Xref: utzoo sci.energy:538 sci.electronics:7489 sci.med:11721
Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!bionet!apple!ems
From: ems@Apple.COM (Mike Smith)
Newsgroups: sci.energy,sci.electronics,sci.med
Subject: Re: Electric cars?  Start with wheelchairs.
Message-ID: <3736@internal.Apple.COM>
Date: 21 Aug 89 19:57:09 GMT
References: <3659@internal.Apple.COM> <1526@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> <169@nwnexus.WA.COM>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 31

In article <169@nwnexus.WA.COM> edm@nwnexus.WA.COM (Ed Morin) writes:
>spf@cbnewsl.ATT.COM (Steve Frysinger of Blue Feather Farm) writes:

>>Sears carries fairly lightweight 12-volt chargers.  Space may be
                                  ^^^^^^^
>I don't know too much about wheel chairs, but electric cars are certainly
>not 12-volt systems.  If her system were even 24-volts (2 car batteries

The system is, indeed, 24 VDC.  Two twelve volt deep cycle leadacid 
batteries in series.  There is a 'funny plug' that connects them to
the control harness in series.  It also connects them to the home
charger in parallel, but not at the same time ...

>in series maybe) this whole idea goes out the window and replaced with a
>lot of complication.  Well, a DC-to-DC converter at the least so she could
>get a jump start...  :-)

The 'dream charger' would be a DC to DC converter (with an AC -> DC
rectifier front end for household use) that used switching circuitry
to reduce heat generation and reduce transformer size to the small side.
The whole thing sealed in a waterproof metal enclosure with weatherproof
cables.  Then it could run from [{any Hz.}110vac,220vac,12vdc,24vdc,etc. ...)

-- 

E. Michael Smith  ems@apple.COM

'If you can dream it, you can do it'  Walt Disney

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not limited to: typos, spelling, diction, logic, and nuclear war)