Comments on: More Bob Lutz Volt Q & A

By: bruce g

bruce g — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 22:17:29 +0000

Jeff M,
Would your Volvo dealer let you sit in the back of a C30.
It would be very interesting to know your opinion.

I accept what everyone says about 2 doors but it didnt stop the mini becoming a cult.

By: Jeff M

Jeff M — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 21:54:44 +0000

#26 (wirenutjd)… I don’t think Volvo waffled… all along from at least early Sept annoucement (see http://www.tgdaily.com/content/view/33717/113/ ) I’ve been reading 60 mile range on the batteries in the C30 RxEV. The 1st time I heard 100 was in this thread so I think somewhere someone was mistaken.

As I mentioned in another thread, I love my current Volvo (an 8 year old S70 T5 5-speed), but the problem I may have with the C30 is that it’s only a 2-door, and the backseats may not have enough leg and/or head room.

Regarding hub motors, as has been said, because there are 4 of them, each one can be significantly smaller. Apparently hub motors on an EV are nothing new… according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hub_motor Ferdinand Porsche developed them in 1902… on a vehicle that later became an RxEv

Note also that ZAP also has in the works an EV with hub motors.

Multi-motor EV configurations are more complicated in regulating power to different motors. I think I read that one of the 1990′s EV’s built to meet CA’s ZEV mandate had planned to use two motors but switched to just one because of that problem.

By: noel park

noel park — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 19:33:37 +0000

Mark Bartosik, #17:

Yeah, $3 trillion. Between that and global warming, we are starting down the barrel of a very large cannon.

By: wirenutjd

wirenutjd — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 18:39:25 +0000

I agree Brian M. And I like what 27 Don says. Lets change the whole thing and see what comes our way.

By: Brian M

Brian M — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 18:34:46 +0000

#25 wirenutjd, One great thing about electric motors is they require little to no maintenance because they have almost no moving parts. But you are right, wheel motors would be easier to work on. Just remove the wheel and swap in a new one.

Unfortunately, I think wheel motors would probably be more prone to damage from rocks, potholes, and collisions.

I am not totally against wheel motors, because they provide great traction and independent control. But I would not buy a car with wheel motors because of the extra expense and vulnerability (maybe Volvo buyers would not care as much about the extra expense as I do).