Plugs and Cars
APRIL 30, 2007
The United States uses 360 million gallons of gasoline each day. One tanker-truck load, a mere 8600 gallons of gasoline, exploded on a San Francisco Bay Area Freeway early Sunday morning, and the consequences will be felt for months. The effect of this one accident is being compared to the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which also caused the collapse of Bay Area freeways.
Plug In Partners
APRIL 23, 2007
T he Department of Energy is moving forward to develop advanced batteries for PHEV s. Here is the story. DOE to Provide up to $14 Million to Develop Advanced Batteries for Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles WASHINGTON, DC – The U.S. Department of Energy ( DOE ) today announced that it will provide up to $14 million in funding for a $28 million cost-shared solicitation by the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), for plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) battery development.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 21, 2007
With the motor/transmission bolted into the chassis and all the mechanical shafts/cables attached, I'm starting the wiring. ElectroAuto sent me the incorrect terminal blocks and missed one of the smaller relays (assuming the instructions are correct), so I'll probably run out to Napa tomorrow and see if I can pick up more stuff. Here is the first terminal block and two relays attached to the left wall behind the driver.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 27, 2007
InsideGreentech reports that Toronto Star reporter Tyler Hamilton posted on his personal blog that battery maker A123 Systems has acquired Canadian plug-in converter Hymotion. It would certainly be a good thing for A123 to have a reason beyond its relationship with GM to be interested in making batteries for plug-in cars. Tags: a123 hymotion plug-in hybrid.
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Plugs and Cars
APRIL 25, 2007
UQM Technologies announced today it will supply plug-in hybrid systems as well as all-electric drive systems for Phoenix Motors' sport utility trucks. "The development of a plug-in hybrid model of our sport utility truck is an important expansion of our model offering that we expect will meet the needs of a broader range of customers," said Dan Elliott, president and CEO of Phoenix Motorcars.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 25, 2007
An excellent piece on electric cars by Steven Wickens in the Toronto Star here. Praising his Toyota RAV4 EV, Avi Hershkovitz says, "I've put more than 121,000 miles (195,000 km) on this vehicle, and it's definitely the best, most reliable thing I've ever driven." He adds: "I'd probably still have an EV1 if GM hadn't forced me to give it back. Let's not forget, as GM hypes the Volt , 1000 140-range NiMH EV1 electric cars rot in the Arizona sun.
EV Driven brings together the best content on electric vehicles from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 22, 2007
Today was a day for really getting my brain wrapped around the initial wiring. After studying the AC kit diagrams and reading the motor controller documentation from Azure Dynamics, I think I understand a little better what all these relays and terminal strips are for. Yay! The two six-position terminal strips that ElectroAuto promised were in the mail today.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 20, 2007
Today was a day to get rid of cruft left over from the conversion process so far. I took all the extra, un-used 914 parts lying around the house out to Craig at Camp914 in exchange for a fusebox cover for under my dash. I also returned his 12-point CV joint tool that I used to take the transmission out of the car. I sent an e-mail to Pat to return his flywheel lock tool and clutch centering tool.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 20, 2007
An incredible pair of stories in the Detroit news here and here. In one, electric drive is seen as inevitable. In the other electricity isn't even mentioned. Huh? Thanks for the tip to Felix Kramer of CalCars. Tags: GM electric car plug-in hybrid electricity.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 18, 2007
There are so many reasons ethanol shouldn't be priority #1 in America's quest for petroleum replacement. I blogged about this previously here. Yet another reason to think again about the ethanol craze in an article in today's LA Times. Of our "alternative fuel" options, only electricity can truly be made renewably (wind, solar, geothermal, small hydro), with no carbon or other noxious emissions.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 17, 2007
The task for this evening was re-attaching all the cables and drive shafts back to the transmission that I re-installed last Friday. Here's a dangling CV joing (minus the protective bag) ready for bolting back into the transmission. I packed the joint with grease for lubrication and painted a CV joint gasket with grease to seal the joint. Here we are, torquing down the CV joint bolts with the special 12-point tool I borrowed from Craig at Camp914 and my father's torque wrench.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 16, 2007
Bob Lutz, GM CEO, sat down to chat with some bloggers at the NY Auto Show, and PODTECH has the video. Well worth a listen. Lutz responds to the sense that GM might be pulling back from its commitment to the Volt that resulted from Sharon Terlep's Detroit News article a month or so ago. (My take at the time here.) Lutz says the Volt is no "pr stunt," that they intend to have a working model by the end of the year, and are making a diesel version with a European body to be shown in Frankfort.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 16, 2007
From a new interview in Fortune and his new upcoming book, " Where Have all the Leaders Gone ?": What can the auto industry do? "Plug-in hybrids. I think they're virtually here now." Full Interview here : I don't think I could have said it better myself. I think we are going to be hearing lots on Lee and his book. Particularly the parts where he blasts detroit lack of leadership and also particularly the Bush administration.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 13, 2007
Well, today was quite productive. My friend Nicole came over for a few hours to help me finish the transmission and put the motor/transmission together. While rummaging through my bolts last night, I discovered that I had forgot to install the flywheel bolt plate and had just put the bolts right into the flywheel. While this might not have been fatal, I'm really happy that I was able to take out the bolts (rather hard with red loctite) and install the proper plate.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 12, 2007
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Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 11, 2007
Yay, I got another shipment of parts today from Electro Auto! These will help me move forward a bit more once the motor is installed into the chassis. I'm a bit confused because the directions call for a five-terminal block and a six-terminal block with a shorting bar. What I got was a five-terminal block with a shorting bar (lower-right pice in the picture) and a four-space connector (upper right part).
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 12, 2007
AP reports: Gasoline futures rose 3.31 cents to settle at $2.1918 per gallon on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, alternative fuel ethanol hit a 7-month high, corresponding to an overall rise in gas prices since last August. Ethanol futures rose 4.3 cents to settle at $2.280 on the Chicago Board of Trade. Light, sweet crude for May delivery rose $1.84 to close at $63.85 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 10, 2007
My friend Ruth came over this evening and helped get the final nylock nuts put on the potbox. The remainder of the evening involved attaching the motor mount and adapter pieces to the Azure Dynamics AC motor. This is my fathers torque wrench from WWII. He hasn't used it in fifty years, but it works just fine! The directions say to tighten the hex-head bolts in the cone adapter.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 11, 2007
Editor & Publisher reports the NY Times has taken delivery of a long-awaited plug-in hybrid Sprinter Van from Daimler/Chrysler. It will perform everyday duties. The van, a Dodge Sprinter PHEV, will be kept at the paper’s printing plant in College Point, Queens and will be used to transport papers. I hope David Pogue gets down there to check it out.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 9, 2007
I purchased a Rivnut gun yesterday at Parkrose Hardware. That place is amazing; they had all the hardware and rivnuts I needed. It's associated with TrueValue hardware, so people in other areas might be able to go to TrueValue. Here's the Rivnut Gun. It's expensive($65), but I suspect it's easier to use than the tool shown in the VoltsPorsche DC manual.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 9, 2007
Sen. Barbara Boxer attended a Silicon Valley Alternative Energy Summit today and PG&E was there with its plug-in hybrid Prius. Green Wombat reports on the Vehicle to Grid (V2G) capability demonstrated by PG&E. The modified Toyota Prius was plugged into a into a standard PG&E meter outside Advanced Micro Devices's Sunnyvale headquarters. As the car's lithium ion battery powered a bank of lights and a portable heater, the meter began to run backwards.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 8, 2007
The Detroit News Autos Insider reports on Ford CEO Alan Mulally's oops moment about Bush's oops moment. "I violated all the protocols. I touched the President.This is all off the record, right?". Tags: Ford George Bush plug-in hybrid Alan Mulally hydrogen.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 5, 2007
I spent the past two evenings getting the rest of life together. Tonight I just did some simple cleanup. I swept the garage and put away all the tools, wood pieces and garbage so that there would be space to work in. The garage, somewhat clean again. The transmission off to the right has a fresh load of oil in it and I look forward to seeing if I have any major leaks over the next few days.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 4, 2007
Why are even the smartest journalists unable to get beyond the hype when it comes to automobiles and alternative fuels? David Pogue has a respected, weekly technology column in the NY Times. In addition, "David is an Emmy-winning correspondent for CBS News, a frequent contributor to NPR's "Morning Edition," creator of the Missing Manual series of computer books, and father of three.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 2, 2007
Well, after fighting with the front seal on the transmission for a few days, I finally got it out. I tried using chemicals to melt the rubber portion of the seal. I tried using a slide hammer to yank it out. I tried using a long rod and large hammer to push it out from the other side. In the end, I scraped away as much rubber material as I could and simply hacksawed a slit in one edge to loosen it up.
Plug In Partners
APRIL 3, 2007
A few months back, a reporter from the WSJ came to our offices. Here's part of his story. The whole story is here. In Quest for Cleaner Energy, Texas City Touts Plug-In Car John J. Fialka Wall Street Journal March 26, 2007 AUSTIN, Texas -- Of all the plans cooked up by cities to combat pollution and global warming, the one hatched here is among the most ambitious -- and, some say, one of the more quixotic.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 1, 2007
This is another humbling moment in the project. Above is a picture of the main transmission seal that prevents transmission oil from spewing out into the flywheel area. It is completely rotten and glued to the metal around it. This would most likely explain the transmission oil leaks and the oil and dirt that covered the top of the transmission. I ran out to Napa Auto Parts and purchased some spray gasket remover (nasty stuff) and have been slowly melting away tiny layers of the rotten seal.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 22, 2007
In January GM announced the Volt, a smart idea that makes use of the two existing primary energy infrastructures - the electric grid and gasoline stations. With NiMH batteries - those that provide energy to every hybrid on the road and thousands of all-electric cars - the Volt plug-in hybrid could go into production today. Instead, GM says the batteries must be Lithium and must take the car 40 miles before the engine comes on.
Porsche 914 EV Conversion
APRIL 27, 2007
Today, I installed the last kit piece that I have from Electro Automotive: the motor controller wiring harness. Here's the harness plugged into the controller and fed through the two-inch computer grommet from the last blog entry. ElectroAuto was gracious enough to color code every single wire to help prevent misconnects. This made the installation much easier.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 30, 2007
In the Democratic debate last week, Joe Biden mentioned his legislation to prod lithium battery research for plug-in cars among the panoply of actions required to meet the global climate challenge. We also have legislation in requiring that we invest $100 million a year the next couple of years while this president’s president in order to be able to find lithium battery technology to be able to — to power our cars.
Plugs and Cars
APRIL 28, 2007
Three Senators, Republican Orrin Hatch and Democrats Maria Cantwell and Barack Obama are showing signs of getting it. The Electric Drive Transportation website has the complete press release. “We are facing a global energy crunch, and the fact that our transportation sector is around 97 percent dependent on oil is just plain dangerous,” Hatch said, “We have to act now and we have to be creative.
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