific. I can't quite stretch my imagination far enough to get the slow, continuous oven and the Tesla on the same page.

So, my overall impression is that there's probably a better way to do what you're trying to do, but you get full points for thinking outside the box; )

Regards,
Lynne