Re: nubie questions

["PETER VANDERWAL" <peterv@peoplepc.com>]

>I am a student at the University of Texas at Arlington. I am fortunate
>enough to be able to convert a car to electric for my senior project. The
>car is a 57 MGA look into brushless DC drive systems (I would choose a
Solectria AC sys.).
>We are having a hard time finding car-sized systems. Any suggestions on
were
>we could find them would be helpful. Any comments on AC vs. brushless DC
>would be gladly accepted.

Why not use a Series DC motor and controller?  It's almost as efficient as
either a AC or BLDC motor setup and about $15,000-$20,000 cheaper.

An Advanced DC motor (brand name) and a Curtis controller will set you back
about $2,600.  Check out
http://www.evparts.com/Parts.htm


>Batteries are the other big issue. We will probably use VRLA batteries. I
>would choose Hawker. Are there are any other sources for VRLA batteries you
>would recommend? I donıt think our budget will allow advanced battery
>technologies, but If anyone knows of advanced batteries at student
>discounts, Iım all ears.

You don't have much money but are planning on AC motors and Hawker
batteries?  Optima Yellow Tops(YTs) are just as good as the Hawkers and a
whole lot cheaper.  The YTs are basically the same thing as the Hawker
Cyclons only much bigger.

The YTs are a 12V battery that can produce about 47 Amp Hours at the 1 hour
rate, they weigh about 45lbs ea.  Normal price is about $125 ea, however you
might be able to talk Optima into selling you some of their cosmetic blem's
cheap.

http://www.optimabatteries.com/main.htm