- Wasting energy standing by. “Britons waste the equivalent of around two power stations’ worth of electricity each year by leaving TV sets and other gadgets on standby.”
- Dashboard computer candidate? Old 486 Futitsu Tablet PCs for $59-$99. (8MB Ram…wooo hooo!) Surplus Sales also has a pile-o-motors and meters (250 amp shunt for $25)
- Energy Blog has a follow-up article on flow batteries, this one featuring Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries
- John’s Prius Site. I must say this is one of the more extensive, exhaustively documented car sites out there. Well done!
Comment [8]
- NEC organic radical battery technology.
- Article covering Firefly’s battery advances (PDF file) [link from James]
- Bosch wins prize for it’s Flex Fuel Engine Management System.
- Nano-based Lithium Batteries or hybrids a step closer
- Prime Minister’s Electric Dream confuses car makers.
- A real-time display of New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) energy prices. (which appears to be IE centric)
- Free parking in Salt Lake City for eco friendly vehicles.
Comment [2]
- Thanks to Darin for the tip on Zenn’s NEV. It’s a NEV/LSV (neighborhood EV or low speed vehicle) and laws vary from state to state. Click Zenn’s legislation map to find out what your state’s rules are. They have a page of videos. BTW, the picture isn’t the ZENN but a Dauphine Electric found elsewhere on their site.
- The space-iest looking hybrid design goes to Accelerated Composites for their diesel hybrid concept. Looking more like an attenuated jet fighter cockpit the aerodynamic design is claimed to achieve 330 MPG.
- If you somehow got tickets to Sundance this year be sure to check out the film, Who Killed the Electric Car. (Jan 19-29, 2006)
- Smoke detectors and the Radioactive Boyscout
Motorheads! · 18 January 06
I get a regular flow of email from this site and the first conversion diary. Much of it consists of folks who are thinking about maybe trying out an EV conversion, but just aren’t sure.
Sometimes it’s an email from someone who already has or is in the middle of their conversion. Being a bit of a gear-head it’s always interesting to hear about other people’s projects, to see how they solve some of the same problems and to learn from their unique ideas.
Orlen sent along an email with a couple pictures of his current conversion project. I don’t have all of the details yet, but from what I understand he’s working on a ‘91 Aerostar extended body van conversion.
Yikes!
- Printable fastener tools and gauges over at Bolt Depot.
- The Energy Blog has a good post on Flow Batteries that is worth a read. Future updates are promised.
- JC picked up on one of the better quotes I’ve read lately: “Sorry, but being green, focusing the nation on greater energy efficiency and conservation, is not some girlie-man issue. It is actually the most tough-minded, geostrategic, pro-growth and patriotic thing we can do. Living green is not for sissies. Sticking with oil, and basically saying that a country that can double the speed of microchips every 18 months is somehow incapable of innovating its way to energy independence – that is for sissies, defeatists and people who are ready to see American values eroded at home and abroad.”
- Now this is an on-board computer! Hooks to another microcontroller that gathers engine data (in Czech?)
Comment [4]
Surprise! · 17 January 06
I was out in the new garage installing a garage door opener when a horn sounded outside. Hmm, wonder who that could be?
Turns out it was my friend Brian and his brother, along with:
A NEW, ELECTRIC CAR!
(said in your best game show host voice…)
- Take one cap bank (210uF 20kV 16kJ), attach to a 4 1/2 turn helical coil, aluminium sheet from old case, mini spanner (8cm). Remove children and animals, charge to 4.5kV (2kJ), pull firing cord, Serve hot: Magna-forming
- Firefly Energy is working on new lead acid battery technology. “The Firefly battery replaces the the heavy, corrosive, traditional positive and negative lead plates, which comprise up to 70% of a typical lead-acid battery’s weight, with smaller and extremely low weight non-corrosive composite plate material.”
- Darin is investigating the latest pulse and glide gas saving techniques.
- Lots of information and choices for supplemental vacuum.
- Sandia researchers seek ways to make lithium-ion batteries work longer, safer. “Current hybrid vehicles use nickel-metal hydride batteries, but a safe lithium-ion battery will be a much better option for the hybrids.” (i.e. we’ll make money)
- New York’s Governor has unveiled a plan to encourage the production and use of renewable fuels.
Comment [1]
- The Great Hybrid Cover-up of 1974. “I went to various showrooms in New York. I looked under the hoods. The Buick Skylark seemed to have the most volume. And not knowing exactly how much space we were going to need, I wanted a car with the largest volume under the hood.”
- PriUPS, turning your Prius into a backup power supply for the house.
- Bowden’s Hobby Circuits, over 100 electronic circuits.
- Electronics Schematics (and for sale kits) for hobbyists.
- HOBO Data Logger Modules
James and the EV, IV · 15 January 06
Time for an update on James May’s EV. Last time I posted he was on the brink of his first test run and then…silence.
Uncomfortable silence…
And then he started posting in the comments section on the site, so we knew that he was still alive. Thanks for leaving us hanging, James!
Still, the comments didn’t let us know how alive the EV was.