Vectrix motor

Dont forget, the Vectrix is by now an old design... as far as the VX-1 goes. There's probably plenty of room for 20/20 hindsight on some design aspects that hopefully will be corrected in future versions of the bike, as long as they are feasable both designwise and financially. It is very easy now to sit back and say "what were they thinking", but, if taken back to the time the blueprints were just being inked, NOBODY, had thought of some of the things involved in building the Vectrix. I say hats off to them for getting the ball rolling.

I do not see that liquid cooling the VECTRIX motor would improve the range, as overheating of the VECTRIX motor is not generally occurring! What really needs better cooling on the VECTRIX, is the BATTERY, as its nickel-metal hydride battery can, and often does, overheat! (For serious highway usage, the standard battery is really too undersized,and not suited for usage in very warm climates, due to its limited upper temperature range)--Hopefully, a replacement/upgraded battery pack will better address real-world demands of a vehicle such as the VECTRIX!--Lithium Polymer seems the BEST choice, in terms of size, weight, endurance, and range, and due to reduced internal resistance, overheating would be a much smaller problem, as less heat would be generasted! I would LOVE my VECTRIX with a 60 AH lithium-Polymer (KOKAM ?)battery pack!--Bob

Dont forget, the Vectrix is by now an old design... as far as the VX-1 goes

If memory serve me correctly, I believe the idea of the Vectrix maxi-scooter was initiated in 1997 - when it was lead acid that was the currently battery technology. I would have thought taking 10 years to come to market would have cost a serious amount of £££s but I'm glad it finally saw the light of day.

Ok so if the batteries are the over heating problem, then why not fit the batteries on top of a liquid cooled tray?

That way the heat could pass through the bottom of the batteries straight onto the tray and the heat would be removed, add a bit of ventilation and the tray would keep cool and so would the batteries.

Hi,
liquid cooling would be great,because it is very eficient. The problem is the lack of space in the battery-bay
and that the cells are organised in 12 packs laying in three layers. Many meters of tubes would be necessary, a
pump etc.
A greater air-intake would bee a great advantage for the cooling the actual bike.

Greetings Mike

Ok so if the batteries are the over heating problem, then why not fit the batteries on top of a liquid cooled tray?

That way the heat could pass through the bottom of the batteries straight onto the tray and the heat would be removed, add a bit of ventilation and the tray would keep cool and so would the batteries.

I heard though that liquid cooled motors were much more efficient than air cooled.

Its cheaper to use a better chemistry than to liquid cool the nimh from a production point of view.
For bikes that have already been produced, either the bike gets used at far less than its capable range, or you replace cells every year.

liquid cooling the batteries would sort of the balance issues, at the expense of increased weight.
refridgerated cooling would be even better (like every other EV that used nimh).

water cooled motors merely have better cooling than air cooled ones.

less efficient motors need more cooling.
greater cooling capacity on a motor tends to indicate it is less efficient.

very few electric traction motors *need* watercooling.
Those that do are generally either have little thermal mass as a result of the space for the motor being rather small or need unusually high continuous power.

Matt

The VECTRIX battery cells would be most effectively cooled by extracting heat from their SIDES, as this is their largest surface, and heat can most effectively be absorbed there. Heat rises, and the bottom of the cells is very small in relation to overall size, so extracting heat from the bottom of the cells would not be very effective. If space were available, installing cooling coils/plates between cells, and pumping the coolant to a thermostatically controlled forced-air cooled radiator might improve the reliability and life of the battery pack. Another possible improvement, involving much less work, would be to make the battery cover outside surface reflective to solar heat, and add additional thermostatically controlled cooling fans, with an exhaust vent directly above the battery cells.--Other improvements would reduce the charge current if cells are hot, and also limit operating peak amperage when hot. A user selectable "trickle charge" rate, of perhaps 2 amperes, should also be available, as charging at lower amperage would cause less heating, and extend battery life, when faster charging is not needed.-Bob

All my "BaTTHoT" events have been during charging. I don't have the precooling option with my old software. Miks ABCool,the lairds Freddy and a gentle throttle hand might be all one needs to keep a first generation VX-1 happy

All my "BaTTHoT" events have been during charging. I don't have the precooling option with my old software. Miks ABCool,the lairds Freddy and a gentle throttle hand might be all one needs to keep a first generation VX-1 happy

Add in timers and an Isolation Transformer...

Hi just_looking, I've never heard of any problem directly affecting the vectrix engine. In my opinion, as long as the engine never overheats, it does not need any water-cooling.