Eliica

Yes, the Eliica is amazing.


Successor to the Kaz:



They (like Tesla) concluded that a "SuperCar" was needed to get the general public excited about electric cars.
They too found the best engineers for all the components to make the best possible car with low cost not being a primary goal
(The Eliica uses over $150,000.00 of Japanese Li-Ion batteries)
(It is encouraging that Chinese factories can make similar batteries for a fraction of that cost, but is the quality OK? )

Unlike Tesla, they have embraced hub motors.
Unlike Tesla, they use permanent magnet motors, not inductance motors.
Unlike Tesla, they say they need a big manufacturing partner to get them into mass production.

( The Luciole is reminiscent of the Tango. )

The interesting thing to me about the Eliica design is it's large size and mass (unusual for an EV) and the use of eight wheels.

It's like, they could figure out how to make a good performing two-seater EV, but couldn't figure out how to make a four-door sedan work. Then somebody said hey, let's take all the components from two two-seater EVs and bodge them together into one vehicle!

At the end of the documentary, they finally got a car company to notice them -- Mitsubishi. I suppose one can say that this is a prelude to Mitsu's MIEV program.

Possibly explaining why Mitsubishi (apparently) got so excited about hub motors...

Straight line speed is not the only measure of a car. Dragsters would do quite poorly on any other kind of racetrack.

Have always though the Elica looks like it comes from The Thunderbirds set.

Would rather race a "Lotus" at Watkins Glen or Laguna Seca any day.

If you haven't already seen it, you should watch the documentary mentioned here...

IMHO, Eliica was just a proof of concept showcase vehicle. The intention was to apply the technology to more mainstream vehicles in future.


By the way, did everyone notice that "1n5p1r4t10n" is number jumble for "InSpIrAtIOn"?

1n5p1r4t10n said:

While I'm aware that the Tesla is capable of both, what you're saying is that they are not capable of both at the same time/it's either one or the other?

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I'm saying that during stages of development, before the upgraded power handling was possible, that yes, a two-ratio transmission was needed to meet both goals, given the other constraints that things were under, many of which are related to actually producing a reasonably practical car.

Anyway, the transmission is history, it's a simple gearbox now.

The Eliica, while interesting (I watched the hour-long special that was on HDNet a month back), doesn't seem terribly practical. Six wheels doesn't seem ideal, and watching them put the car together, it looked pretty clear that it would take a lot of work to get it street-legal. I do hope they feed the technology into other, more practical (and hopefully better looking) vehicles.

I'm wondering that if or when hub motors become practical for a street-legal car whether we get the same lower-end / higher-end separation with them that we get today with front-wheel-drive. That is, that the about-towners and sedate handling sedans that don't need every once of cornering or grip stay with a hub system if it proves cost and complexity advantageous, while sprts cars stay gearboxed with lighter unsprung weight.

The Eliica is pretty sweet but it doesn't exactly have "in-wheel" motors. The motors are attached to the backs of the rotors. The PML Flightlink Hi-Pa drive system are in-wheel motors.

Also I heard there are two versions of the Eliica, one for quickness (for the 0 to 60 in 4 seconds) and one for speed(for the 230 mph top speed).

A general overview of the vehicle's specs:

The public road test Eliica. Click to enlarge. The Keio University team behind the eight-wheeled electric Eliica (earlier post) has introduced the latest version of the speedster at the Tokyo Motor Show—a public road test car with a bit more of a roomy-sedan feel than the earlier record-setter.



The Eliica uses a lithium-ion battery pack (328V, 55kWh) and eight 60-kW in-wheel motors that generate 100 Nm of torque each to achieve a maximum vehicle speed of 370 km/h (230 mph) with acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.1 seconds.


The motor, reduction gear, wheel bearing, and braking system are integrated in a single unit, and the suspension arm adapter is attached to the outer motor casing. Because all the wheels are driven, spin is minimized and the vehicle can be easily controlled, even under difficult road conditions.


The Eliica—short for Electric Lithium-Ion battery Car—was created by Hiroshi Shimizu and the Keio University Electric Vehicle Laboratory in Tokyo.


The Eliica project is an industry-university cooperative project involving 35 companies and the research staff and students of Keio University.

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http://www.greencarcongress.com/2005/10/latest_version_.html

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