DC Motor Electric Car
Most Electric Cars use DC Motors as often the motor controllers are easier to make and cheaper than for AC Motors. Also, DC Motors are usually cheaper than an AC Motor of similar power and torque.
There are 2 main types of DC Motors used in Electric Cars and Electric Car Conversions:
- Brushed DC Motors
- Brushless DC Motors (BLDC Motors)
For the Brushed DC Motors that are used in Electric Cars and Electric Car Conversions, the most common types used are:
- Permanent Magnet DC Motors
- Series Wound DC Motors
- Shunt Wound DC Motors
- Separately Excited DC Motors
- Compound Wound DC Motors
Brushless DC Motors typically have less maintenance than Brushed DC Motors because Brushed DC Motors have brushes that make contact with the commutator to make connections. This contact results in wear and tear which means brushes require replacement. Brushless DC Motors don’t have brushes, but rely on electronics for their commutations. Some may argue that Brushless DC motors are really a type of AC motor. Others will argue that because the supply current is DC, it should be classified as a type of DC Motor. This article is not going to debate whether that is the case or not, but will use the terminology that you, as an Electric Car enthusiast will come across.
Each type of DC Motor listed above has different properties in terms how they need to be controlled. As a result, when selecting your Motor Controller, you have to ensure it is compatible with the type of Electric Motor you are trying to control. For example, if you use a Motor Controller designed for a Permanent Magnet DC Motor which is brushed, it will unlikely be suitable for a Brushless DC Motor.
Some manufacturers of DC Electric Motors include:
- Netgain
- Kostov
- Perm
- Mars
- Advanced DC
Some examples of Electric Cars that use DC motors are:
- Dave’s 1993 Geo Convertible – uses a permanent magnet DC motor.
- Duane Ball’s 1965 Porsche 904 Carrera GTS – uses a Netgain WarP 11 Series Wound DC
- Bill Hackney’s 1996 Dodge nEon – uses a Bendix Shunt Wound DC aircraft generator as a traction motor.
- Paul Zigouras’ 2000 Daewoo Leganza – uses an Advanced DC 8-inch Separately Excited DC Dual Shaft
- 3xE’s 2010 Volkswagen Caddy – uses a Brushless DC motor.
Check out Motors For Electric Cars Family Tree for more Electric Car Motor information.
Crazy Al signing out.
| Al Bunzel, also known as Crazy Al from ElectricCarConversionBlog.com has a passion for Electric Cars, Electric Vehicles and Electric Car Conversions. He has done an Electric Go Kart Conversion using an Electric Starter Motor that came from a small Industrial Kohler Gasoline Engine. You can read more about this conversion on http://electriccarconversionblog.com/electric-go-kart-story-part-1 |
Use of Electric cars should be encouraged in the country, its high time we work 4 our environment
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Hey its easy to convert a car into electric running and economical too!