Electric 6 wheeler?

[Roger S]

Hey, that's a real nice job. Sure has a different sound. For such a prototype machine, you've had a very successful 1st run. Congratulations.

[cory_Alaska]

That thing is just friggin cool! Looks like alot of fun! Cant wait to get my beast put back together.

[JRP3]

Hmmmm, I bet there is a lot of room in an Argo 8x8 for batteries.....

[Marc]

Hi,
how many power has the engine in watt or hp?

[JRP3]

Since I'm running a 48 volt pack through a 400 amp controller I guess theoretical power is 48x400=19200 watts or 25 HP. With efficiency losses and the reality that I'm probably never drawing maximum amperage it's probably closer to 20 HP.

[mudbug3]

How long will the battery pack last riding trails ?

[JRP3]

From a previous post:

It really depends on what I'm doing and how low I want to take the batteries. These Odyssey AGM's can be deeply discharged, but with any battery the lower you take it the more you shorten it's lifespan. Cruising along the road or a smooth dirt trail at around 10mph I could probably do an hour, crawling up muddy hills and twisting around trees will probably get me about half an hour of run time. I'll have to see once I get the battery pack broken in, they should start to perform better after a number of cycles.

That's my best guess after playing with it for two days

[JRP3]

Some thoughts after using this for a while now. If I replaced the main drive chain and sprockets with a toothed drive belt and pulleys it would probably be even quieter and the slight stretch in the belt might make the ride a little smoother, plus since it spins so fast that chain throws the most lube around. Not a big deal but something I might play with in the future. Anyone have a good link to some toothed pulleys and belts?
I think I have all the leaks fixed and I took it into some water one side at a time along the edge of the stream and so far it seems dry. I may do the float test tomorrow
I need to tighten up my foot/parking brake. Using the electric motor to hold myself on hills draws lots of amps and isn't great for the motor and using the sticks can be a little jerky. It's only a problem when I'm going slowly up a hill and need to stop on it.
I wish this thing had a suspension, and bigger tires
Other than that, I really love it.

[whipper-ag]

That's a great idea about switching to a belt drive. I would suggest using a 14mm timing belt. It's the same belt that they use on top fuel dragsters to run the blower. If they take 8,000 HP, it should last forever on your Attex.

Whipper

[JRP3]

Yeah I'll start researching drive belts and pulleys. I don't want to get more belt than I really need but I certainly want something that will last. A quick search shows many different belt and pulley options, I need pulleys that will match the ratio I have and fit on the shafts.
The water test didn't go real well since I went over some rocks in the stream and cracked two of my lower corner repairs Don't count on ABS/acetone goop to be very strong on a stressed area. I only went through a shallow area so I didn't take on much water and I was still touching bottom. I've got to get a skid plate on this thing before I get near the rocks again. Back to sealing up the holes with more goop before the skid plate goes on.....

[riotwarrior]

Love the pictures and all the videos too.

Great job on all the work with mounting and so forth. I like the battery choice, I may have gone with an Optima Yellow top just for expense.

I think with the design of my trans it would be simple enough to add an electric motor, to use instead of gas for short quiet trips or gas when I need longer trips...I do plan to toss the gasser in favor of diesel eventually so perhaps a complete redo would be in order then.

Having a plastic body does have down falls.....mine is glass and I love that as it makes it so simple to repair.

Again incredible job I love what you have done

Al

[JRP3]

Thanks, it was a lot of work but it was worth it. I use it at least twice a week, just today I was hauling gravel up from the stream for my driveway and it's working well. I do wish it was a fiberglass tub, but I've been careful and had no more cracks. Sometime I've got to get that skidplate finished now that I have the sheet of HDPE
From a price standpoint the Optimas might work out in the short term, but from what others have told me the Odysseys are about the best and will probably last a lot longer and perform better. I replied to your PM.

[Amphiman1]

electric 6 wheeler

i just another one.....

[JRP3]

Nice roll bar, I need one like that

[LarryW]

Hey Glad you got it going. I was thinking with your belt thing. If I remember right when I was in shop class playing with the mills, it appeared they used some sort of cvt type pulley system to control the spreed. These big 3 phrase motors. But instead of it being centrifigal, it was adjustable some how with the speed control knob. Not sure how it worked but maybe whipper or some machinest can help. That maybe cool having differant ratios to choose from.