Open Source Car
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Overview
The Open Source Car is an automobile designed solely for transporting passengers.
Detailed Description
The OS Car will be a lightweight and aerodynamic two passenger long range car that will be fueled with ethanol biodiesel. The current plan is for the car to have a reverse trike configuration: two front wheels and one rear wheel which is the only driven wheel. The two main benefits of the reverse trike design are lower cost and weight due to one less wheel, and lower wind drag due to the rain drop shape of the body. The construction of the car will be a steel space frame covered with non-structural polymer or composite panels. The proposed powertrain is a hybrid hydraulic system which includes a single cylinder engine that runs a hydraulic pump which directly powers a hydraulic wheel motor used to drive the car and which compresses a gas in an accumulator to store energy. Gas in the accumulator will also be compressed via regenerative braking when the hydraulic motor is run in reverse to slow the car down. Cost control and quick development will be maintained by using donor vehicle parts and off-the-shelf parts. Components that cannot be easily manufactured such as brake calipers, steering knuckles, and rims will be sourced from a donor vehicle and components such as instruments, wiring, and hydraulic components will be off-the-shelf components.
As the car design matures, some components from donor vehicles and off-the-shelf components can be replaced by scratch-built open source components. If desired, forks can be spawned from the original project for variants such a four or five passenger car, or perhaps a car with a hybrid electric powertrain.
See Also
- UEV Zero - a brazilian projec
- OSCar Project - German project]
- OSCar UK - UK project
- OSCar - Netherlands project
- The Rally Fighter - a completed open-source car
- HyrBan, an open-source, hydrogen-powered car. In prototype phase.
