You will find articles organized by categories, along with recent comments, along the right hand column of the website. If you are just getting started with the idea of converting a gas car to electric be sure to check out Your First Electric Car .
Welcome and enjoy!
-Jerry
- Electric dune-buggies on steroids, the Ariel Atom. “We’re 50 percent done on (designing) the electric car,” he said. “It will be a blast to drive. It will bring notoriety to the electric field and it fits into our high performance vehicle vision.” Their web site with more pics.
- Mitsubishi’s concept vehicle, the MIEV, makes debut at auto show.
- UQM is developing Motor/Generator Controller for the Air Force. Part of the project is to convert a conventional one-half ton pickup truck to all-electric operation using high power silicon carbide modules.
- Small is big this year at the auto show.
- China to spend billions on alternative energy.
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- The evolution of the engine: Green Machines
- Electricity from trees? I only run my car using Aspen amps!
- American International Auto Show inundated in hybrids. “Owning a hybrid makes owners feel good about themselves,” Esmond said. “It’s the gratification felt with fewer stops at the gas pump and the lower cost for a fill-up. Hybrids are quickly establishing themselves as a critical factor in pride of ownership.”
- EPA proposes new methods for estimating fuel economy. Under the new methods, fuel economy ratings will drop for most vehicles. EPA estimates conventional (non-hybrid) vehicles would drop on average by about 10–20% from today’s labels, while the highway estimates would drop by about 5–15%, depending on the vehicle.
- Subaru’s new B5-TPH Hybrid. The Turbo Parallel Hybrid drivetrain consists of a 10kW electric motor sandwiched between the transmission and turbocharged boxer engine. Also shows a Manganese Lithium-ion Battery.
- This New Car is airing a series of podcasts about hybrid and alternative-fuel vehicles. There are two of them up right now: Pros and Cons of Hybrid Vehicles (MP3 file) and Pros and Cons of Alternative-Energy Vehicles.
- John’s CitiCar, “The Citi was the first modern production electric car, conceived in the aftermath of the first arab oil embargo. It was a very basic 2 seater vehicle. 48 volt battery, about 3 hp motor, capable of perhaps 40 mph on a good day. It had decent range and containing a built in charger, required only pulling in the driveway and plugging in an extension cord to “refuel”.”
- Toyota rolls out the new Camry and Camry Hybrid.
Them's the Brakes · 9 January 06
Every car uses mechanical brakes. Even an electric car with regenerative braking (using a generator to turn momentum into electricity) has mechanical brakes as a backup. You also need some sort of brake for parking, since an electric motor doesn’t have the back-pressure of its gas counterpart.
Now that Eve’s dash is all pulled apart it’s a great time to get in and check out the brake system, rebuilding or augmenting whatever is needed along the way.
That and I was a little curious what the inside of the brake system looked like…
- OKA Auto USA sells “gliders.” A glider is a new car without an engine and sometimes without a transmission. In this case a “mini” car from somewhere in Russia. They have a selection of OKA’s including a NEV which you can buy as a kit for $5k (still need to buy motors and so forth)
- Speaking of NEVs (Neighborhood EV) GEM is bringing out a six passenger version
- Wind Power 2005 in Review, Outlook for 2006 and Beyond from Renewable Energy Access
- Why haven’t I been posting more on Eve? I’ve been busy reading this article on procrastination.
- Nice looking Formula EV X-01 with two Zilla controllers and 237volts of NiMH batteries. You can find it racing at the Japan EV Club
- A laptop battery in every garage, the Lithium Economy.
- Metra Electronics’ Electrick Civic. “The company gutted everything about this car and put back in an all-electric and drive-by-wire system, electric steering and brakes, a 7 hp electric motor powered by eight of the company’s Tsunami batteries arranged in serial, 20” DUBs, HP Racing Brakes and serious audio/visual mods. The interior plays host to a removable WiFi tablet-style PC, which controls the audio/visual elements but also monitors the entire vehicle and can even be used to drive the vehicle remotely.”
- About Ultracapacitors. The Honda FCX V3, a fuel cell hybrid, uses a supercapacitor to provide extra power to the drive system when going up grades, during acceleration and when passing.
- The physics of car crashes (PDF)
- Zap Zebra electric car giveaway
- Wimps don’t want NEVs?
- 10% insurance discount for hybrid owners
Quick Update · 5 January 06
In case you thought I’d sailed off the edge of the world…
It was a horrible and hectic holiday: pretty much everything that could go wrong, did, and then some.
A few turned into learning opportunities.
When the well pump quit working I worked in the sub-freezing weather with the pump guy. We pulled the pipe and pump out of the 250 foot well, replaced the motor and wiring, and put it all back together again. Kind of interesting…in a cold, wet, rusty water sort of way.
After a small chimney fire I learned all about the convoluted contortions that the house builder put into our chimney. Why make the flue a straight shot when you can put two ninety degree bends just out of reach? I’m sure we’ll look back on those smokey, black-lung days with humor some day…