CORBIN SPARROW

The 'Corbin Sparrow' is a single-passenger, three-wheeled, battery electric vehicle designed specifically for commuting and city driving. It was produced by 'Corbin Motors'.

★ The Sparrow is powered by a 20 kW (continuous) 156-volt DC or 3-phase AC electric motor and has a range of 32 to 64km (20 to 40 miles) and a top speed of 112 km/h (70 mph).
Two models were produced: the original "jelly bean" model and then a hatchback model, which was nicknamed "pizza butt" because it was designed for use by Domino's Pizza. The vehicles are so eye-catching that Hollywood star Mike Myers featured a group of them in the movie ''Austin Powers in Goldmember''.

Contents

History

Electrical system

Line voltage

High voltage

Low voltage

See also

References

External links

History

In January 1996, Corbin Motors began work on developing an electric vehicle. The Sparrow passed final testing for Department of Transportation certification in April 1999. In September of that year, the Sparrow production line began manufacturing multiple vehicles.
Fewer than 300 Sparrows were produced. On March 31, 2003, Corbin Motors filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, effectively killing the immediate future of the Corbin Sparrow. A bankruptcy court passed the Corbin assets to Ron Huch's company, Phoenix Environmental Motors, which tried to revive the Sparrow. On August 5, 2004, Ohio businessman Dana Myers bought the Sparrow interests from Ron Huch. The new company, 'Myers Motors', has upgraded the Sparrow, renamed it the 'MM NmG' (No more Gas), and started selling it on October 1, 2005, for US$35,000. The price has since been reduced to US$27,000.

Electrical system

The Sparrow electrical systems in a Corbin Sparrow VIN28 is composed of three isolated sections. "Defanging" is the process of changing the circuit to disconnect the high voltage from the low voltage ^[1].

Line voltage

'110 / 220 V AC'

★ Battery charger ( on-board charger made by Zivan). It can be replaced by a Manzanitamicro PFC-20 or PFC-30^[2]

★ Line voltage sensor.

High voltage

'156 V DC'

★ A 20 kW (continuous) 156-volt DC traction motor (Advanced DC Motors 8-inch diameter, part #203-06-4004) ^[3]

★ Motor controller (Zark VIN 28, DCP or KiloVac EVCL controllers).

★ Energy is supplied by a battery pack composed of thirteen 12-volt deep-cycle lead-acid Optima batteries^[4].

Low voltage

'13.5 V DC'

★ DC to DC converter

★ Accesories, that includes cigarrette lighter outlet, radio/CD player, ignition switch, cabin fan and heater, speedometer, horn, direction, automotive lighting (headlamps and stop and backup lamps), door switch, seat belt, brake alarms, power windows and windshield wiper.

See also

★ Block diagram

★ Electric motorcycles and scooters

★ Electric vehicle

★ Messerschmitt KR200

★ Schematic diagram

★ Wiring diagram

References

1. http://enviromotors.com/wiki/index.php/Sparrow/Defanging
2. http://enviromotors.com/wiki/index.php/Sparrow/OtherCharger
3. Advanced DC Motors
4. http://enviromotors.com/wiki/index.php/Sparrow/Batteries

External links

★ Myers Motors

★ Corbin files for Chapter 7 Bankruptcy

★ The 1st Sparrow Hatched

★ Yellow Motors

★ Sparrow closed wiki

★ Interview with the creator

★ Sparrow Photos

★ Tom Corbin's version of the Sparrow's story at CorbinSparrow.com

★ If You Build Personal Transportation Modules, Will They Come?

★ Corbin Sparrow on 3-wheelers.com

★ EVCL