Swiss Mindset reveals E-Motion sports EV New pictures have emerged of Swiss car company Mindset's electric fast-back coupé type thing-a-me-jig, the E-Motion. Mindset E-Motion Mindset's E-Motion: not good for baldies... An extended-range leccy vehicle like the Chevy Volt, the E-Motion will be driven by a 70kW electric motor and a lithium-ion battery pack that will …
I'm not sure whether it's the '70s bronze coloured exterior or the "'70s futuristic" interior, but it looks to me like someone's channeling Gerry Anderson here.
Mine's the one with the ID card in the pocket that says that I work for a film studio and not a top-secret alien defence organisation at all.
70kW (94HP) motor, 800kg. That's over 100BHP/Ton and they still only get 75mph and a 6 sec 0-60?
As for the solar cells; assuming the 65mile range is at moderate speed, say 30MPH, so that's 2 hours worth of battery at a load well below the motor's 70kW, it still implies a battery of maybe 20kWh? With an average solar cell developing 100W/m², covering the whole roof will give maybe 200W on a bright day, say 2kWh for the daylight period. That's 3 weeks to fil the battery, not "a few days".
Sorry, but even on a back-of-the-envelope calculation, something about those numbers is screwy.
"The car's Top speed is said to be 75mph and the 0-60 time in the order of six seconds."
"power will be supplied by a generator connected to a 630cc 24bhp V2 petrol engine"
Why not just buy a motorbike instead? it would be faster have better environmental credentials, carry more luggage, you could wear a lid to cover up your bald spot etc. etc. etc.
P.S. The joke is EV's in general not this post.
All these 'leccy car calculations can be a little misleading.
Whilst the motor is rated at 70kW the only interesting bit is the maximum battery output which is likely to be a hell of a lot lower, even when supplemented by the generator. This motor will have been chosen based on it's efficiency at delivering the correct performance in the rev range required and will not be expected to ever run at 70kW.
Secondly, the energy required to power a car at a consistent 30 mph on flat ground with no wind (i.e. resistance only generated by vehicles motion) is a lot lower than 20kW. I suspect it is lower than 10kW. 5-7kW feels about right.
Those changes then fit reasonably with the claims from the article. As always more specific details from the manufacturer would be appreciated.
My Daihatsu has a 105bhp at 800 kg and it just about slips into the first .1s under 9s so 6s is nothing to be ashamed of.
What is quite surprising is the 24bhp/630cc engine. Why not 660?
IIRC, 660 is the so called Japanese K-class which is limited by cc, power and size and is one of the biggest volume sellers in Japan. Every manufacturer there has at least one vehicle using 660. There are plenty of engines in that class and quite a few of them can deliver much more than 24bhp.
Noting that an electric motor is usually rated in terms of peak and mean, I'd be interested to see which the 70kW figure refers to...
A quick back-of-the-envelope calculation reveals that an 800kg car (not including any passengers or luggage) at 60mph has 292kJ of kinetic energy. Dividing that by 6 seconds reveals a mean input of 48.6kW, assuming 100% efficiency. I don't know what the efficiency in terms of tyre rolling resistance and body drag coefficient would be, but it seems reasonable that an average 70% efficiency should be achievable between 0mph and 60mph.
Electric cars are usually limited to relatively low speeds, either due to technology limitations (direct-drive transmission) or to save energy. The 75mph top end will be imposed by one of these factors.
I agree with your solar panel calculations, looks like panels will be of little use here.
SShhhhh! You'll give away our secret! Motorbikes have been pulling vastly superior gas mileage and performance for decades, but the "green" folks don't really care about results, they want to show off with expensive new toys instead of, say, an 82 Yamaha that gets 40MPG...green "smug" emitters still want all the comforts they insult the SUV drivers for having, but can't be arsed to give up everything for "mother earth", they just want to throw money at it.
What's really funny is around here in CA, most hybrid/battery/unicorn-f@rt powered car owners also own at least one SUV that gets driven by their "other half" every day and on weekends....
-three years now commuting daily, year 'round, on 2 wheels. Plus errands and small grocery runs on weekends.
...because I like it. Granted, if that rear quarter above the wheel was filled in, it would look much better. Still, compared with some of the other quasi-futuristic, bulbous affronts to good taste usually seen in the 'Leccy Tech section, this one, actually, is pretty nice.
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