10 month inspection of E-Wheel

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

I picked up a piece of truck tire that pulled the 175A Anderson connector against the road, and made a mess of the wire.
While repairing the connector,I did a lube and inspection of my E-Wheel.

The motor brushes are only down by about 1/4 in, with an estimated 200-500 actual miles of use.

The forced air blower bearings were toast, so I will have to find a better way to cool it.
I have a few photos at:
http://www.99mpg.com/Projectcars/TheBestHybridmix/

While the E-Wheel allows city driving at up to 30 MPH, it is no use above that as the 4:1 final drive maxes out in motor rpm.

I want to convert it to a 60MPH 2:1 ratio, but worry that the scooter tire will not hold up to that type of abuse. Can anyone suggest a tire/wheel of about 12.5-13" diameter that is rated for 60 MPH?
I was thinking a small trailer tire?

[JohnHeller]

Mike would a Mini Cooper (old version) do the trick? Here's a sampling of 10" mags which w/tires might be the right diameter.
http://www.7ent.com/sub.cfm?pageid=243

Trailer is a good idea. Might there be a shaft drive scooter or motorcycle that would include the entire rear swing arm and allow you to mount the electric motor to the body? There'd be a built-in gear reduction and such an assembly would have its own brake too.

-John

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

The bike swing arm was an early idea, but because of the extremely tight fit of the assembly, no stock swing arm would fit.
I can't tell from the photos, but it looks like the tire outer diameter must be well over 13". I have narrowed my final drive ratio to 2.8-3:1, after a test ride with the rebuilt system.

The wheel/tire that I have was for a racing scooter.
Since it will not be supporting the car, so what if it blows up. Just lift the blown tire and drive home. A dynamic test.

BTW
I got 105 MPG for the complete 20 mile round trip, with a big hill climb at the end that dropped me from 110MPG. Will charge back up tomorrow, it is supposed to be sunny.

[james]

You might look at small aircraft tires. They'd certainly handle the speed, though I don't know how they'd take sustained highway use.

If you know someone with a plane, you can probably get some used ones. I think I have a couple in the shed, but being clear on the other side of the country makes it hard to drop them off.

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

Was fully charged by 3PM.

An Air plane wheel sounds interesting, but may be too wide.
The biggest issue with the E-Wheel is the limited space. The present tire is only ~3in wide, and the fork would be a bear to modify. I think I will go for 45-50 MPH top speed, and take my chances. The scooter should have been rated for that speed. I will order the drive components this week, and just give it a try, will order another tire while I am at it.

On a powered trailer, there would be lots of possibilities, including John's suggestion of a Mini wheel.

[JohnHeller]

I thought of an airplane wheel, but discarded it as it seems to me they'd be built for very high impact loads, but not necessarily for sustained running?

A project I worked on last year included rebuilding Ontario, CA's runways and taxiways for the new AirBus A380 cargo version. I can't remember the weight off-hand, but the target landing section of the runway had to be something like 38' thick high strenth concrete. (with progressively thinner sections further down the strip) Not that those tires aren't carrying a frightful dead load even at rest, but the landing impact is incredible.

I tried inputing some Mini tires in to this handy on-line diameter calculator
http://www.precisiongear.com/pgtechtire.htm and they all come out somewhere north of 19" overall!

Mike, I did find some AG and ATV tires in the right overall diameters, but I know nothing about them, especially whether or not they make on-pavement versions?

-John

[james]

Guess we have different ideas of aircraft: I was thinking something more like the nose wheel of a Cessna 172.

And of course, good pilots do try not to impact the runway

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

Since I have no experience with aircraft wheels, I can only give rough dimensions that will fit in the available envelope.
How big is that nose wheel of a Cessna 172?
Mike

[james]

I don't know off the top of my head (and I have a Piper), but it looks about a foot in diameter.

[JohnHeller]

Mike, a big pickup blew past me this morning on the freeway towing a small portable cement mixer. He had to be doing 90 and the thing was tracking straight and true behind the truck. It seemed to use two pneumatic tires of about 9-12" overall diameter. I think your point was a good one, since the tire won't be supporting the Insight, there isn't that much risk should it blow out on you. A small trailer wheel will probably work fine.
-John