3 replies to this topic

[xrocketengineer]

https://jalopnik.com...eady-1833755033

 

[Spider]

Interesting Read and loved the puns of course.

 

In some ways, they were innovative but when it came to what actually got on the shelves (and in to our cars), they never quite 'got there' .

[DeadSquare]

Gosh, that brings back memories.

 

I recall overhearing a discussion at a motoring event, at which it was explained that Lucas would have preferred something less like a box, but the Ogle team insisted that is should be easy for a 6' 3" man to enter and sit in, wearing his Bowler Hat.

[Cooperman]

That brings back memories.

Ogle were basically a styling organisation and Lucas contracted with them to design an electric taxi.

My company were contracted by Ogle to take care of the detail design of the chassis and power unit installation, which was, of course, a Lucas unit. We were asked to use COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) components where possible. We also included a 'quick-change' battery pack' so that the taxi could 're-fuel' with a new pack at any number of battery change stations. The idea of a comprehensive infra-structure of these stations was mentioned as being necessary.

As it was front-wheel-drive, we used BLMC Princess 1800/220 drive shafts and CV joints, despite the fact that these would not allow the required turning circle for a London taxi.

The primary chassis concept design was by the guy who designed the Reliant Scimitar chassis (John Crosthwaite?)..

It worked OK as a development tool, the only driving problem being that the huge torque of the electric motor broke the CV joints when power was applied with lock on. We solved this by getting Lucas to put on a resistor to limit power when lock was being applied.

The big problem was the level of battery technology back in 1975. Around 50% of the electrical charge of the taxi was being used to move the batteries and a taxi rarely runs at a steady cruising speed. Range was around 45 to 50 miles and thus impractical for a taxi.

My company also worked on the Bedford CF Electric Van. We worked with a composites company on this and I proposed using a small 3-cylinder turbo-charged diesel engine and a smaller battery pack to create a 'Diesel-Electric' vehicle. There was no interest in this as it was deemed 'impractical'.How times change!