Hybrid Electric Horseless Carriage
In the summer of 2007, while taking a break from home renovations, I was cleaning out an old filing cabinet and ran across a forgotten set of plans for a gas powered replica horseless carriage that I had sent away for about ten years ago, thinking that it would make for a great retirement project some day.
Deeper in the filing cabinet, I found a copy of my University Thesis that I wrote back in 1969 on the feasibility of a Hybrid Electric Car.
What fun it would be to combine both concepts into an Electric Horseless Carriage!
So I started collecting all the special parts I would need - heavy duty bicycle wheels from the U.S., a 4 quadrant regenerating DC controller from England, electric motors from China, along with numerous sprockets, chains and hardware.
Here it is all done.
SPECIFICATION
Weight: 320 lb
Wheelbase: 57”
Track: 48”
Body: Steel Frame, Red Oak Body
Wheels: 26” x 3” Heavy Duty Spoke
Drive: 2 x 500W PM DC Electric (1.3 hp)
Fuel: 2 x 12v 90aH Lead-Acid Batteries
Brakes: Electric Regenerative + Mechanical Disk
Suspension: Elliptical Spring
Steering: Mechanical – Simple Ackerman
Aux Power: 1 hp gas driven DC alternator
Max speed: 20 mph
Range: 3 hrs on batteries only
I have to give a plug here for Ian Hopper whose design for the electric drive I copied almost exactly. He has a lot of experience with electric drive vehicles and that saved me months of experimentation. Detailed plans for some of his projects and a wealth of other information about electric vehicles at http://buggies.builtforfun.co.uk.
I also have to mention Jimmy Woods, who provided the design for the carriage itself. For some interesting background on Jimmy, please see http://www.smallcarplans.com/jimmywoodspage.htm