<VV> Re: TONNAGE no internal combustion Corvair

[Frank DuVal]

What type of DC motor are you running?

 From a motor standpoint, you have your terms backwards.
Induction AC motors, the most common, are the ones that don't 
regenerative brake well, because they do not act as alternators. Most DC 
motors will act as generators, therefore can regenerative brake.  For an 
AC motor to be used for regenerative braking, it typically would be a 
synchronus motor with brushes. Just like a Corvair alternator.

Regenerative braking is just placing a load across the motor terminals 
while the motor acts as a generator. The ability to do useable work 
(like charge a battery)  with an AC motor just became possible easily 
with newer electronic methods because of the varying frequency of the AC 
motor output as speed changes. DC just needed to be a higher voltage 
output than the battery that needed charging.

Just play electric street car with your rampy and place a load across 
your DC motor terminals when you need to brake. Yes you need to 
dissapate heat, but better than dissapating it with brake shoes and drums.

Frank DuVal


TiM M wrote:

>     Unfortunately my truck doesn't have regenerative
>braking. Lifting my foot off the pedal is the
>equivalent of shifting into neutral, it only slows
>down if I'm going up hill. It's very difficult to
>implement regenerative braking on a DC motor, it comes
>naturally to a AC motor, but they cost more.
>     Fading could be a problem, I'm probably going to
>go with Kevlar shoes when these wear out. I try to
>avoid as many big hills as I can, too much power to
>climb them, then I toast the brakes on the other side.
>     Being electric it's much easier on the clutch. I
>put it in gear and release the clutch before I apply
>power. The only time the clutch slips is when I hit
>the pedal too hard from a stop while leaving it in
>third. I figure this is my safety release that
>preserves the rear end and axles. ;-)
>
>TiM
>
>'61 Electric Rampside
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