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August 2004
If you are planning to do a battery electric vehicle conversion, but unsure of how big of a motor or batteries, check out these spreadsheets:
How much battery and drive power will you need for your commute?
With the Terrain and Energy spreadsheet you record your typical commute with a GPS, then upload the data into the spreadsheet. Enter your proposed vehicle's data (weight, drag coefficient, frontal area).
The spreadsheet will then calculate:
- the force to overcome the air resistance, rolling resistance and force required for driving up hills.
- the energy and power to accelerate to the specific speed
- the energy and power to maintain the specific speed
- the total energy required for the trip (helps with battery sizing)
- the average and max power required for the trip (helps with motor sizing)
How will different motors and gears compare?
With the Drive Power spreadsheet you can enter your proposed vehicle's data (weight, drag coefficient, frontal area)
and it will help to compare different drive motors at different speeds and gear ratios to help you decide which motor will be best for your needs.
Thanks to Lee Hart, Wayland and Ed, for the great ideas and editing.
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