Electric motors used in gas cars?

Answer 1

I believe there are already some small companies in the US converting small Japanese cars to electric.In 1999 I worked in an aircraft factory, and there was a man who worked there who drove a 1988 Toyota Hilux dual-cab utility(or pick-up)which was converted by his father in the family garage.It used an electric motor from our local commuter trains,which have one driving each wheel.The motor was surprisingly small,and was hooked to the standard clutch and gearbox.Only the first three gears were used,and it cruised easily at 100km/h (60 mph), with a range of 120 km(70 miles)It was very reliable and accelerated quite briskly(and silently)He lived about 40 km away and it did the round trip with ease. It took about 8 hours and 75 cents to charge it at night.He had a gas driven car as well, but only used it when the electric one was charging, and for longer trips.The electric Hilux clocked up a lot more miles,so it was his primary car.The lead -acid batteries were located both in the engine bay and the rear tray, which still had some storage space left.The car was around the same weight as before, and its weight distribution was good.He had to use the brakes a little more, because of having no engine compression to decelarate the car.For obvious reasons, it also lacked Power Steering, air conditioning and a heater.It passed an engineer's inspection and was registered.The conversion was not terribly difficult or expensive.I saw it 9 years ago and have not seen or heard of another one since.The city streets should be full of them! Parking bays could have coin operated charging points,Powered by solar cells and wind generaters on the city's rooftops.It is all possible, it just takes the political will.It had a bumper sticker which read-"Eat my dust(minus the fumes)"