Open Source Civic EV Kit
MAY 31, 2008
One of the other discussions on the Civic-EV group concerns which controller to use to drive the system. Here are few thoughts: Curtis controllers are widely used and available but a tad pricey and have issues due to lack of over-RPM and under-voltage feedback. The Zilla 1K controllers are amazing, but have lead times of 4-6 months and also cost a lot.
Plugs and Cars
MAY 29, 2008
Tom Friedman of the NY Times has been hammering away at the bi-partisan disaster that is the US energy policy for years now. One cornerstone of the policy is cheap gas. Pandering politicians have ensured the true cost of gas remains shrouded in tax policy and the defense budget. Now the pressures of a changing global market have provoked a precipitous rise in gasoline prices for the heretofore protected American driver.
DIY Electric Car
MAY 23, 2008
I've decided to try and work out the cost comparisons for a Lithium pack vs a Lead pack for a set range and a set number of years. Is Lead Acid actually cheaper or does is just seem that way up front? This article aims to find that out. The method is to get 10kWh of usable energy, I’ll try to get that with Lead and with Lithium and see what we find is cheaper in the long run.
Plug In Partners
MAY 20, 2008
N ow that the number one automaker and the number two automaker has made the commitment to building Plug In hybrid / electric vehicles by 2010, another automotive giant is joining the race. Here is the story from the New York Times : Nissan Plans Electric Car in U.S. by ’10 By BILL VLASIC Published: May 13, 2008 DETROIT — The Nissan Motor Company plans to sell an electric car in the United States and Japan by 2010, raising the stakes in the race to develop environmentally friendly vehicles.
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Electric Cars are for Girls
MAY 25, 2008
If you put solar panels on your car would it help? If you did it right, would it be like adding one or more batteries? Let's say you are at work and.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
MAY 31, 2008
In addition to the motor adapter to connect the DC motor to the transmission, you also need to support the rear end of the DC motor. Big thanks to Rob Connelly for providing pictures and CAD drawings of a possible "banjo plate" to support the motor. By using the beefy motor mount angle bracket from the original Civic vehicle, you can support quite a bit of weight.
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Open Source Civic EV Kit
MAY 31, 2008
After some significant debate at the Civic-EV Google Group on whether to use a clutched or clutch-less system, I'm going to pursue using a clutched system for the initial revision of this kit. Here are some points I considered: Clutched system for Civic: feels more like the original manual transmission, allows people unfamiliar with EVs to drive it more easily; downshifting much easier Allows troubleshooting of the drivetrain by allowing an intermediate disconnect point during operation Adds a s
Open Source Civic EV Kit
MAY 31, 2008
Hi All, I had a great time in Italy for the past month exploring all the historical ruins of several cities. Vacation is over, and I'm happy to be back in the saddle doing EV conversion research for the open-source project. The Civic-EV Google Group grew quite a bit while I was gone and several people have come out of the woodwork to help with this project, so I'm psyched to move forward.
DIY Electric Car
MAY 11, 2008
Ah Oil, we’ve had plenty of good times together haven’t we? Remember me learning to drive… buying my first car… our first road trip together. We’ve made some pretty good memories… you and I. But if I’m honest I think we should start seeing other fuels. The last thing I want to do is hurt you but I think we are just drifting apart, heading in separate directions.
DIY Electric Car
MAY 8, 2008
Just out of curiosity I thought it might be interesting to record to statistics of DIY electric car, since it seemed like it was growing pretty fast. After just a month of fairly sporadic recording of the threads, posts, members and active members I found the results pretty surprising. If you're interesting in statistics or just want to see how the website is going then check out these numbers (and excuse my dodgy excel graphs).
Plugs and Cars
MAY 4, 2008
Today Barak Obama appeared on Meet the Press. (full transcript here.) MR. RUSSERT: How long before our automobiles are off of gasoline oil and, and using something like an alternative fuel? SEN. OBAMA: Well, you know, I, I think that if we decided right now that we were going to make the kind of investment I've proposed--$150 billion over 10 years--then I think at the end of the decade we could have a auto industry that has significantly reduced our consumption of oil by as much as 35, 40 percen
Plugs and Cars
MAY 2, 2008
The Aptera electric car, so futuristic looking it will appear in an upcoming Star Trek movie, is becoming more believable with each passing day. Extremely lightweight, it will be able to get decent range out of a relatively small lithium battery pack. Three-wheeled, it will not be speed limited like four-wheeled NEVs. They produced a short video from inside their Southern California base station.
DIY Electric Car
MAY 2, 2008
My concern for the environment started when earth, fire, wind, water and heart combined to fight the forces of corporate greed and irresponsibility. Yes, Captain Planet was my hero. I’ve had quite a lot of greening influences in my life, from cartoons, to a kid’s solar experimentation kit, to my friend’s parent’s weird composting toilet. I’ve developed quite an awareness of global environment issues, especially to do with energy and I think make a decent effort to change my lifestyle in order to
Electric Cars are for Girls
MAY 31, 2008
Is it practical (money and technical-wise) to convert an old Spitfire to an EV? I mean, for instance, will the weight of the EV components exceed the.
Electric Cars are for Girls
MAY 22, 2008
I saw on your website somewhere there was mention of a gas generator powering an electric motor. This is called a Parallel Hybrid Drivetrain. Is this.
Electric Cars are for Girls
MAY 26, 2008
If an automatic transmission is such a bummer for EV conversions, why not just can the transmission and hook the electric motor to the drive shaft -.
Electric Cars are for Girls
MAY 25, 2008
We'd like to have a minivan or airport bus sized vehicle converted to electric with air conditioning, We'd like a 60-70 mile range at highway speeds.
Electric Cars are for Girls
MAY 25, 2008
What are the main components for building an electric car? Batteries, motor.what else?
Electric Cars are for Girls
MAY 26, 2008
I have a '73 Spitfire that I bought as a restoration project.
Plugs and Cars
MAY 13, 2008
The tide appears to be turning. Electric cars are in the news almost daily. Large manufacturers and startups are responding to changing circumstances and customer preferences. Oil has passed $120 a barrel. The NY Times headlined "As Gas Costs Soar, Buyers Flock to Small Cars." GM lost $3.25 billion in the first quarter. Something’s got to give. In perhaps the biggest news, on May 13 amidst a generally downbeat report, Nissan announced a serious, forward-looking effort to make electric cars an im
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