Motor vehicles – Special wheel base – Having only three wheels
Patent
1991-02-04
1994-09-06
Hill, Mitchell J.
Motor vehicles
Special wheel base
Having only three wheels
180312, 280781, B62D 6106
Patent
active
053439732
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The invention relates to a lightweight electric vehicle comprising two front wheels and one rear wheel. Vehicles of this kind have been known for many years in connection with solar-powered vehicle racing. An electric vehicle manufactured by Horlacher AG of Mohlin, and licensed for road traffic, comprises a self-supporting fibre-reinforced plastic body which at the same time forms the outer contour and has to take all the loading forces. To achieve adequate side stability and a low frontal area it has large-track free-standing front wheels. However, these could easily be overlooked in traffic and also give a relatively considerable vehicle width. The known lightweight vehicles still have a power consumption of at least 50 Wh/km at normal private car speeds of 80 km/h. Nor can they keep up in normal traffic, while as a result of their width they are not easy to overtake. Their overall safety is unsatisfactory as well. In addition, the low energy density of current batteries is a very considerable limitation to the possible travelling performance and range. Self-supporting plastic bodies are also known. For example, EP 0184 177 A3 discloses a relatively wide self-supporting body which is usable for electric vehicles and which consists of a non-reinforced plastics shell with integrated metal profiles, e.g. for use as a rubbish disposal vehicle. This construction, however, gives only low strength and it is unsuitable for fast electric vehicles.
It is therefore the object of this invention to provide a lightweight electric vehicle which can keep up with fast everyday traffic in regional areas without obstructing the traffic flow. More particularly, it should enable the single commuter to drive to work substantially Just as fast as with a car. At the same time, there should be minimum energy consumption and high overall safety, particularly in respect of less well protected traffic such as pedestrians, cyclists and children. Overall there should be a vastly improved combination cf the most important properties: travel performance, consumption, and hence high battery costs, overall safety and occupation of traffic area.
This problem is solved according to the invention, to which end the lightweight vehicle comprises a load-bearing narrow box-shaped or shell-shaped chassis having at least one front transverse connection and one rear transverse connection surrounding the driver in the form of a safety cell, the front wheels being situated outside the chassis. The vehicle also comprises a separate lightweight plastics body which forms an aerodynamic slender outer shape covering all the wheels while the chassis is of high-strength and rigid construction. This combination gives both a very low weight and low air resistance and hence minimal energy consumption and in turn reduced battery weight requirements. Owing to great manoeuvrability and its slender form, the vehicle can rapidly and in the smallest space avoid an impending collision (with a car or pedestrian). The narrow width, being by far the most important criterion in traffic area occupation, enables two vehicles according to the invention to be situated side by side on a normal traffic lane in principle. Thus the vehicle, while having the narrow traffic width of a powered cycle, reaches practically normal private car transportation speed. This means that the traffic area occupation is vastly reduced to about half. Overtaking is also facilitated and safer, both for faster cars and in cases in which the vehicle overtakes cyclists in two-way traffic. Thus mutual obstruction is greatly reduced. The amount of parking area required is less than hall that of a private car.
One of the advantages of the vehicle is that, a flat low-lying chassis base gives a very low centre of gravity with correspondingly good road holding. Preferably, the maximum width of the chassis can be not more than 70 cm (e.g. 60 to 65 cm) and the maximum width of the body, which is fully utilised by the front wheels, can be not more than 110 cm (e.g. even just 100 cm). The chassis can taper wed
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Automotive Engineering, vol. 93, No. 5, May 1985 (Warrendale, Pa.), p. 92.
Dickson Paul
Hill Mitchell J.
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