Well, it was tough, but I have the car under the car port now! U-Haul messed up my reservation plans, so instead of leaving at 5:00 AM to get it and be back before work, I didn't leave until almost 11:00. We got back at about 9:00 PM and it was too late to make the video then. I made one today but the lighting was poor and the video didn't come out well. I'll do it again tomorrow and show off the Geo.
Right now, it's in need of a little love. The dash is quite cracked and there is a small rust hole on one side, a bit of rust on the wipers, but not too bad. The main problem is that it is filthy. I hope to get it washed tomorrow and maybe drain some of the fluids, but I also have a home renovation project I have to get done as well, so we'll have to wait and see.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Some helpful resources for an EV conversion
As you can see, I've added a new column on the right for helpful resources to an EV conversion. If you have a site that you'd like to see added, leave me a comment or drop me an e-mail (e-mail address is in the welcome text on the right).
Things are starting to pick up the pace now, and soon we'll be ready to start the full blown conversion. I got the trailer hitch reciever I'll be installing to tow the Geo Storm yesterday, and I got the electric motor!
I got the hitch from etrailer.com. I checked all the auto parts stores in town, and none had a hitch that would work with the Stow and Go seating, so I ordered it through here. I used 5 day shipping, it got here in three. They processed my order on the same day - can't beat that! They even sent me a personalized e-mail to let me know it was processed and sent out.
The electric motor was even faster; I ordered it from cloudelectric.com. Because the Apple Store sent out three pre-authsorizations the day before, the sudden charge tripped the fraud filter. I called them to make sure everything was okay, and I didn't even have to tell them the order. I just said "Hi, this is Phil," explained the fraud trip, and they found my order and got it packed up and shipped to me. I ordered at 8:50. By 10:30 the next day, it was already here! I didn't pay anything extra for shipping, mind. I couldn't be more impressed with their support.
I'm also in contact with a fellow from EVAmerica.com, and as soon as I get the clutch plate out of the Storm, I can have my adapter made. IT's even going to be about $50 cheaper than I had initially expected.
So far, things are going great. Next video installment will be this weekend, and hopefull by next weekend we'll be making some real headway on the conversion!
Things are starting to pick up the pace now, and soon we'll be ready to start the full blown conversion. I got the trailer hitch reciever I'll be installing to tow the Geo Storm yesterday, and I got the electric motor!
I got the hitch from etrailer.com. I checked all the auto parts stores in town, and none had a hitch that would work with the Stow and Go seating, so I ordered it through here. I used 5 day shipping, it got here in three. They processed my order on the same day - can't beat that! They even sent me a personalized e-mail to let me know it was processed and sent out.
The electric motor was even faster; I ordered it from cloudelectric.com. Because the Apple Store sent out three pre-authsorizations the day before, the sudden charge tripped the fraud filter. I called them to make sure everything was okay, and I didn't even have to tell them the order. I just said "Hi, this is Phil," explained the fraud trip, and they found my order and got it packed up and shipped to me. I ordered at 8:50. By 10:30 the next day, it was already here! I didn't pay anything extra for shipping, mind. I couldn't be more impressed with their support.
I'm also in contact with a fellow from EVAmerica.com, and as soon as I get the clutch plate out of the Storm, I can have my adapter made. IT's even going to be about $50 cheaper than I had initially expected.
So far, things are going great. Next video installment will be this weekend, and hopefull by next weekend we'll be making some real headway on the conversion!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
First video is up!
Well, it's not much, but you can at least see who I am and hear me talk about the state of things right now. This shows my old Honda and why I'm looking for a new ride.
You can see the video here:
Or go to the link directly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTDK8xVP1w4
Future updates will be video responses to make it easier, or you can subscribe to my channel and really make my day!
Now I did forget to mention during the video why the Honda wouldn't be a good conversion project even if it was new. I'll cover that in the next installment, but there are a couple of reasons.
1) It's an automatic. Remember in my donor car specs that I was only looking at manual transmissions. There are several reasons for this.
a) Converting an automatic requires additional work and expense. My general laziness will become apparent in no time, so I might as well introduce it here. To make an automatic transmission work requires a more complicated setup, as the automatic transmission is under constant movement from the engine idling. In an electric vehicle, the motor does not idle, however. This means you have to either get an additional motor, or every time you stop you have to put it in nuetral and continue to give it pressure on the throttle, wasting a lot of energy. It also adds significant weight, having the fluid there, the heavier gear box, an additional motor if you choose that route, etc.
b) It's significantly less efficient. Part of that is because of the weight, but also, the more complicated automatic gearbox introduces increased resistance. That is why manual transmissions are given better gas mileage on dealer stickers. On a sticker for a gasoline car, it's only a few MPG, not that big a deal, but in an EV where range is already a limited resource, cutting into it further should be avoided where possible.
2) The car is too heavy. Now I'm sure you've seen people create heavier electric vehicles; the S-10 pickup conversion is very popular right now, so let me qualify that a bit. The gross restricted vehicle weight is not high enough for it's weight. The curb weight (what the vehicle weights with a full tank when it's devoid of passengers and cargo, i.e. parked) is around 2,822 lbs. I forgot to write it down off the door, but the gross weight (the total weight it can cary, car, cargo, passengers and all) is only about 3,600 lbs. In other words, it can only cary 800 lbs. of passenger and crew. When doing a conversion, depending on how many/what type of batteries you are using, it's not unusual to add 800 lbs. of batteries. For example, some 12v batteries I looked at the other day were 82 lbs. each. For a 96 volt system I need 8, making the weight of the batteries alone 656 lbs. The motor is then about 150 lbs. The weight of the other bits, like the controller and charger, etc. come to about 50 lbs. I would esitmate, making the total weight added 856 lbs. That leaves me -56 lbs. of passenger and cargo room! While the engine and exhaust system and tank are taken out, that only makes about 200-400 lbs. weight, depending on the size of the engine. Taking an easy average, 300 lbs. leaves me with 244 lbs. of stuff. Since I was recently up to 200 (I've lost some weight since thankfully) that gives me 44 lbs. of stuff to move around.
Now this would probably be fine for my usage. But if you forget about it and break a strut or axle because you had a buddy hop in one day, you'd sure be upset!
With the Geo Storm, the GRVW is around 3,200, or about 1,000 lbs more than the curb weight. It also has a larger engine, which gives me more weight to play with. I don't think I'd want to haul my mother-and-law around in it, but you can reasonably haul two people.
In the next installment we'll pick up the car, ready the work area, and if we get ambitious, drain some fluids! I'm very excited and can't wait to pick up the car this Saturday.
You can see the video here:
Or go to the link directly: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTDK8xVP1w4
Future updates will be video responses to make it easier, or you can subscribe to my channel and really make my day!
Now I did forget to mention during the video why the Honda wouldn't be a good conversion project even if it was new. I'll cover that in the next installment, but there are a couple of reasons.
1) It's an automatic. Remember in my donor car specs that I was only looking at manual transmissions. There are several reasons for this.
a) Converting an automatic requires additional work and expense. My general laziness will become apparent in no time, so I might as well introduce it here. To make an automatic transmission work requires a more complicated setup, as the automatic transmission is under constant movement from the engine idling. In an electric vehicle, the motor does not idle, however. This means you have to either get an additional motor, or every time you stop you have to put it in nuetral and continue to give it pressure on the throttle, wasting a lot of energy. It also adds significant weight, having the fluid there, the heavier gear box, an additional motor if you choose that route, etc.
b) It's significantly less efficient. Part of that is because of the weight, but also, the more complicated automatic gearbox introduces increased resistance. That is why manual transmissions are given better gas mileage on dealer stickers. On a sticker for a gasoline car, it's only a few MPG, not that big a deal, but in an EV where range is already a limited resource, cutting into it further should be avoided where possible.
2) The car is too heavy. Now I'm sure you've seen people create heavier electric vehicles; the S-10 pickup conversion is very popular right now, so let me qualify that a bit. The gross restricted vehicle weight is not high enough for it's weight. The curb weight (what the vehicle weights with a full tank when it's devoid of passengers and cargo, i.e. parked) is around 2,822 lbs. I forgot to write it down off the door, but the gross weight (the total weight it can cary, car, cargo, passengers and all) is only about 3,600 lbs. In other words, it can only cary 800 lbs. of passenger and crew. When doing a conversion, depending on how many/what type of batteries you are using, it's not unusual to add 800 lbs. of batteries. For example, some 12v batteries I looked at the other day were 82 lbs. each. For a 96 volt system I need 8, making the weight of the batteries alone 656 lbs. The motor is then about 150 lbs. The weight of the other bits, like the controller and charger, etc. come to about 50 lbs. I would esitmate, making the total weight added 856 lbs. That leaves me -56 lbs. of passenger and cargo room! While the engine and exhaust system and tank are taken out, that only makes about 200-400 lbs. weight, depending on the size of the engine. Taking an easy average, 300 lbs. leaves me with 244 lbs. of stuff. Since I was recently up to 200 (I've lost some weight since thankfully) that gives me 44 lbs. of stuff to move around.
Now this would probably be fine for my usage. But if you forget about it and break a strut or axle because you had a buddy hop in one day, you'd sure be upset!
With the Geo Storm, the GRVW is around 3,200, or about 1,000 lbs more than the curb weight. It also has a larger engine, which gives me more weight to play with. I don't think I'd want to haul my mother-and-law around in it, but you can reasonably haul two people.
In the next installment we'll pick up the car, ready the work area, and if we get ambitious, drain some fluids! I'm very excited and can't wait to pick up the car this Saturday.
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