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Twike Participation Zero Race 2010?
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Written on: 04 October 2009 [14:03]
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ecoadmin
Administrator
Topic creator
registered since: 20.07.2007
Posts: 583
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Dear Twike lovers, As you might now, the first race around the world in 80 days with zero emission vehicles is to start in June 2010. 7 teams have signed up so far. Thomas Bechtiger ( thomas.bechtiger(at)twike[dot]ch ) from the Twike Center Zurich is considering to participate and is on the lookout for sponsors. How do you rate the chances for a Twike in such a race? The performance of the different teams will be judged on the criterias such as Popularity, Reliability, Affordability, Efficiency, Design, Power and Safety.  Twike 890
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Written on: 04 October 2009 [17:01]
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iamian
 
registered since: 23.02.2009
Posts: 110
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I think the Twike is an excellent platform for this. The major unknown is the pilot... is he ready to go the distance? Anybody know if there will be any coverage of the event? RE & Efficiency enthusiast
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Written on: 05 October 2009 [16:23]
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ecoadmin
Administrator
Topic creator
registered since: 20.07.2007
Posts: 583
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Hi Ian, I think the pilot would be ready to go the distance. He did not so long ago 800 miles with a Twike in 2,5 days. Pretty tough journey. According to his trip report on the Twike club website, his performance is quite amazing: 22 hours charging, 52 hours driving, 20 hours sleep, distance 1600miles... The Zero Race has its own website http://www.zero-race.com and I think the media coverage will be quite big. Initiator and Organizer Louis Palmer knows how to attract the media did an excellent PR job when driving his Solartaxi around the world. This time the media coverage will be even bigger, mainly because not only the race organizer itself will promote it, but also each individual team. I would love to see a Twike at the race. It would certainly fit in well! Twike 890
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Written on: 06 October 2009 [21:08]
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childress
Administrator
registered since: 14.08.2007
Posts: 140
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I would *LOVE* to see the Twike race, and am behind it 100%. But... I have the same problem with this race as I do with the X-prize: The speeds/goals requirements are unrealistic: the bulk of the westernized world does not need such a vehicle.  50mph is a very UNgreen speed for just about any vehicle (starting at about 30-35 mph you encounter exponential losses from wind resistance with increase in speed).Taking Thomas Bechtiger's original statistics as listed, (1600miles/52 hours driving) yields a speed of 30 mph (~50km/h). That's a *very* respectable speed for a Twike, in both speed (ie, he was pushing it), sustainability AND safety. In comparison, 80km/hr for 240km equates to just under 50mph for 150 miles. The way I read the rules, you must be able to drive 50 mph for at least 150 miles on one charge. If you're in the motorbike/cycle category, it drops to 75 miles (and apparently you can "hot swap" the batteries for fresh ones mid-race)? Fifty miles per hour is damn fast in a Twike, and renders pedaling pointless: in my experience you can't pedal at those speeds -- any minor vibrations introduced to the tiller/steering stick at speeds over 40mph (such as occurs during normal pedaling, let alone high rpm pedaling) causes very unpleasant/dangerous oscillations causing the vehicle to weave back and forth across the road until speed is reduced. What is considered to be a motorcycle/motorbike for the purposes of this race? 2-wheels? 3-wheels? IF the Twike is considered a motorcycle (75 miles per charge at 50 mph) and IF it's running Lithium Ion (or LiFEPO4) and IF you can hot swap the batteries from a support vehicle mid-race then I think the Twike has a really good shot. I'm not quite sure how the hot-swapping would work though as the Twike's default design does not enable easy access to swap... However it's not what the Twike was designed for, and more importantly it's not what the majority of us need for our daily driving. Just as with the Automotive X-prize, from looking at the requirements, once again the focus is on speed and distance over MPGe. And that continues to promote the idea to the general public think they need more than they really do, and that's a big factor that got us where we're at now!  Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it!
http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike |
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Written on: 07 October 2009 [13:24]
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Yardonn
 
registered since: 22.08.2007
Posts: 160
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I don't know, wheather to be sad about the race requirement or to accept them as neccesary to get a good promotion. In germany we have a "race" also for slow electro-mobils since years, called "Tour de Ruhr", not getting to much public interest. Perhaps people don't wand to here about slow, economic vehicles... If the twike i considered to be a motorcycle (i consider it to be a car, but i guest in this race it will count for a motorcyle...), i don't see much problems to meet the requirements. Changing Batteries should not be impossible, especialy if you can use the passanger-room. This way tit should be possible to install 6 Li-Packs inclusing easy-access, meating the requirements. I am not so pesimitic about pedaling, the twike i drove had a longer pedaling transmission, making it possible to pedal eaven at 85 km/h. But of course, the effect of pedaling is quit negletable at that speed... Meeting the car-requirements is not so easy, installing more than double the usual Li-Battery-Load will lead to space and weight problems, not to forget the cost of such a batterypack. It will be quite funny, seing a twike racing against a tesla... Well, i don't think this race will do any harm, but i doubt, that i will have much positiv impact eather... Alleweder 4
http://www.akkurad.com allmost full weather protection for one person at 0 - 1.5 kWh / 100 km CityEl as secondary E-Car |
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Written on: 13 October 2009 [11:49]
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ecoadmin
Administrator
Topic creator
registered since: 20.07.2007
Posts: 583
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Hi all, Thanks so much for your honest answers and thoughts. The idea to race against time, i.e. focusing on speed and distance over MPGe, is indeed questionable. On this point I agree with childress. Yardonn is pointing into the same direction. In the mean time we know a bit more about the race. The vehicles will actually be driven in a convoy, meaning that its not about who is able to reach the destination first. The goal is to finish together and to show that there are reliable electric vehicles that are able to go around the world. The fact that its a race against time and knowing that the wind resistance becomes exponential at higher speed, should be a strong motivator to make the vehicles as aerodynamic as possible. It seems that this event is a compromise between the original project of the Solartaxi and the expectations of the majority of the people. We continue to evaluate the possibility to join the zero race and let you know the outcome... Twike 890
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Written on: 05 December 2009 [13:07]
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ecoadmin
Administrator
Topic creator
registered since: 20.07.2007
Posts: 583
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Hi all, Some weeks ago we had to drop our idea to join the Zero Emissions Race. Various reasons led to this decision. The Twike project team was ready to join, we even had a solid 'business plan'. Many teams around the world applied to join, but only few were finally accepted. A reason for the reduced number of participating vehicles was the fact that the organizing committee had difficulties to source enough charging possibilities along the route. This apparently has been resolved by an accompanying truck producing the necessary energy on-the-fly. When looking at the vehicles which are officially accepted to participate, it can be seen that the management of the event prefers new, fast and sports-car like vehicles. A category where a vehicle like the Twike with a proven record of reliability and efficiency only partially fits in. Twike 890
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Written on: 08 December 2009 [16:24]
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lorenz
registered since: 20.04.2009
Posts: 6
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Realizing that the Twike isn't designed for it, and it would have to be trailered, does anyone have an idea what size honda generator would be needed to maintain a charge on the Twike if it were cruising at say 35 mph, where pedaling were still possible? Have considered doing this with my Twike, but not seriously electrically savy to know the feasibility of it. Thanks Loren |
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Written on: 19 December 2009 [18:48]
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childress
Administrator
registered since: 14.08.2007
Posts: 140
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Loren: Stephan & Ralph built a range extender (ethanol pusher motor though, not a generator) in the Tour de Austrailia as part of Team Ethanol -- http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fds1.dreifels.ch%2Ftwikeklub%2Fpage.asp%3FDH%3D611 For those that know/are more comfortable with German, you'll want to use the original german descriptions. I mentioned this idea (actually a small biodiesel generator) to a member of our newly-formed EV club, and he said that there would be questions about being able to supply enough AMPS to direct-drive the electric motor, how to integrate it into the existing electronics/boards. Therefore the pusher motor was the best/easiest option for retrofit... now how to find a small diesel engine that is B100 -- 100% biodiesel compatible  Commute suck? Twike it; You'll like it!
http://www.uiuc.edu/goto/twike |
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