[ausev] Daily Driver?

[Brian Lasseter]

On Sun, Jul 6, 2008 at 11:37 AM, Mike Seningen <mseningen at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> Is anyone here using their PEV for daily driving?

I use mine most every day.   (Some days I use a bike, since I'm only 2
miles from work.)

   Original Gas powered car:
http://www.lasso-jenn.com/photos/2007-03-30%20%20Electric%20Car%20Work%20-%20And%20so%20it%20begins/?d=c&img=1
   Converted all electric powered car:
http://www.lasso-jenn.com/photos/2008-04-05%20%20Finishing%20up%20the%20electric%20car/?d=c&img=6


> I'm ~15 miles to and then 15 miles back -- up and down HWY 71.
>
> I've got a handful of practicality issues......
>
> these have me leaning towards a converted vehicle -- As my wife put it
> -- are you going to drive a tin can (her term for an EV trike, or small car)
>  up and down Hwy 71 -- I don't think so.

Yeah, I probably wouldt entrust my life to an EV trike... but I needed
a car since my wife can not drive.  So I needed 4 door car for the
family.   (They do make the trikes specifically to get around US
safety regulations for 4 wheeled cars.)


> Safety (71 is not for the faint of heart!)
> Hills -- lots of them
> Speed -- 65+ is the "common" speed limit for Hwy71 (despite it being
> lowered to 55!)
> I'm not a light foot -- and if I was -- I'd get run over on 71 anyways.
>
> Nice Car -- this is to be my everyday driver -- and I enjoy driving
> roadsters and "sports" cars.
>
> Two car family max -- wife's edict.  No back-up plan for me.
>
> I don't have a way to plug in when I get to work -- unless the pack
> was convenient enough to lug to my office.  -- so it has to be able to sit
> for 8-12 hours and still make it home.

All the above is doable.  I regularly drive mine 30 miles.  I suspect
it can go 40-45 miles, but my I'm still breaking in my Xantrex battery
meter (since I've only been driving the car for two months).  Once the
battery meter is broken in, I'll be able to stress the pack a little
more if need be.  In my two months, I've put 700 miles on the electric
car though.


> A couple times a month I need to drive to work, then UT, then home --
> total ~50miles
> with a single charge.

That is pushing it.   I'm surprised that UT wouldn't allow you to
charge on campus.   IBM will let me charge, and I'm only 2 miles away
from home.


> Also:
> I'm ~18miles from the airport
> Airport parking -- how long can a PEV sit without charging and still
> make an 18mile return trip?

I find my 12V small battery runs down if I drive the car, and then
leave it for a few days.   However, I think that quirk is peculiar to
my design of car, and it should be fixed by added a supplemental 12V
battery charger to charge the small battery when I plug in my car.
(I'll make that upgrade in the next month or so.)

> I've got 7 months to come up with a new vehicle (my current 350Z lease
> expires Feb 1, 2009.

It took myself, and many helpful friends, 14 months to make my car.
I was very happy with the result though.  Like any endeavor, money
spent and time spent can trade off in the equation of building an EV.


-- 
TTFN,
Brian "Lasso" Lasseter

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