Solectria Sunrise - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Solectria Sunrise was an innovative electric passenger car

Electric car

An electric car is an automobile which is propelled by electric motor, using electrical energy stored in batteries or another energy storage device. Electric cars were popular in the late-19th century and early 20th century, until advances in internal combustion engine technology and mass...

, designed to be as efficient as possible to produce long range from available battery technology.

Created by Solectria Corporation of Woburn, Massachusetts

Woburn, Massachusetts

Woburn is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, USA. The population was 38,120 at the 2010 census. Woburn is located north of Boston, Massachusetts, and just south of the intersection of I-93 and I-95.- History :...

(now Azure Dynamics Corporation), it was never produced beyond several prototypes, although significant effort was made to make the design worthy of mass-production — including crash testing.

The Sunrise is known for having achieved 375 miles (603.5 km) on a single charge, during the 1996 American Tour de Sol competition. A Sunrise was driven 217 miles (349.2 km) from Boston to New York city "on a single battery charge, negotiating everyday traffic and highway speeds up to 65 miles per hour" (104 km/h) .

Specifications

Body
- Composite, monocoque unibody shell
- Coefficient of Drag (Cd) approximately 0.17
Dimensions
- length 176" (447 cm)
- width 74" (188 cm)
- height 52" (132 cm)
- wheelbase
  Wheelbase
  In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels.- Road :In automobiles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the center of the front wheel and the center of the rear wheel...
  
  104" (264 cm)
Weights
- curb weight
  Curb weight
  Curb weight or kerb weight is the total weight of a vehicle with standard equipment, all necessary operating consumables , a full tank of fuel, while not loaded with either passengers or cargo.This definition may differ from definitions used by governmental regulatory agencies or other...
  
  without batteries 1433 lb (650 kg)
- payload
  Cargo
  Cargo is goods or produce transported, generally for commercial gain, by ship, aircraft, train, van or truck. In modern times, containers are used in most intermodal long-haul cargo transport.-Marine:...
  
  682 lb (309 kg)
- GVWR 2979 lb (1351 kg)
Drive system
- 50 kW Solectria AC
  AC power
  Power in an electric circuit is the rate of flow of energy past a given point of the circuit. In alternating current circuits, energy storage elements such as inductance and capacitance may result in periodic reversals of the direction of energy flow...
  
  induction motor
  Induction motor
  An induction or asynchronous motor is a type of AC motor where power is supplied to the rotor by means of electromagnetic induction. These motors are widely used in industrial drives, particularly polyphase induction motors, because they are robust and have no brushes...
  
  , inverter
  Inverter (electrical)
  An inverter is an electrical device that converts direct current to alternating current ; the converted AC can be at any required voltage and frequency with the use of appropriate transformers, switching, and control circuits....
  
  , driving front wheels via Geo Metro transaxle
  Transaxle
  In the automotive field, a transaxle is a major mechanical component that combines the functionality of the transmission, the differential, and associated components of the driven axle into one integrated assembly....
Batteries
- 24 GM
  General Motors
  General Motors Company , commonly known as GM, formerly incorporated as General Motors Corporation, is an American multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Detroit, Michigan and the world's second-largest automaker in 2010...
  
  /Ovonic Nickel metal hydride battery
  Nickel metal hydride battery
  A nickel–metal hydride cell, abbreviated NiMH, is a type of rechargeable battery similar to the nickel–cadmium cell. The NiMH battery uses a hydrogen-absorbing alloy for the negative electrode instead of cadmium. As in NiCd cells, the positive electrode is nickel oxyhydroxide...
  
  , 12v 90ah
  Ampere-hour
  An ampere-hour or amp-hour is a unit of electric charge, with sub-units milliampere-hour and milliampere second...
Suspension
- front: 1994 Geo Metro MacPherson strut
  MacPherson strut
  The MacPherson strut is a type of car suspension system which uses the axis of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in modern vehicles and named after Earle S. MacPherson, who developed the design.-History:...
- rear: 1994 Dodge Neon
  Dodge Neon
  The Plymouth/Dodge Neon, sold in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere outside the United States as the Chrysler Neon, is a compact front wheel drive car introduced in January 1994 for the 1995 model year by Chrysler Corporation's Dodge and Plymouth brands...
  
  MacPherson strut
  MacPherson strut
  The MacPherson strut is a type of car suspension system which uses the axis of a telescopic damper as the upper steering pivot. It is widely used in modern vehicles and named after Earle S. MacPherson, who developed the design.-History:...
- coil spring
  Spring (device)
  A spring is an elastic object used to store mechanical energy. Springs are usually made out of spring steel. Small springs can be wound from pre-hardened stock, while larger ones are made from annealed steel and hardened after fabrication...
  
  s with airbag
  Airbag
  An Airbag is a vehicle safety device. It is an occupant restraint consisting of a flexible envelope designed to inflate rapidly during an automobile collision, to prevent occupants from striking interior objects such as the steering wheel or a window...
  
  s
- manual Rack and pinion
  Rack and pinion
  A rack and pinion is a type of linear actuator that comprises a pair of gears which convert rotational motion into linear motion. A circular gear called "the pinion" engages teeth on a linear "gear" bar called "the rack"; rotational motion applied to the pinion causes the rack to move, thereby...
  
  steering
Brakes
- manual, Geo Metro front disk, Dodge Neon
  Dodge Neon
  The Plymouth/Dodge Neon, sold in Europe, Mexico, Canada, and elsewhere outside the United States as the Chrysler Neon, is a compact front wheel drive car introduced in January 1994 for the 1995 model year by Chrysler Corporation's Dodge and Plymouth brands...
  
  drum rear
- regenerative braking
Tire
Tire
A tire or tyre is a ring-shaped covering that fits around a wheel rim to protect it and enable better vehicle performance by providing a flexible cushion that absorbs shock while keeping the wheel in close contact with the ground...

s
- 13" Geo Metro tires
Performance
- 0-30 mph: 6 seconds
- 0-60 mph: 17 seconds
- range, Nickel metal hydride battery
  Nickel metal hydride battery
  A nickel–metal hydride cell, abbreviated NiMH, is a type of rechargeable battery similar to the nickel–cadmium cell. The NiMH battery uses a hydrogen-absorbing alloy for the negative electrode instead of cadmium. As in NiCd cells, the positive electrode is nickel oxyhydroxide...
  
  : 400 miles (643 km) at 30 mph (48 km/h), 200 miles (321 km)at 60 mph (96 km/h).

Kit version

In 2005, a single prototype as well as the moulds necessary to produce the composite chassis and body were sold and now belong to a hobbyist-led project to produce a similar vehicle as kits, to be known as the Sunrise EV2. See Sunrise-ev.com.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Specifications

Kit version

See also

External links