[toddshotrods]

First, the name "Inhaler" is meant to suggest that the car is like a medicinal inhaler for an ailing atmosphere.

I decided to take a few steps back and build a slightly more conventional hot rod first. The goal is a very light, really powerful, street-legal, electric, race car; in vintage American form. As for what the actual body, and registered make/model, will be: right I am leaning heavily towards a 23 Ford Model T, using a cheap aftermarket T-bucket body, turtle deck and custom nose, to start developing it. I say to start because after all the changes are made, molds would be taken for a carbon fiber or aluminum body.

The chassis is already under construction. It's a custom built frame with 2x3" rails, and 4-link GM (G-body) rear suspension. I still have to do the front suspension, which I think will be SLA IFS. It's currently in storage, as I relocated about five months ago. I should be going to get it soon, and will have pics then.

The theme for the vehicle is a heavy 60s Indy Car influence without loosing the identity of the original car. There will be a lot of things done to it that are contradictory to conventional EV think, such as wide tires for traction. This vehicle is first and foremost a marketing tool for me to promote my design skills, but I am also taking the opportunity to promote EVs seriously.

On to the technical side of things: I am guesstimating a final weight under 1200lbs. It will be a conventional front-engine/rear-drive layout, with the electric motor up front driving a solid rear-end in back. In between, I am planning to use a 3spd manual transmission as a mode selector. First gear will provide gearing for maximum acceleration, second for general driving, and third for top speed runs.

I waited until something actually happened beyond ideas and designs to post this thread, and today a truck brought this:



The plan is to use it as-is to get the car setup, and actually functional (at golf cart speeds) during events. Later I will have it rebuilt into a full-on race motor. I have a 300amp Alltrax AXE 4834 coming to go with the motor in the exhibition phase, and plan to run 48 volts of flooded cells. When I get to the racing aspect, I plan to run LiFePO4s.

When the guy actually rolled this thing in the garage I was grinning from ear to ear! Since my early conversations with JR3P about building an EV, I have been drooling over the thought of an 11" motor, and seeing it in person was beyond awesome. It's HUGE!!!

After I get the car here the next step is getting the motor hooked up to the transmission, and installed in the car. For that I will be doing a custom coupler and adapter. The coupler looks like pretty straight-forward fabrication stuff. The output shaft is drilled and tapped already in the end, which makes my idea for connecting the coupler very easy. I am going to design the coupler to fit all the way onto the shaft, with adequate clearance for the bearing, and be secured with a bolt that fits into the aforementioned threaded hole. This will positively lock the coupler, without worry of a set screw working loose. If possible, I will also try to set it up so the transmission input shaft is close enough to the lock bolt to prevent it from backing out - should Loctite Red, and a tapered seat, fail. I may start on CAD models of this setup soon.

As for the adapter plate: it will most likely be a fully CNC-machined custom part. I am itching to get started on the model, but can't do that until I get the transmission here.

Thoughts, comments?