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From: deanr@sco.COM (Dean Reece)
Newsgroups: sci.energy,sci.electronics,sci.med
Subject: Re: Electric cars?  Start with wheelchairs.
Message-ID: <3208@scolex.sco.COM>
Date: 21 Aug 89 16:53:50 GMT
References: <3659@internal.Apple.COM> <1526@cbnewsl.ATT.COM> <169@nwnexus.WA.COM>
Reply-To: deanr@sco.COM (Dean Reece)
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Lines: 28

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
>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...  :-)

Why?  If it IS two car batteries, then just charge them one at a time.
If you wanted to get fancy, you could rig a large 4 pin connector that
had both terminals of both batteries.  When plugged into the wheel chair,
they  are wired in series.  When plugged into the dash charger, they would
be wired as two independent batteries, each being independently charged by
individual chargers from one alternator.

If it is a single 24 volt battery, that would be a problem, but I believe
you can get custom wound alternators for such things (I even seem to remember
reading about a fan belt driven, 117 volt generator available as an option on
some VERY old Ford Thunder-Chickens :-)

just my 2 cents worth - standard disclaimer
--
Dean Reece (deanr@sco.COM)
The Santa Cruz Operation, Santa Cruz, CA 95010