All electric car - model 60/60?

[StorminN]

Ok Bibby,

Here's a company that will convert a PT cruiser to all-electric for you... they are based in North carolina... it's not $5,000 though...  :-\ :-\
MSN article
Hybrid Technologies web site

-N.

[ElectricAl]

http://youtube.com/watch?v=BVA6FHlgbsg&feature=related

A little more about Hybrid Technologies

[Toolman]

Talking about expensive components. My wife recently purchased a Honda civic hybrid. Nice little car. good ride, excellent accelation and averaging 45-55 mpg. However, the price to replace the batteries is $7,000.00 !!! No kidding. There is an 8 yr warranty on batteries. The vehicle cost $22,500.00 new. Maybe prices will eventually come down. This is still relatively new technology. Bottom line is that batteries are'nt cheap.

[Toolman]

ElectricAL,

Thanks for sharing that video. I'd love to have that golf cart. Perfect for those short trips.

[SwingOak]

I want one!

http://www.teslamotors.com/

Take some time & look through the website. Interesting stuff...

[ElectricAl]

Many of you know Linda and I really like electric powered machines. Sawmill, Edger, Forklift, and even a Stihl chainsaw.

Well, a while back I was looking for some basic transportation for around our 7 acre complex.
I looked at the Electric John Deere Gator. DanG that's was too much money. Then I looked at a couple of electric golf carts. They were priced a lot more reasonable, but in door storage would be an issue during rain days.

Well, one evening I typed in "Electric" on EBay then added within 100 miles.  What popped up seemed like a nice eco-friendly cruiser.

It's kind of a Mini  Mini-Cooper.


Go to the next page to check out our new to us, Electric Mini  Mini-Cooper.

[ElectricAl]

This sporty number is powered by a Deep Cycle Interstate Battery and a whopping 1.5HP DC motor  ;D

Top speed is 15 MPH







Linda is "Employee of the year" , so she gets to park on the porch in front of the french doors.

She has been "Employee of the year" for 15 years running ;)

[pigman]

 I am sure that high seater works fine in flat Iowa. In hilly Kentucky I would have to lower the seat to keep from turning over. ;D

[Brucer]

See monster below..

Down on the corner, up on the avenue,
People are pointin', calling out after you.
Hands on their hips, their eyes geting wider
They can't believe the thing that yer drivin'

28 feet from bumper to bumper
The last of the sweet old time gas guzzlers
Hard to drive, hard-er to park
But when you do somebody remarks
That's a mighty big car ...
That's a mighty big car ....
That's a mighty big car

From Mighty Big Car
by Fred Eaglesmith 1999

;D

[Toolman]

ElectricAL,

Looks like a barstool for the handicapped. Yuengling Lager please!

[Furby]

 :D :D :D :D :D :D at Al and Linda!
Cool! 8)

[ellmoe]

  Al,

   Nice wheels, and logs , too!

Mark

[Dave Shepard]

That thing do a wheelie? ;D


Dave

[ElectricAl]

Pigman,

Linda thinks the seat is plenty high too.  However it adds a level of skill to navigate the cornors without getting on two wheels.



Brucer,

28 foot is a big old sled.




Toolman,

It is actually a factory built "Bar Stool Racer"  They were quite popular in the late 80's and early 90's around here.  But they turned out to be a big liability risk for the bar owners. Apparently drinking and racing was causing too many law suits.




Furby,

The seller had 2 more up for grabs. An orange one and red one.   We paid $200. 

By the way, it does have brakes.




Mark,

This is the closest thing to my old Hot Rod.  It sure is fun.



Dave,

It will carry the front wheels if the belt is tight.
Although I purposely leave the belt just a touch loose to keep from launching to hard.
Now it's like an old 2 speed "Power Slide".

[Bibbyman]

This sporty number is powered by a Deep Cycle Interstate Battery and a whopping 1.5HP DC motor  ;D

Top speed is 15 MPH

I need one of those to get from the house to the Command Control station on our WM.  My right foot has been gimped up for a month now and I need to stay off it until it gets better.  I'd have to gear it down I'd think.  Maybe have knobby tires? :

Is there a reverse?

[ElectricAl]

Bibby,

This one does have an extra terminal to reverse the motor. You'd have to add a second solenoid and switch. ;)

The local go cart race shop could fix you up with some knobbys. ;D

[Dave Shepard]

Got a Popular Mechanics in the mail today. Had an article by the myth busters guys on go carts. The took two identical carts and stripped the gas motor off of one and put a DC motor on it. Lap times were within one second. Gas weighed 180, electric weighed 300. Electric would launch much harder, but the gas had a higher top end speed. When I was in high school a kid took a 5 hp mini bike and put a starter motor on it with a centrifigal clutch and a big battery. There was no speed control, you just had to keep clicking it on and off. :D


Dave

[StorminN]

Have you guys seen these yet? They look cool.

Think Norwegian electric cars

-Norm.

[Fla._Deadheader]

Transforming a Fiero-plastic Car, made in the USA, is being done in backyards.

  It is not that difficult, and, there is no need to spend a lot of money on a sub-sub compact. Might be nice to drive cheaply, and it would probably be a nice coffin.

  When I am in a compact car, and run alongside a Semi, all I see is the center of the wheels  : : :  Not a comforting feeling.

  A set of forklift batteries and a 400-500 amp aircraft generator, and a control system, is all you need, except for the changeover.

  Americans, for the most part, are too lazy to do a little extra maintenance, to own and operate an electric car, or make and use Biodiesel, or straight Veg oil, or set up their house for solar and wind power.  They want things with no extra effort expended. That's why the prices of petro products are so high. TOO MUCH demand. No extra effort.  : :

[StorminN]

Well deadheader,

I for one want to try it, and I've been collecting some of the parts. I've got a collection of big L-16 batteries now, and enough big copper cable... but I need a motor and controller. I picked up a small (5"?) 90VDC motor the other day, but it would only be good for a go kart or golf cart, not big enough for even a small car. I'm on the lookout for a scrap forklift or such beast, or a cheap used 8" or 9" DC motor. A lady at work has an all-electric converted TR-8, and she blew up her tweaked-out Curtis controller. A friend of mine is fixing the controller, when he does, I might try and buy her spare controller when the time comes.

The big question is, what vehicle to convert? I completely agree with you about feeling uncomfortable in the small cars... especially after seeing a fatal collision happen right in front of me a couple of years ago, I've been wigged out. I've been driving 6,000-7,000lb vehicles for too long. I've got a Subaru wagon and an Isuzu Trooper that might make OK conversions. The problem is, a couple of months out of the year, I sort of need 4WD. With lead acid batteries they wouldn't have much range, but my commute is only 15 miles and my work has said that they will install a charging station for anyone else that gets an electric car... so range is not a huge issue. If I could get 30-40 miles, I would be happy.

There's a place in town here called evparts, they are one of the online supply places. Their owner has been on the Discovery channel and such, he's got a few converted cars he races (a '29 Ford roadster, a Mazda RX7, a Land Rover, and a Grumman postal van called "Gone Postal"). Anyhoo, they've had a warehouse in the same business park that I work in for a while now, and they just opened a new showroom a couple of weeks ago. They sell EV parts and golf carts, EV scooters, and they will be selling the Zenn NEV cars etc. We stopped by there the other day on the way back from lunch... got to check out some of the controllers and motors there, some neat stuff.

A bike or scooter would be a fairly cheap... an easy first project, I might try that out. I saw a guy online that was running one on three v28 Milwaukee tool batteries... those are 28V lithium ion, nice batteries. I was thinking I could do the same thing with the Ryobi 18V Lion batteries for less money... or source the raw cells and make up a pack myself. Too many projects, not enough time or money!

P.S. I also do have about 1kW of PV panels that I could help charge this thing with, once I got it done...

-N.

[Fla._Deadheader]

Stormin, I was stopped cold, when no one could build my electronic controller.

  I converted a Mazda Pickup, with a 500 amp Jack & Heintz aircraft generator. Had it bolted to a homemade bellhousing, that bolted to the trans. Had the clutch and all.

  Put a 2 cyl. Onan engine in the engine compartment, that ran a 100 Amp generator, for charging, and the electronic circuit had a re-generative braking feature, that would use the big motor as a generator, to slow the truck on deceleration, and charge the batteries. It was mechanically working, just no controller.

  There are a jillion vehicles that would make a slick conversion.  There are many good reference books, IF you know someone that is electronically literate.

  I also wired it up with #2 welding cable, doubled in homemade copper lugs.

  We used the welding cable for the 4KW Wind generator that powered our house for 5 years, but, they don't work either.  : :

  Still have the motor-generators, in Florida.  ;D ;D 8) 8)

[StorminN]

Deadheader,

That setup sounds promising. What was it about your controller that couldn't be built? The regen? If you're interested, let me talk to the lady that I work with that has the TR-8EV... her tweaked Curtis controller came from a guy down California (the Bay area?) that I was told builds custom stuff... I'll try and get a number / email for him...

The electronics end of this doesn't intimidate me, I've tinkered with that stuff my whole life... from building tube amps and microphones, to my fair share of DC stuff... wiring 32VDC commercial fishing boats, and a few off-grid PV setups.

-Norm.

[Fla._Deadheader]

I can wire about anything, AC, DC, 12,500 volts and up or down. Boats, cars, houses, not familiar with 3 phase.

  Circuit boards have lots of little parts on them, and they all have smoke in them.  : :D :D  The circuit was not real detailed. We had 3-200 Amp Transistors, BIG Blue, cylindrical Capacitors, and lots of little stuff. My neighbor thought he had the experience to make the boards up, from Breadboard. Didn't get it to work.

  He later died, and all his stuff got carried off.  :

[StorminN]

well deadheader,

If you still have the truck, I talked to the lady here and she tells me the guy she bought her converted car off of was Mike Bachman, he works for Curtis Instruments, the ones that make Curtis controllers. She has since lost his contact information, but you might be able to track him down by calling Curtis. They are down in Livermore, CA... I think they have a couple of wind turbines down there!  ;D ;D.

-Norm.

[Fla._Deadheader]

That truck is long gone. I stripped out all the electric stuff, and put in a Wisconsin 4 cyl. air-cooled. It had 1 bad cylinder, and Teri and Ed could not get a launch, to top the hill by our house. I took it to Florida, and my Dad sold it.  :

  Have any of you guys really looked into Hydrogen ???