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Thursday, September 28, 2023

Edison Motors


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Edison Motors

Edison Motors started with an old truck and converted it to electric drive. Now it looks like they have built a prototype from scratch.

There are a couple advantages of this kind of setup. One is that you can get by with a smaller engine. You don't need a giant engine for cruising down the highway and for those times when you do need maximum grunt you have those big electric motors and their batteries. Another is that you don't need a mechanical transmission. Electric motors can deliver full torque at zero RPM. That's why this same kind of setup, minus the batteries, is used in locomotives.

The downsides are that the batteries are heavy and all those electronic gizmos are expensive.

4 comments:

Alvin in maine said...

At zero speed electric motors have zero torque. Torque is produced by motion. I am a master electrician.

xoxoxoBruce said...

Alvin, I understand what you're saying, no motion no torque, but don't the electric motors produce maximum torque from the start and diminishes from there to higher rpm.

That truck looks like it will do the job... any job.

Alvin in Maine said...

Xoxox Bruce
Yes that is true, however torque and speed are related. As speed increases the EMF field changes ( decreases) so the increase in speed times decrease in EMF keeps the torque reality constant. The ROT is starting current is 6times running current (3 phase). That gives the electric motor the breakaway torque it needs to start rotating

xoxoxoBruce said...

Ah, thanks for clarifying that for me.