Are there cheap smartcar EVs with electric motors attached to wheels?

[AmericaPacific42]

TL;DR Summary

Directly powered wheels (no transmissions,) that are freeway-legal? Could they just replace the gas tank with a large LiFePO4 battery? Get rid of the hood completely?

There are small 15kw electric motors <$500*.
LiFePO4 batteries that offer 60kwh** weigh <50kilograms, cost <$500, take as much space as the gas used to take.
The hood could be removed or replaced with extra seats or used for cargo.

Ultra-lightweight 3D printed magnesium bodies*** should be possible to mass produce for <$500 if the assembly is optimized.

After our electrical grids are powered by solar arrays, breeze farms, hydroelectric, geothermal, off-shore hydro (or all of the above,) the atmosphere will always be fresh, the Earth will be good for us all, plus for all of the other creatures we share it with.

Because fossil fuels are still used to make a lot of the electrical grid's power, there will still be some smoke, but at least the electrical grid places the gas motors away from people usually, so the air is much better where we breathe.

Who has started to work towards such vehicles? What is the cheapest way to make them so far?
Who should I talk to if I wish to get the authorities to support a recall of all gas vehicles to replace them with pure EV vehicles to improve our health (they are much quieter, as well as give us healthier air to breathe)?

* https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/96v-15kw-ac-motor-with-curtis_62023026337.html

** at full load the whole time, they would just last 1h, but a small lightweight vehicle with small tires could cruise very a while after it reaches the target speed. Also, breaks would just be the electric motors, so all forward power would be recovered back to the LiFePO4 batteries except losses to aerodynamic drag or to tire friction, so they should be able to go over 300kilometers per charge easily. If solar arrays were added to the roof, you would never be stranded, just have to wait for bright skies to recharge. There are 220watt solar arrays for <$200**** that are about the size of a small car roof.

*** https://www.google.com/search?q=lightest-weight+magnesium+smartcar+body

**** https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZIZ6VY6/?tag=pfamazon01-20

 

[AmericaPacific42]

The bolt has a 435Kg 60Kwh battery pack
https://electrek.co/2016/01/11/gm-bolt-ev-battery-pack-fast-charging-full-specs/
but it just supplements a traditional gasoline engine with a traditional transmission, so it is completely wasted on it.

The transmission probably weighs as much as the batteries, plus the four wheel hub motors probably weigh a lot less compared to the gas motor, so the vehicle would be far lighter. Gas is heavy too, plus the frame/body for the hood are heavy.

So although the article makes the batteries seem like a problem ("Heavy batteries! Good thing they are optional! Who wants an electric vehicle powered by batteries!?") they are much lighter compared to what they could replace.

 

[berkeman]

So the overall question in response to your thread start is "Why is this not being done now?" -- There are a lot of very smart and motivated engineers working on this problem, so if your vision of an electric car with an electric motor per wheel is not being mass produced yet, there are probably good engineering reasons for that. How much research have you done so far into the current EV optimizations?

Ultra-lightweight 3D printed magnesium bodies*** should be possible to mass produce for <$500 if the assembly is optimized.

Reference link please (not Google or Amazon, a real technical reference).

 

[AmericaPacific42]

So the overall question in response to your thread start is "Why is this not being done now?" -- There are a lot of very smart and motivated engineers working on this problem, so if your vision of an electric car with an electric motor per wheel is not being mass produced yet, there are probably good engineering reasons for that. How much research have you done so far into the current EV optimizations?

I read for hours about them. All they did was add electric motors to the wheels of regular gas cars, to charge the batteries while they break, plus add some of the power back while they accelerate. https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/electric_basics_hev.html

Or, they replaced the gas motor with a genset that powers electric motors. Usually with a transmission and gearbox included, for that extra resistance and noise we all need so much.
Either is far from ideal, because they both require internal combustion engines and transmissions.

Reference link please (not Google or Amazon, a real technical reference).

https://homework.study.com/explanat...hese-ions-and-converting-them-to-neutral.html https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213956721001316

 

[berkeman]

Your links are substandard. Please take care to find mainstream peer-reviewed articles when you want to discuss technical subjects at PF.

Your thread will be closed unless you find and post peer-reviewed journal articles about EV efficiency, or alternately, good quality articles about why companies like Tesla and Toyoty chose their EV/Hybrid system topologies.

Your question about why not use one electric motor per wheel is a valid question for discussion, but you are going about it the wrong way to try to start that discussion here at PF.

 

[AmericaPacific42]

WRT power-recovery motors:

Regenerative braking: how it works and is it worth it in small ...​

https://electrek.co › 2018/04/24 › regenerative-braking-...
Apr 24, 2018 — Since we need to brake often, regenerative braking is the next best ... This would effectively increase a 100 mile car's range to 132 miles, ...

Hardly worth the extra cost just to celebrate 32% better mileage. You could have bought 32% more gas with what you "saved" by your purchase of whatever "electric" car you were scammed with.

 

[berkeman]

WRT power-recovery motors:

Hardly worth the extra cost just to celebrate 32% better mileage. You could have bought 32% more gas with what you "saved" by your purchase of whatever "electric" car you were scammed with.

Lordy. Thread is done; check your PMs in a few minutes for the message about "misinformation".