"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv)
04/24/2020 at 10:34 • Filed to: None
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"Jim Spanfeller" (awesomeaustinv)
04/24/2020 at 10:34 • Filed to: None | 0
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This Checker Marathon with two front ends got me thinking about electric cars...
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Why? Well, there are a lot of problems and engineering challenges that come with building a car that has two front ends, or a “Pushmi-Pullyu car” as they’re often called. Ideally, you’d want it to be able to be driven from either end, as that’s the biggest novelty/party trick of a Pushmi-Pullyu car, and this can be a tricky thing to do well. This Checker is really just some weird bodywork on a normal chassis and can only be driven from one end, but a common solution to making it drivable from either end is to start with a fwd car, and have an engine at both ends.
Problem is, then you’re always dragging a useless, heavy lump of engine around that you can’t use. You’re never able to take advantage of both engines at once. Trying to come up with a more unusual drivetrain (reversible two- stroke engines, perhaps ?) to solve the problem is still fraught with compromises .
Unless... Modern technology can solve all the problems. It occurs to me that the perfect answer is an electric drivetrain! Electric cars don’t need transmissions, and electric motors can spin just as fast backwards as forwards, so y ou can plop an electric motor or two at both front ends of the car and make it perfectly sym metrical and capable of the same performance no matter what direction it’s going! Not only that, but it gets rid of the fact that having an engine at both ends prevents you from having a usable trunk. With an electric drivetrain, you can have two frunks, so it’s a practical, usable two-nosed car!
Normally I don’t get too excited about electric cars, but I can’t deny that an electric drivetrain is just so much better for this very specific novelty application than any ICE drivetrain could ever be. A double -ended electric would make an epic project car, provided you have the electrical skills to make it work that way.
So if any car companies are wondering how to really make me want an electric car, just give it two front ends, please and thank you!
ttyymmnn
> Jim Spanfeller
04/24/2020 at 10:45 |
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Jim Spanfeller
> ttyymmnn
04/24/2020 at 10:49 |
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I always wondered how that thing would poop...
“(sigh) I t’s time again. Your turn, Jerry”
“Crap. I hate doing this.”
Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
> Jim Spanfeller
04/24/2020 at 10:57 |
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I don’t even think the wiring would be too different if you forgo power steering at the other end. That is a good idea, but most electric cars are still too expensive to hack up. And dirt cheap electric cars almost always are cheap because their batteries are shot. So the price floor for working electric cars may be higher than ICE cars because the expensive batteries will always be worth something when functional.
ranwhenparked
> Jim Spanfeller
04/24/2020 at 11:00 |
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That would make getting in and out of tight spaces easier. Maybe combine it with that idea GM did on one of their hydrogen concepts where they had a glass panel across the front down by the driver’s feet so you have a low down to the ground view in front. Helpful for pulling in as far as you can go in small garages and the like.
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Jim Spanfeller
> Who is the Leader - 404 / Blog No Longer Available
04/24/2020 at 11:30 |
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It’s certainly not the cheapest solution, but the best from a drive ability/practicality standpoint. I take novelty cars way too seriously...