[ausev] EV dreaming

[jefoy at mindspring.com]

Jerry,

>From what I have read and my own experiance with different types of ICE vehicles, I would lean toward the S-10 or other small truck type conversions. One frequently glossed over aspect of most conversions is that for small cars like the Geo, Del Sol or similar, you are taking a package designed for a GVWR rating of ~3500 lbs and taking it right to the limit or beyond that with the combined weight of batteries & motor. The various conversion kits sell heavier springs but that doesn't address the rest of the package, spindles, spring attaching points, brakes, etc..

A truck offers several inherent advantages:
1. The suspension is already designed for the load, you don't have the margin you had before to load 1000 lbs of firewood in the bed but you can still haul as many aluminum cans to the recycle center as you want to.
2. The cab is seperate from the bed and it is easy to put the batteries under the bed and not have to worry about keeping acid fumes out of the passenger area.
3. Most trucks are a body on frame design which makes it easy to remove the bed and fabricate battery mounts attached directly to the frame. On a unibody car you have to be careful what you cut and what you attach to since the body and floorpan are part of the structure.

It is certainly possible to convert a small car and do it safely. It requires more work and planning to get it right but it can be done.  Newer vehicles have much better brakes and suspensions than they did several years ago when some of the first conversions were being done. I have a conversion project (on hold) using a 1993 Infinity as a base vehicle because the price was right (free), and I aquired a series wound motor and transaxle cheap so all have to do is match axles and fabricate the engine mount. If I was starting from scratch I would likely choose a truck for the reasons listed above.

Jack Foy

-----Original Message-----
>From: jerry young <mochajiva at yahoo.com>
>Sent: Feb 9, 2007 7:31 PM
>To: ausev at austinev.org
>Subject: [ausev] EV dreaming
>
>Hello Austin EVers,
>I have thought about having an EV for many years and
>it has never seemed like quite the right moment. I am
>not sure it is now but I am itching to take a stab at
>it. I am feeling very late to the party. 
>The main use for the vehicle would be work commuting
>20 miles round trip to downtown Austin and in-town
>errands. It would be nice to have a vehicle that I
>could drive 65 mph on MoPac, but I could settle for a
>backstreet commuter if the price was right.
>
>My budget is under $10,000. In saying that, I mean I
>would like it to be a lot less than $10,000 but I
>would figure out a way to spend even a little more if
>I could buy a beautiful conversion outright.
>
>The big question is do I buy a used EV or do I convert
>my own? I can’t afford a quality conversion shop job
>and I am leery of cheaper shops that look like they
>are selling vehicles with batteries that could fly
>around if there was an accident. This indicates to me
>that they are not being as thorough in their work as I
>would like. Maybe a person can buy one of these and
>then upgrade it—I don’t know.
>The biggest hurdle if I try my own conversion is I
>don’t have a garage. I share a driveway where I could
>do light work on my EV and I have a place to plug in
>to recharge but that’s it. I am thinking I might be
>able to rent one short term or even rent one that came
>with a person that I could pay to help me with the
>conversion.
>The second hurdle is that I am a bit fearful that I
>will start on a long project and somewhere it will bog
>down and I won’t have the drive to complete it. Group
>support could be of help in this situation. After
>looking at various conversions on line, including some
>of those done in Austin, I am in awe of the relentless
>drive people have shown in making and documenting
>their conversions.
>The third hurdle is finding a donor vehicle. I have
>mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I am
>thinking along the lines of a Chevy S10 pickup because
>EV America has had a lot of experience with them and I
>assume all the problems of this conversion have been
>ironed out long ago. Then there are the Geo Metro
>conversions. I like them because they also have many
>conversions done on them and they are cheaper to
>convert. I am concerned though that the Geo Metro is a
>bit dated and they may not be very sturdy cars. Also,
>a sporty 2 seater has a huge appeal to me as an EV
>vehicle. In particular I think it would be neat to
>convert a Honda Del Sol. It might take a long wait for
>a reasonably priced donor on this one however. Which
>brings up a point, maybe it's better not to worry
>about exactly what the donor is and just grab the
>first $500 car that is reasonably doable. I wonder
>what experienced EVers think on this issue?
>Well that’s my story so far.
>Any input/comments would by greatly appreciated.
>Jerry
>
>
>
> 
>____________________________________________________________________________________
>Want to start your own business?
>Learn how on Yahoo! Small Business.
>http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/r-index
>_______________________________________________
>AusEV mailing list
>AusEV at austinev.org
>http://www.austinev.org/mailman/listinfo/ausev