This winter I’ve been experimenting using a Single VXL system designed for use in 1/10 scale vehicles to see how it performs in monster trucks. I’ve done a lot of different gearing and I’ve found that if it’s cold enough the 1/10 scale Traxxas VXL motor does just fine!
The Gearing that works best
I’ve found that the best setup is on 3 cells (of course) and in low gear. Below is a video of this setup(yellow) vs a stock Summit(red).
The Worst
I like the setup alot, mostly cause I can use lipos and it has a lot of power with not much weight. What I hate about this setup is that since the setup has no sensor, at times the truck won’t move without a kick start. This isn’t much fun at all and will probably be what gets me to put the stock motor back into my summit.
Single VXL in a E-Maxx
I’ve done the same thing with my E-maxx and had the same amount of success. I would say it probably works a little better in the E-maxx just because it weighs a bit less than a Summit.
You’ve already seen these electric car charging stations in the commercials put out by GE. It’s true that GE has been waiting, preparing, and investing in the coming of the electric car and they’re really hoping it will pay off.
So I’m sure you’re wondering when the right time is to get an electric car charging station, you know since very few people actually have the car. Well there is a federal tax credit out that will pay for half of the station, or pay out $2,000 per station. That’s a pretty hefty rebate for these electric car charging stations, but it expires at the end of 2010 so you’d better act quick if you plan on having an electric charging station for one of the coming electric cars.
Of course if these stations follow the trend of other technologies they will look like dinosaurs in less than 5 years. The reality is that they are probably going to be closer related to your gas pump than your iPod; very utilitarian and dangerous. The class 2 chargers will be 220 volts AC while the class 3 will be almost 500 volts DC for quick charging.
For now there aren’t going to be any breakthroughs in the fill up process, you’ll grab the plug and attach it to your car much like you do with the gas pump. But perhaps within the decade you’ll see chargers that are pads you place under your vehicle. They’ll charge using the same technology you see charging much smaller devices such as your phone or wii remotes by placing them on a special surface. Instead of having to be attached to the surface these pads will be able to charge the vehicle from over a foot away.
Of course this is only the foreseeable future. For all we know electric cars may become just like blue ray discs; obsolete before they even become main stream.
You might be wondering what a brushless car is. The one above is a good example. Typically when people say “brushless car” they are referring to an RC brushless car although many real vehicles use brushless motors such as the Toyota Prius.
Brushless Motor
The only item that makes a brushless car what it is is the motor. You can see the motor that is in the car above on the right. A brushless motor is built almost reversed from conventional motors. You can see the magnet is attached from the rotor and spins while the electronic wires are static. It takes a unique magnet to be able to spin quickly and get hot while still maintaining it’s magnetism.
With brushless power, it’s easy for most RC trucks to do standing backflips. The E-Revo and Flux are just a couple quick examples. Lipo power helps as it keeps the truck light and delivers the highest burst voltage. It doesn’t have to be expensive either to get a truck that does standing backflips. The 1/16 E-Revo can do it out of the box by just adding a second battery. The downside is it will overheat.
Wondering how you can get the Traxxas Titan shipped to you right after it’s released for just $309.99? It’s easy, and since the release keeps getting pushed back it means you have plenty of time to go through the process. All you’ve got to do is sign up to be a Tower Hobbies club Member. Once you sign up they’ll send coupon codes to your email that will get you $60 off your order totaling $300 or more. Read the rest of this entry »
The Chevy Volt is becoming a hot spot for discussion as we get closer to it’s release as the first mas produced US electric car. Some have even gone to the extent of calling it just a $42,000 “golf cart”. It’s not simple coming up with an efficient electrical vehicle that can perform just like a counterpart with a combustion engine. Read the rest of this entry »
Obama took advantage of the gulf oil spill crisis to tout the need to get off oil for energy; the need to have a completely green energy source and lifestyles with green cars. They key to making the transition to a green source of energy is making it possible to have a life on only the energy that green sources such as solar and wind provide. In order to do this the average American citizen is going to have to become much much more efficient as those renewable sources are only a small percentage of our current energy use. There are several road blocks in the way to a greener vision- Hot showers, cool homes- and Americas love with the car. Read the rest of this entry »
The Traxxas Titan Boat is now the Traxxas Spartan. It is due out in November and will be one of the biggest leaps in electric RC since the electronic speed control. People have been using brushless motors like the Mamba Monster to get the 6 lipo cell power they wanted. The downfall of other motors was they lacked the go anywhere ability that Traxxas waterproof motors provide.
The Titan Boat is the first vehicle to have a brushless system ready for 6s and just about 100% waterproof, and if it does fail you have Traxxas support backing it up. Read the rest of this entry »
Not everyone can afford a full size brushless car like the Nissan leaf, but having a quality self propelled Electric Mower with a Brushless drive is possible for under $500. The mower touts a few advantages over other mowers such as:
Because the Mower is driven by a brushless motor it can out perform most other mowers using higher voltage batteries. It’s also incredibly more efficient than other cordless mowers, meaning that it’s more green than any other mower out there. You can easily take all of your mowing off the grid by charging batteries with a solar panel.
Quiet Mowing
Not only are do the brushless electric mowers make for less CO2 pollution, they also make for less sound pollution. They are much quieter than the older gas driven models they’re replacing. So act now and buy yourself one of the only brushless mowers on the market.
Here’s more raw video of Traxxas’ boat. It’s pretty sweet where the announce it will take 6 lipo cells and go 50 MPH. They also say that the VXL system is designed just for this boat. What about a 1/8 style truck???
You’ve already seen these electric car charging stations in the commercials put out by GE. It’s true that GE has been waiting, preparing, and investing in the coming of the electric car and they’re really hoping it will pay off.
You might be wondering what a brushless car is. The one above is a good example. Typically when people say “brushless car” they are referring to an 
Wondering how you can get the Traxxas Titan shipped to you right after it’s released for just $309.99? It’s easy, and since the release keeps getting pushed back it means you have plenty of time to go through the process. All you’ve got to do is sign up to be a Tower Hobbies club Member. Once you sign up they’ll send coupon codes to your email that will get you $60 off your order totaling $300 or more. 
The Traxxas Titan Boat is now the Traxxas Spartan. It is due out in November and will be one of the biggest leaps in electric RC since the electronic speed control. People have been using 
