[clug] Canberra electric vehicles group - first contact

[steve jenkin]

How's this all going???

This week on the New Inventors:
The 'slingshot' - 3kW, but switch limited to Road Legal 200W
<http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s2868444.htm>

And this is electric too.  Ben Gulak's 'Uno'
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uno_(dicycle)>
<http://bpgulak.com/>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXO4Ki8qsvk>


Paul Wayper wrote on 2/02/10 1:58 PM:

>  I don't think this is as true as you'd think. I had a quick look on  
>  ebay, and a used gokart is $2000+, for which you can get an ok car.  
>  Sure, the kart has a motor you can strip off and sell, but I think  
>  you're still talking about a lot of money for a development platform. 
>   [1] 
>  The initial idea was to go with a relatively standard road racing 
> frame that was fully CAMS certified so that there was a degree of 
> conformity to the racing. If you standardise the chassis, then the 
> important points become the drive train and (to a lesser extent) the 
> driver. In the future it might be opened up so the chassis design was 
> modifiable but in the short term that opens up too many problems, not 
> the least being getting CAMS certification for each group's chassis. 
> CAMS certification was seen as desirable to have it as an event that 
> would get wide-spread traction with both CAMS (they have an 
> Alternative Energy racing subgroup) and the wider motor racing 
> community. 
>  
>  The general objective was to open the eyes of the general public and 
> show them that electric cars could be fast, fun and a collaborative 
> process. Racing is one way of doing that; having electric cars on the 
> roads is another; having EV meetups like last years (with the Tesla in 
> attendance, which set a new hill climb record apparently) and is a 
> third; and so on. 
>  
>  Go-karts are fun, relatively simple, and most professional racing 
> drivers graduate from the high-end go-kart circuit. I see it more 
> likely that the smaller groups will get involved in electric go-carts, 
> but having the higher end there to appeal to more serious enthusiasts 
> and groups (I fully see the Canberra EV group getting together and 
> building one) is a good avenue for more serious racing fans. I also 
> think it would improve the credibility of electric vehicles as capable 
> of high-end racing. 
>  
>  Have fun, 
>  
>  Paul 
>    
>  
> Links: 
> ------ 
> [1] http://www.canberraev.org/ 
>  


-- 
Steve Jenkin, Info Tech, Systems and Design Specialist.
0412 786 915 (+61 412 786 915)
PO Box 48, Kippax ACT 2615, AUSTRALIA

sjenkin at canb.auug.org.au http://members.tip.net.au/~sjenkin