transportation

30 Articles

Electric Motors Run Continuously At Near-Peak Power

November 26, 2024 by 35 Comments

For a lot of electrical and mechanical machines, there are nominal and peak ratings for energy output or input. If you’re in marketing or advertising, you’ll typically look at the peak rating and move on with your day. But engineers need to know that most things can only operate long term at a fraction of this peak rating, whether it’s a power supply in a computer, a controller on an ebike, or the converter on a wind turbine. But this electric motor system has a unique cooling setup allowing it to function at nearly full peak rating for an unlimited amount of time.

The motor, called the Super Continuous Torque motor built by German automotive manufacturer Mahle is capable of 92% of its peak output power thanks to a unique oil cooling system which is able to remove heat and a rapid rate. Heat is the major limiter for machines like this; typically when operating at a peak rating a motor would need to reduce power output to cool down so that major components don’t start melting or otherwise failing. Given that the largest of these motors have output power ratings of around 700 horsepower, that’s quite an impressive benchmark.

The motor is meant for use in passenger vehicles but also tractor-trailer style trucks, where a motor able to operate at its peak rating would mean a smaller size motor or less weight or both, making them easier to fit into the space available as well as being more economically viable. Mahle is reporting that these motors are ready for production so we should be seeing them help ease the transportation industry into electrification. If you’re more concerned about range than output power, though, there’s a solution there as well so you don’t have to be stuck behind the times with fossil fuels forever.

Thanks to [john] for the tip!

This Modded Shopping Cart Probably Isn’t Street Legal

July 18, 2024 by 9 Comments

If you don’t count the high center of gravity, the weight limit, the weak chassis, or the small size, a standard shopping cart is an almost ideal platform for building a fun drifting kart. At least, that was [Garage Avenger]’s thought process when he started this build to turn a shopping cart into the ultimate drift vehicle.

The first thing on the list was to solve the issues with the high center of gravity and the fact that he couldn’t fit in the cart easily. Chopping out the back of the basket as well as everything beneath it solved both of these problems. From there a custom chassis could be fabricated from square steel tubing which includes a lever system which controls the rake of the caster wheels and thus their driftability. The power train and battery system for this build comes from a 2400 W electric scooter with a few modifications made to get it to fit on the new chassis.

After a test drive of the original prototype, a few modifications were made including using smaller caster wheels in the back, the addition of a spring to make the lever action for the rear wheels easier to engage, some front casters for stability, and a seat a little more substantial than the metal mesh of the cart. With all the electronics put into the cart, he’s ready to drift off into the sunset. This isn’t his first crazy vehicle, either. When winter rolls around you’ll find him getting around in a jet-powered sled instead.

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Toyota Makes Grand Promises On Battery Tech

July 10, 2023 by 125 Comments

Toyota is going through a bit of a Kodak moment right now, being that like the film giant they absolutely blundered the adoption of a revolutionary technology. In Kodak’s case it was the adoption of the digital camera which they nearly completely ignored; Toyota is now becoming similarly infamous for refusing to take part in the electric car boom, instead placing all of their faith in hybrid drivetrains and hydrogen fuel cell technologies. Whether or not Toyota can wake up in time to avoid a complete Kodak-style collapse remains to be seen, but they have been making some amazing claims about battery technology that is at least raising some eyebrows. Continue reading “Toyota Makes Grand Promises On Battery Tech” →

Snow Plowing By Bicycle

January 1, 2023 by 44 Comments

There are few challenges more difficult or dangerous than trying to get around the majority of North American cities by bicycle. Not only is the bicycle infrastructure woefully inadequate for safe travel (if it exists at all), but it’s often not maintained to any reasonable standard, either. This goes double in colder areas, where bike paths can essentially become abandoned in the winter after a snowfall. [Phil] found himself in this situation recently after a snowfall in western Canada and decided to DIY his own bike-powered snowplow to help keep his bike paths cleared.

The plow is built around an electric-assisted cargo bicycle, which is almost as rare in North America as bicycle infrastructure itself, but is uniquely suited to snowplow duty. It has a long wheelbase and a large front cargo area that can be weighed down if needed to ensure the plow makes good contact with the ground. The plow itself is built out of sections of plastic 55-gallon drums, which have been cut into two scooping sections and attached to the bike with a wooden 2×4 frame. The plow can be raised or lowered with a ratchet strap mechanism, and the plastic scoop skips over bumps in the path with relative ease.

With this relatively simple mechanism attached to his bike, [Phil] can make sure the trails that he frequents around Vancouver are more suitable for bike travel in the winter. Riding a bicycle through the winter, even in the coldest of climates, is not that difficult with the right support and investment in infrastructure, and this build is the best DIY solution we’ve seen to bicycle infrastructure support outside of adopting something like this remote-controlled snowblower to the job.

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Bike On Over To The Campground

March 20, 2022 by 9 Comments

Like many of us, [Paul] enjoys occasionally hitching up his tow-behind camper and heading out to the wilderness to get away from it all at his favorite campsite. Unlike the vast majority of those who share his passion for the outdoors, though, [Paul] is hitching his camper up to a bicycle. Both the camper and the bike are custom built from the ground up, and this video shows us a little more details on [Paul]’s preferred mode of transportation.

While he is known for building custom vehicles of one sort or another, this latest one is a more traditional bicycle frame that he has modified only slightly to fit a recumbent-style seat and a small gas-powered motor. Even though the motor is decades old, it started right up and gives the power needed to pull the custom camper. [Paul] builds one-person campers like this out of corrugated plastic for durability and light weight, and this one is specifically designed for his size and sleeping style. It includes everything needed for a night under the stars, too, including a stove, storage compartments, and a few windows.

With the bike and camper combined weighing in at just over 200 pounds, the motor can be used as a pedal-assist device thanks to the clever engineering behind a front-wheel-drive pedal system on this bike. With all of that custom fabrication, [Paul] is free to head out to the wilderness without all the encumbrances (and high price) of traditional motor vehicle-based camping. For those curious about some of [Paul]’s other vehicle creations, take a look at this tiny speedboat for one.

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A Big Ship Chop Shop On The Georgia Coast

April 4, 2021 by 16 Comments

Last week we saw a hapless container ship vaulted to fame, where people converged on its combination of mind-boggling size suffering an easily relatable problem of getting stuck. Now that it is moving again, armchair engineers who crave more big ship problem-solving should check out [David Tracy]’s writeup on the salvage operation of an overturned car carrier ship, the MV Golden Ray published by Jalopnik. If the ship’s name doesn’t ring a bell, the writeup opens with a quick recap.

Written for an audience of gearheads, [Tracy]’s writeup walks through some technical aspects of the salvage plan and initial results of execution. Citing from the official entity in charge, the St. Simons Sound Incident Response Unified Command, and augmented with information from elsewhere. Even though the MV Golden Ray is “only’ half the length and a third of the gross tonnage of our meme darling MV Ever Given, it is still a huge ship. Every salvage operation this big is unique, requiring knowledge far beyond our everyday intuition. At this scale, most Internet “Why don’t they just…” comments range from impractical to absurd.

Fortunately, people who actually know how to perform salvage work designed plans, submitted by multiple bidders, each making a different tradeoff in cost and speed among other factors. The chosen plan was to cut the ship into sections small enough to be carried by barge for further processing elsewhere. This required a huge floating crane, a chain pressed into cutter duty, custom fabricated lugs for lifting, and similarly custom fabricated cradles for the barges.

But we all know that no plan survives contact with reality. While this plan was seemingly chosen for speed, it hasn’t gone nearly as fast as advertised. Certainly the pandemic was a huge hinderance, but cutting has also been slowed by pieces built far stronger than spec. Delays also meant more sediment buildup inside the wreck, compounding headaches. Other bidders have started saying that if their plan had been chosen the job would be done by now, but who’s to say their plan wouldn’t have encountered their own problems?

In time St. Simons Sound will be cleared as the Suez Canal has been. Results of their respective investigations should help make shipping safer, but salvage skills will still be needed in the future. At least this operation isn’t as controversial as trying to retrieve the radio room of RMS Titanic.

Put More Scoot In Yer Scooter

March 9, 2021 by 17 Comments

We have a scooter hack that is odd for a couple of reasons. First, the vehicle in question is a Doc Green EWA 6000, a German clone of a Xiaomi M365, so Country stereotypes be darned. Second, it is about increasing the performance, and when we think of scooters, we get hung up on scoot. The link between these peculiarities is the speed limiter Germany requires on all scooters, which the Chinese model lacks. Despite the law, [Nikolaj] wanted a higher top speed and Bluetooth connectivity. Wireless unlocks advanced features, like cruise control, which are absent in the stock model.

The mainboard is responsible for speed control, but that is merely a component, and you can find third-party replacements. [Nikolaj] found a new part with a German forum member’s help, then recorded his work in English for our sake. The speed boost is nice, but the Bluetooth functionality is a massive improvement by itself. If you live in an area where the law doesn’t allow this sort of thing, think before you upgrade. Aftermarket parts aren’t always drop-in replacements, and in this case, the controller and display needed some finessing to fit, so measure twice and buy once.

If tearing into a brand new scooter isn’t for you, consider breathing new life into a retiree, and don’t forget that stopping is the other half of the battle.