Electric PAS as power assist for BEC?

[Renrut]

Ok bear with me here. I was thinking that Bike Engined Cars are all very well but tend to lack low down torque which makes town driving crap. However electric motors are great at low rev high torque applications. And BEC don't have a reverse either. Which sucks in car parks.

So could an electric PAS system be modified to pass the main prop shaft through it and act as both an around town torque assist for pulling away (avoid those embarassing stalls at the lights) and also give you a nice electric reverse without worrying about flywheels and starter motors?

Big issues I can see are will a prop shaft fit through one and will they be happy running at several hundred rpm during normal road use.

[mjslonergan]

Would one of those motors be man enough for the job? Also not sure if they would have the longevity, as even a short journey would put a lot revolutions on the motor in comparison to a bit of steering wheel twiddling... unless it dis-engaged when not it use, I could see it getting very hot, very quick... though a small motor with a free-wheeling cog, and a cog on the drive shaft would provide reverse, though not sure how you would make it work in both directions and free-wheel when not in use...

[Renrut]

No idea. I guess it depends on what it does when its not providing assistance. Realy need to take one apart to see how they're connected inside.

They are rather torquey and should give some reasonable assistance, they're similar size to starter motors and they are man enough for BEC reverse gears.

But possibly its just a sh1t idea