Energy that is used to power the electric cars is stored in batteries. To run an AC motor you have to convert the DC from the battery to AC current.

To make it simpler, a DC motor should be used as it can be driven by DC current.

of dollars?

I know the awnser to this, I am just curious to see your replies and of course I had to keep to the q and a format.

It just goes to show what lengths people will go to to keep making money, even if it is obstructing the greater good.

No. They were paid to make electric cars, hence, the Chevy Volt.
Your second detail entry reveals what you think the answer is. Think about it like this: they need to sell cars, and we don’t need to buy them, so they have to change their cars to please us, and so they did.

I was thinking about turning my car significantly more green, and would like to convert my car from a Regular Gasoline Engine into a car that uses four electric wheel motors (instead of a single electric motor and transmission), a semi-large li-ion battery pack, and a gasoline generator with good efficiency. Is there material on the web to help me understand the process? Is there a company that does these kinds of conversions? How easy is it to find electric wheel motors?
Yes, thats genius, replace my non-hybrid with a hybrid that costs TWICE as much, and gets the same fuel efficiency! Thats FREAKING GENIUS!!! No, seriously, why would I go for an expensive hybrid that gets worse fuel efficiency than my car. How about, instead, you say something productive, like "I can’t find any". In all reality, it would be easier to make a car 100% green if it already had all the right parts, but was powered by a gasoline generator. At any point, I could charge it in any number of different ways, but for now, baby steps.

http://www.energy.gov/energysources/electricpower.htm

They built it in 1888. In 1896 the Woods Motor Vehicle Company became the first American manufacturer of the electric car. It was a good product; by 1904 one third of all the cars in Chicago, New York City and Boston were electric powered. And then by 1912 there were 20,000 electric cars and 10,000 electric trucks and buses in the United States. What happened here? Where did they go? And why am i paying 3.45 a gallon for a gas powered vehicle?

The people who had leased the ones from Ford loved them. They fought to buy them after their leases were up, but were not allowed. Big Oil wanted those cars out of here so they could inundate us with huge SUV’s and get everyone hooked on massive gas consumption. They went out of the US.

Too bad.

Lets face it F1 has been going on about the new KERS this is a good start to reusable energy. So what do you think if F1 was to switch to electric cars. This would benefit future road cars with better motors and batteries instead of wasting all this great talent on combustion technology that will no longer be needed in a few years.
Another flip side to this is ma by some countries would come on as sponsors to benefit clean new car tech.
Lets face it F1 has been going on about the new KERS this is a good start to reusable energy. So what do you think if F1 was to switch to electric cars. This would benefit future road cars with better motors and batteries instead of wasting all this great talent on combustion technology that will no longer be needed in a few years.
Smooth liar Are you always insulting in your replies. For those that have not seen the sort performance from electric cars try here: http://wwf.org.au/articles/racing-to-revive-the-electric-car
Now don’t get me wrong as I have been a car nut since I was a boy but when petrol hits 200 dollars a barrel again it will be hard to maintain a high performance car.
The Tesla below proves that it would be possible to go race distance on a battery car.
I also like the idear of hydrogen cars.
2009 Tesla Roadster
Perf Spec
0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds
Top Speed 125 mph (electronically limited)
R
Smooth liar Are you always insulting in your replies. For those that have not seen the sort performance from electric cars try here: http://wwf.org.au/articles/racing-to-rev…
Now don’t get me wrong as I have been a car nut since I was a boy but when petrol hits 200 dollars a barrel again it will be hard to maintain a high performance car.
The Tesla below proves that it would be possible to go race distance on a battery car.
I also like the idear of hydrogen cars.
2009 Tesla Roadster
Performance Specifications
0 to 60 mph in under 4 seconds
Top Speed 125 mph (electronically limited)
Range about 220 miles

I agree with Julian. Electric batteries are polluting and they have a limited life. Hydrogen seems to be the right choice. But it has to be fully developped.

Meanwhile F1 should use cleaner fuels and reduce the amount of testing laps. They have already reduced testing.

www.teslamotors.com

Heck yes, I’d buy one or any electric car that that got around 120 MPC (miles per charge). I sat down and figured out what my vehicle needs are and on my "worst" day I’d put on 84 miles and that happens only 1 day a month. The one 42 mile each way trip I need to make once a month can be done in the company gas burner (company business anyway). As for driving the 325 miles to my dad’s house for Christmas I’d go down to Rent A Wreck, rent a prius with the dollars I didn’t spend on gas the rest of the year and still have a fatter wallet.

Driving an EV is far more convenient than people realize. Get home at night, plug the car in, eat dinner and go to bed. Get up in the morning, get dressed, unplug the car and leave everyday with a full load of "fuel". Only 2 minor steps added to the usual routine and you’ve made the world a little better. A gas car doesn’t self fill at night an since you don’t want to visit the gas station on a daily basis 300 miles is a light range requirement.

As for me I would prefer to go electric. I have my eye on a car called the eBox. It has the practicality I need and the performance to make me forget that it runs on batteries. I love the thought of passing gas stations. Reducing my CO2 emissions is just a bonus. I’m getting tired of paying turban wearing zealots to try and kill me and my friends.

Anyone who says that "all cars should be electric" or "all cars should be fuel powered" isn’t in touch. Just as no one car style will satisfy everybody, no one propulsion technology will work for everybody. There is room on the road for both types. But the oil companies and the car manufacturers don’t see it that way (lost profits).

My roommate is of the opinion that the electric car has to have a 300 mile range and recharge in 5 min. If it doesn’t, it’s not ever going to succeed as if the electric car is the ONLY option. I’ve analyzed his driving and a 60 mile EV would do him fine. Gavin Shoebirdge built an electric car http://www.kiwiev.com it only has a range of about 40 miles which covers all of his driving and takes over 8 hours to recharge. For that once a month trip his friend has promised to loan Gavin his gas burner.

And also what is the difference between AC & DC motors
Not just car motors.

There are two main types of electric motors. There are direct current or DC and alternating current or AC motors. The reference of DC or AC refers to how the electrical current is transferred through and from the motor. Both types of motors have different functions and uses. Dc motors come in two general types. They can have brushes or be brushless. AC motors, as well, come in two different types. They can be two phase or three phase. The differences in DC and AC motors are sometimes subtle, but these differences are what make one types better for a certain use.

Direct current or DC electric motors work for situations where speed needs to be controlled. DC motors have a stable and continuous current. DC motors were the first and earliest motors used. They were found, however, to not be as good at producing power over long lengths. Electric companies found using DC motors to generate electric did not work because the power was lost as the electric was transmitted. Brush DC motors use rings that conduct the current and form the magnetic drive that powers the rotor. Brushless DC motors use a switch to produce the magnetic drive that powers the rotor. Direct current motors are often found in appliances around the home.

Alternating current or AC electric motors are used differently based on what type of AC motor it is. Single phase AC motors are known as general purpose motors. They work well in many different situations. These AC motors work great for systems that are hard to start because they need a lot of power up front. Three phase, also called polyphase, AC motors are usually found in industrial settings. These motors also have high starting power built transmit lower levels of overall power. AC power gets its name from the fact that it alternates in power. The amount of power given off by an AC motor is determined by the amount of power needed to operate the system.

DC and AC electric motors are found everywhere from the home to the car to industrial plants. Motors are important to everyday life. Dc motors were introduced and caused a great revolution in the way many things are done. When AC motors came on the market the way motors were looked at changed because of their amazing starting power potential. DC motors and AC motors are different in many ways, but they still both are usede to power the world.
Hope you found the answer….

Does anyone know of an active place to discuss and learn more about electric motor design? Specificaly, pancake or hub motors commonly used on electric bikes and newer hybrid cars.

Start by googling Beakman motors

Namely its acceleration. I see electric motors all the time and know how insanly quick they accelerate. But how fast is an electric cars?
How long would it take to go from 0-100km/h

well, that depends. consider:

a golf cart is an electric car. 0-15 in a few seconds.

the Tesla is also an electric car. 0-100 (km/h) in about 4 seconds, if i remember correctly.

, do you not need any transmission at all with an electric motor?
It seems to me that GM cancelled that project because after a few years you could replace the batteries and have a car that was as reliable as a new car. Then people would’nt want to trade in their old cars, because they were afraid their old car would crap out on them and they would be stranded.

The GM EV1 has the motor directly driving the single-speed reduction gear (i.e. fixed gear ratio). There is no multispeed gear-shifting.

Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive also uses a fixed gear ratio with no gear-shifting.

You can use a multispeed gear-shifting transmission with electric cars though.. The Tesla Roadster is supposed to have a 2-speed transmission to allow for quicker acceleration, but they are still ironing bugs out of that system. Currently, the Roadsters are delivered with a lockout that disables the gear shifting, and they will retrofit the car when the problems with the tranny has been fixed.