The AC vs DC debate will never end. That's probably a good thing. Still, I often think that it's not really AC vs DC, it's series motor vs almost everything else.
Most motors have torque curves very different from ICEs, but the series motor especially so - enough that in some situation you find yourself UPSHIFTING when you want to accelerate. To me, that feels weird, even after many years. I also miss pedal-lift deceleration. The AC induction I've used seems more "natural" (if there is such a thing), including the regen that's usually designed in. But so does sep-ex DC with a well-designed and matched controller. Sep-ex still have brushes, which require a little more maintenance, though usually not much. Series motors have gobs of low-end torque. Series motor controllers are simpler, and thus cheaper for the amount of torque and power they can produce. I suppose that makes series motors good for drag racing, or other applications where you want a lot of raw brawn for the buck (such as forklifts). IMO, AC and sep-ex are more "civilized" for routine driving. That may be one of the reasons they're more often used on the factory road EVs. I don't know of any current factory road EV that uses a series motor, but maybe someone else does. David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA EVDL Administrator = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
