Australian student invents affordable electric-car-conversion kit
www.dezeen.com
Australian design student Alexander Burton has developed a prototype kit for cheaply converting petrol or diesel cars to hybrid electric.
      • TenderfootGungi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        2·
        1 year ago

        I wish they were in the US. People raise their trucks up a foot or two dand set the wheels out wide (wider than fenders is illegal, but have never seen enforced). They usually change the wheels for wider tires, but adding wheel spacers is common.

  • Usernameblankface@lemmy.worldEnglish
    10·
    1 year ago

    That looks very familiar. I saw something similar advertised in a Popular Mechanics. I don't remember whether it was an article or an ad, but it was there.

  • Haraknos@jlai.luEnglish
    72·
    1 year ago

    It sounds like a hoax… How can such a small thing pull a 1,5 Tons vehicule ? And why is there so few data about this ? At the same time I really want to try this, please let this be real!

  • rikonium@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    2·
    1 year ago

    If y'all remember that Kia Soul that got launched by a wheel, it’s a more dramatic example but a potential downside to what amounts to a spacer. It’s certainly a cool proof-of-concept but I can’t see it taking off since I doubt it’ll be as efficient as a factory hybrid and the upfront cost, labor, troubleshooting, explaining it to a mechanic will eat fuel savings.

  • atzanteol@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    21·
    1 year ago

    Conversion to a hybrid seems more complicated, not less.

    They're adding a bunch of weight to the rear wheels - I'm sure that's going to effect things? How does it trade-off with the ICE smoothly? How much per model customization is needed?

    It's an interesting idea - but there are a lot of details being left out…