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
- Subaru Electric Car Q&A. The drive motor is an AC permanent magnet synchronized motor and it generates a maximum 40kw.
- Liquid Nitrogen Smogmobile, cleaner than gas or electric?
- Modified Rand Cam Rotary Engine Entering Series Hybrid Testing. “The engine operates at lower speeds than a typical Wankel engine (less than 2,000 rpm) and at higher compression ratios— 15 and 20 to 1. The engine is compact (the 42hp diesel is 6” in diameter and 6” long), and offers 30% volume efficiency, according to the company, compared to the Wankel engine’s 10% volume efficiency.”
Meters · 30 November 05
With the first EV I used this E-Meter from Cruising Equipment. It shows volts, amps, amp hours, and time remaining…but only one at a time.
Along the top of the meter is a little “gas gauge” which shows approximately how much charge is left in the battery pack. It’s a rough, well, very rough estimate and can have some serious lag.
- How about a pseudo EV conversion to start? Get a paper model of your favorite car and do a scale, paper conversion. Easier and cleaner to experiment with than the real thing. If you get frustrated you wad the whole thing up start over.
- Back to being serious (ahem). Today a few links to battery care items:
- PowerCheq battery equalizers.
- Rudman Regulators
- Water Miser Battery Caps
- Tune Up for your Battery (normal car battery, etc..)
- Aqua Pro battery watering system
- Battery acid resistant coveralls (stylin’!)
- Hydrometer
- A nice Fluke MultiMeter, because cheap meters are…cheap.
- Battery heating mats, for those of us who won’t see the sun or temps above 30f for the next four months.
- Battery Filler
- For those who want to try something new. The Linux DashPC™ software platform began it’s development in 1999. At present, it delivers multimedia (DVDs, MP3s, CDs, Radio), Navigation, Games, Engine Diagnostics, and Wireless Networking capability.
- BP to double alternative and renewable energy investments.
- Fuel cell bikes. I have something like this, pretty efficient too: eat a sandwich and go biking! ”:^)
- Batteries & Energy Storage Technology magazine. (by subscription)
- Toyota is gearing up for their next hybrid. They don’t say what batteries it will use, but mention lighter and more powerful…my favorite battery qualities too!
Ignition · 28 November 05
You may remember this picture from when I first pulled out the dash. It’s the main wiring harness that snakes along the back firewall behind the dash.
It’s a little bit intimidating.
When I started cleaning up Eve’s wiring this particular rat nest was saved for the very last. I’dlook at it and a little voice would taunt,
“Hey, don’t fix it if it ain’t broke!”
I’ve never liked that saying…
- Arthur Matteson owns a 1980 Renault LeCar, also known as a Lectric Leopard, which had been converted to electric some twenty years ago. Not happy with the DC setup/performance Arthur decided to do something about it. In-between juggling college courses he has designed and built his own AC controller. Arthur has also been kind enough to take plenty of pictures and to share the schematics and software. Lot’s of cool stuff, be sure to pay him a visit.
- Laurentian Canada is plugged in. “You often hear people say battery-operated vehicles couldn’t work in the cold but we say, ‘Hey, we’ve been using them for 10 years and they work just fine.’”
- Power, Plugs, and People, 10 Talking Points for Plug-In Hybrids
- The long and sordid NiMH saga.
Smoke Test · 26 November 05
The dash wiring project was finished off this week. After a nice Thanksgiving dinner and a day off I headed into the garage to do a smoke test.
A guy I worked with once explained that electronic devices all work on smoke. At the factory they put smoke into all of the components and as long as you don’t let the smoke out everything is happy. Screw up and let the smoke out and your electronics quit working.
After removing what seems like a few miles of wire from Eve it was time to see if anything works.
And if any smoke comes out…
Bike Forest · 25 November 05
This isn’t a scooter.
Sort of…
It’s a treadmill bike. Walk or run and you power the bike. I suppose the main difference between it and walking/running is that you can coast?
And your shoes stay clean.
Which might seem a bit zany for a bike design, at least until you check out some of the other creations at Bike Forest.
Like the Hula bike.
Or the Couch bike.