Batten down the hatches... · 26 April 06
...the internet is here!
Oh, boy, looks like the price of gas has been going up a bit? No, that chart isn’t following gas trends it’s traffic to this site in the past year (the site’s only been around since late August). It’s been a period of, more or less, steady growth in traffic. Except for a couple dramatic spikes.
There’s only one possible explanation:
EVConvert traffic is being controlled by the oil industry!
I love the smell of conspiracy in the morning.
Welcome to all of the new folks. Kick back, look around, take the site for a test drive and then ask a few questions. We are here to help.
First off I bet you are a little confused. Tons of information and no big button labelled “All of the answers here!” Sorry about that, guess I could organize things a bit more.
Here’s a few pages and sections of the site that will get you started:
- Eve – this is the current electric car conversion. I’m making it more complicated than it needs to be, mostly because I’m having fun and experimenting along the way. (oh, and writing this blog along the way)
- Mazda 626 – my first Electric Car with complete conversion coverage from start to finish
- Choosing a vehicle – what kind of vehicle should you turn into an EV?
- Free Energy – answers to those nagging questions you’ve had about putting generators and solar panels on your electric car
- Conversions – a few conversions by other readers. Stand on the shoulders (and learn) from the work of others.
- Maybe you don’t need a full-sized EV? Some Alternatives.
- And a couple articles on making your own hybrid: Poor Man’s Hybrid, Gas Powered EV
- Finally, if converting an EV or buying a hybrid aren’t possible for you right now you should at least head over to MetroMPG where Darin is constantly pushing the envelope of squeezing more mpg out of his gas car.
That should get you started. Of course there are may other pages on the site. Check the sidebar for categories or go to the homepage and start working your way backwards. We have links, electronics, mechanicals, suppliers and even some groovy pictures.
As for gas. Looks like Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, and Utah is the place to be with prices up to a buck cheaper than in California. See what gas prices are doing around the country over at gasbuddy.com.
Jerry – your article prompted me to look up my own traffic logs, and I can relate a similar story: last week was the busiest at my site since its launch in Sept 05 (and the week’s traffic was significantly higher than previous weeks, not simply the peak of a steady progression).
There does appear to be a direct link between energy prices and public interest in alternatives and conservation – at least for a while, until people desensitize to the new, higher prices. But each time prices peak, I think a small subset of energy “converts” is probably created which stays interested.
I only got interested in EVs because of reading a peak oil site a year ago. By november I’d bought an EV. That’s how seriously I took it. I wanted to prove we can drastically reduce our ecological footprint and conserve fossil fuel resources. So I guess I am a convert who’ll stay. Far from being a privation, cutting back on wastage and hardening for the future seems to be quite liberating. It somewhat concentrates your mind on what’s important. BTW Jerry, Darin and all other inspirational home experts, thank you very much for my car!
Jerry, there might be one other explanation for these awesome stats – the extraordinary efforts of one Mr. Halstead in producing an up-to-date, informative and interesting web site.
I’m sure there are many like me who drop by once a day to see what Jerry’s found for us to look at. You do the hard work for us by picking the gems out of the EV List, Green Car Congress and the like.
You deserve the results you’re getting, well done and a big THANKS!
Same thing here. For the ENTIRE year of 05 I had 15000 visits with 2gb of bandwidth. For the first four months of 06 I’ve had 11000 visits with 2.8gb of bandwidth.
I don’t know how you keep the site updated, Jerry. It’s all I can do with normal life to keep mine just vaguely interesting and I have a volunteer! :) Keep up the good work!
Also been getting more mail but, thankfully, none of the typical “why not add a generator to make power while you drive” schemes.
Thanks for the nice comments, here and elsewhere on the site. I was hesitant at first to enable comments on the site, expecting mostly spam or politicals, but in all actuality I think the comments have become a major feature and benefit of the site. Lots of smart folks pitching in with ideas and links that are relevant to the post at hand.
Hi ElectricMotorcycles.net.
Nice website! You folks have some great pictures over there (and probably articles but I haven’t had the time to read any yet). I’ll be sure to pop you onto the daily links soon.