<VV> Re: Electronic Vairs

[TiM M]

Ok, in reply to all the posts...
     The conversion cost of ~6K included the batteries
which gets you your first three to five years. The
truck is pretty close to max weight. It is now a
little over 4,000 lbs. So it's not much good for
hauling stuff anymore. If I spent ~20K on a set of
batteries instead of 2K (my wife would have killed me)
It would be lighter and the pack should last for 20 or
more years. Cheaper in the long run, but not going to
happen for me anytime soon. For 30K to 40K I could get
an even lighter Lithium Ion battery pack. This isn't
going to happen either. There is a guy with a all
wheel drive Subaru that uses it for auto crossing, I
think he has around a 200 mile range with his lithium
ion pack. You can see it here http://www.proev.com/ 
If there was a big enough demand for this technology,
the price would come down. All the major manufacturers
that have made and sold or leased electric vehicles
have stopped. Most if not all of the people who have
had them thought they were great. The only way to get
an electric vehicle today that is capable of freeway
speeds is to buy a used one or make your own.
     The manufactures want to push hybrid technology.
Let's take something really complicated and make it
more complicated. It does help. There are people
modifying them to get from 100 to 250mpg. Sounds
crazy, but they are doubling the battery pack and
plugging the car in at night. If their typical daily
driving is 20 miles or less they use no gas, if they
go further than 20 miles, or they forget to plug it in
it operates as a normal hybrid. Much better than 45mpg
a normal hybrid gets.
     The manufacturers want to push fuel cell
technology. It might work eventually. The cost is
insane right now and they have a long way to go before
they can get something viable on the road. A big
question is where are we going to get all this
hydrogen from? Many feel they are pushing this
technology because it is so far off in the future that
they don't really have to worry about it.
     I realize a battery powered car has it's limits.
I still have my 1500 Dodge pickup. I use it to drive
800 miles round trip to the river with my whitewater
raft and all the accompanying equipment several times
a year. The Dodge truck makes sense for that trip, not
for daily driving around town though. While I was
rebuilding the Electric truck it cost me $60 a week to
drive the Dodge. With the electric Corvair as my daily
driver I spend about $60 every 5 or 6 weeks.
     As for charging... I haven't stolen any power, I
have plugged in at friends houses, and at the LA zoo.
I headed down there for a car show and a day at the
zoo with my kids only to find out the zoo remodel
included the removal of the electric charging station.
The head of security let me plug in to the side of
their guard shack. You are right though, if there were
many more electric vehicles around I'd have trouble
finding an open charging station. I do remember
driving through Montana and seeing outlets at the
local stores. When I asked about them I was told they
were for customers to plug in their block heaters in
the winter. Was there a charge for the use of these
outlets? They could put out lets on the parking meters
and have a separate slot for charging, 25 cents a KWH
maybe? Currently I charge at the public charging
station at work.
     A note on efficiency. The electrical to chemical
to electrical to mechanical power change that goes
from plug to the wheels is more efficient then you
would think. There is very little waste heat involved.
I don't want to start a war hear, but I believe it to
be somewhere around 80%. The typical internal
combustion engine is around 25% efficient. Lots of
waste heat and noise. The problem is a gallon of gas
is so energy dense that you can throw away 75% of the
energy and still lay rubber on  the ground.
     Speaking of performance, my truck was built for
range, as such it's performance is comparable to a
stock truck with reduced range. I could have built it
for speed instead and had a 20 to 25 mile range. If
I'd done that I'd probably be looking for a new
transaxel by now. Electric motors produce maximum
torque at zero RPM. There is a guy in Oregon with a
70's vintage Datusun 1200 sedan that he converted to
electric. He does 103 in the quarter mile and is on
his third Ford 9" rear end. His newest one was custom
built y a guy who builds rear ends for monster trucks.
You can see the car here.  
http://www.plasmaboyracing.com/  click on "White
Zombie"  
     I realize an electric conversion isn't going to
work for everyone. There are people I work with who
commute over 100 miles each way, every day. I find it
hard to imagine spending 4 hours plus a day driving to
and from work, but that them. Electrics have a long
way to go before they get to that point. For many
others, especially multi car households, an electric
car could easily fulfill many of the driving tasks
instead of the gas car. The gas car pollutes the most
during the first 5 minutes of driving while things are
still warming up. 
     I've rambled more than I probably should have. If
you've made it this far thanks for bearing with me.
I'm planning on getting a web page up one of these
days... It's on my list. If you want to see plenty of
other electric cars, check this page out...

http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/

Any points I failed to address, sorry about that.

Tim McCann
'61 electric Rampside

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