The Kneeslider

TerraCraft Tilting Enclosed Reverse Trike Concept

by Paul Crowe on 5/1/2013

TerraCraft tilting enclosed reverse trike with retractable canopy

This just came across my desk and it looks so interesting I thought I should take a break from what I was doing to put it out here. It's a new concept from a Texas based company called TerraCraft. It's a rear engine, tilting reverse trike with an enclosed body.

It has a tube frame, retractable canopy and, to my eye, one of the better looking designs so far. The team includes some ex NASA folks, courtesy of the downsizing of the space agency and gets design leadership from Foresee Car Design.

The project is still in the early stages, but one thing I like is their realistic price projections, ranging from $40 thousand to $80 thousand, depending on level of trim and option packages. They clearly state they are aiming at a niche market of buyers who have the resources to purchase something like this, no mass market pretensions are in their plans.

Like so many other startups, this one may go nowhere, but if it does, it would certainly look good while doing so. Check it out.

Link: TerraCraft

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What is Horsepower and Torque?

by Paul Crowe on 4/21/2013

in Engines

Since this discussion happens so often, as it has, again, on the previous post, it's about time we explain horsepower and torque and how they relate. There are a lot of misconceptions, but there doesn't have to be because both are straightforward terms used everyday when motor vehicles (and a lot of other things) are discussed.

Please read this entire article carefully before commenting. You'll see where that 5252 number comes from and you'll see why you can't talk about horsepower and disregard torque anymore than you can discuss an omelet and ignore the eggs.

You gotta start somewhere, this is a good place.

Every motorhead wants more horsepower, but what exactly IS horsepower? What does it measure? Horsepower is an arbitrary unit created from a common reference point that everyone can understand. In today's world of advanced scientific instruments, horsepower hangs on, even though it is a little imprecise. Those keepers of the units and standards that quantify everything with precision would rather toss out this well known measure and substitute kilowatts. That Corvette has 298.28 kilowatts, hmm... 400hp just sounds better.

Where did horsepower come from?

James Watt, who did quite a bit of work on steam engines back in the 1700's, needed a way to measure their output. Watt used a common reference, the horse, as the basis for his calculations (like the inch was based on the width of a man's thumb). The exact process he followed to find out what a horse could do is open to speculation, everyone seems to have their own favorite story, but the end result was: 1 horsepower = 550 foot-pounds per second, which means, in Watt's calculations, a horse can lift 550 pounds one foot in one second.
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Torq Roadster From Epic Electric Vehicles Puts Electric Power in a 3 Wheel Package

by Paul Crowe on 4/19/2013

in Electric motorcycles, Three Wheel Vehicles

Torq Roadster from Epic Electric Vehicles, 612 foot pounds of torque, 0-60 in 4 seconds

When I first saw the Torq Roadster, it brought flashbacks of the patent drawings of the Slingshot we wrote about a couple of months ago and since Polaris does have an electric vehicle division, well, the connection seemed logical, but it's not the case. The Torq Roadster comes from Epic Electric Vehicles, the same folks who built an electric wake boat and an electric ATV. They just decided to build something for the road.

Torq Roadster from Epic Electric Vehicles

Specs:

0-60 - 4 seconds
1.3 lateral G
612 foot pounds of torque
300+ horsepower DC electric motor
range - 100 miles

It's front wheel drive so who needs two rear wheels? The carbon fiber body over a steel chassis keeps it light, 2200 pounds, and you can get it in multiple levels of trim and power train performance. It's very tunable, you can upgrade the suspension, rewind the armature, upgrade the brushes, modify the controller, add batteries, that sort of thing so you're looking at the hot rodding of the future if you're into electric vehicles. They use a lot of VW components for suspension and steering to make it easy to source parts from anywhere since they do plan to sell it worldwide.

Torq Roadster from Epic Electric Vehicles,

Unlike the Elio 3 wheeler, this one isn't cheap, batteries, electric motors and controllers, not to mention carbon fiber, make this a high end, high tech ride. It's not surprising a former Tesla exec bought the first production model. I didn't see pricing anywhere but they need a $10,000 deposit to reserve a 2013 model.

It doesn't look bad and is probably a lot of fun to drive. Check it out and see what you think.

Thanks for the tip, Steve.

Link: Torq EV

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