If you liked that show, read this topic and view the videos/images present for a ****load of high performance EVs and documentation on them:
http://www.gassavers.org/forum_topic...onopolies.html
The Monster Garage show was a bit misleading. Rich Rudman frequently posts on the EV list, and had pointed out many flaws. Those I remember(they may be off some, and I'm not quoting Rich directly):
First of all, traction wasn't the only problem that car had. It was rusted to hell whenn it was brought in, and the throttle had to be babied to ekep the car from ripping itself in half. With proper traction, it may have gotten high 12s, low 13s.
Second, Jessie apparently didn't know what the hell he was doing, and made things very difficult for the build team.
Third, the build cost was inaccurate. These batteries are not produced in volume to keep prices that low! In reality, this was a $250,000 build.
Fourth, charging this thing was a *****. Each battery had to be taken out individually and charged. This took hours due to the danger involved. If I remember correctly, Rich was developing a charging scheme for them so this wouldn't need to be done, but NOT during the course of the show since time was so lacking.
Fifth, I don't know if the show mentioned this as I was alerted it was on 20 minutes in, but Rich named the car "Bella the Red". I think you should know that.
Apparently, the car gets about 60 miles range and requires a massive 500 Wh/mile. It is an unaerodynamic brick after all, with alignment problems, old tires, no traction, and about 4,500 pounds weight. That same battery pack in a modern car like say, a Toyota Prius, would take it 150-200 miles. Further, my guess is that with alignment correction, new tires, shaved weight from the battery boxes(Bringing the car to around 4,000 pounds), synthetic transmission oil, ands other basic improvemetns, the car could eek out 80-100 miles range and 300-375 wh/mile efficiency.
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