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Build Your Own Elec tric Vehicle
Figure 6-11 WarP ImPulse 9" motor for front-wheel-drive car s.
This motor has a “shorty” tail shaft housing from a Chevrolet Turbo 400 transmission fitted to the drive end-bell. The drive end-shaft is not the typical 1.125" single-keyed type, but rather a hefty 1.370", 32-tooth involute spline that is identical to the tail shaft spline of a Turbo 400 transmission. In other words, this motor was designed to replace a transmission and couple directly to a drive shaft!
The Advance FB1-4001 Another option, the Advance FB1-4001, shown in Figure 6-12, was designed to propel EVs. One of its big advantages that should not be underestimated is that you can acquire it new from a reputable vendor. A used compound wound DC aircraft starter motor for $200 might sound great, but powering EVs was never intended to be its true mission in life, and how much use has it seen already? With the FBI-4001 you get a motor that you can return if it doesn’t work. In a reputable vendor you have someone to turn to for answers to questions, technical data, and more. A surplus dealer is rarely able to offer this capability. As I researched for this edition of the book, I noticed that the electric vehicle called the Tango from Commuter Cars Corporation used the FB1-4001. When I spoke with Rick Woodbury, creator of the Tango and president of the company, we talked for over an hour about the state of electric cars. One of the greatest things that I had heard from him was that the first edition of this book helped him to create the vehicle. To paraphrase, “If it wasn’t for this book, the Tango would not have been built.” I am glad this book made such a contribution to the electric vehicle industry. One of the more popular riders of the Tango is George Clooney, as pictured with his Tango in Figure 6-13. Hopefully his involvement and the wonderful aspects of the Tango will allow Rick to Build More Of His Own Electric Vehicles. Keep it up, Rick!!! Way to go! Figure 6-14 shows the performance curves used in deriving Chapter 5’s data, this time shown for values of 72 through 120 volts. Table 6-1 gives you the data from its S-2 DIN and ISO thermal tests. Another advantage to buying a new motor from a reputable
