electric Car conversion

CNN ^

[wyowolf]

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Larry Horsley loves that he doesn't buy much gas, even though he drives his '95 Chevy S-10 back and forth to work each day. Larry Horsley's pickup has a set of neatly arranged electronics where his engine once was. 1 of 2 Horsley, a self-described do-it-yourselfer, simply plugs his truck into an electric wall outlet in his Douglasville, Georgia, garage and charges it overnight, instead of buying gasoline refined from mostly imported oil.

[wyowolf]

only 12 grand to start... whos gonna go first??

[pennboricua]

He will shortly get a visit from the Feds requesting the road taxes he is not paying. and possibly face a fine for not doing so.

[AFreeBird]

Here's a DIY conversion, rather detailed, for a Honda.

DIY Advanced High Performance Electric Vehicle Conversion Project

[wyowolf]

wouldnt it just be easier to buy a small car that gets good mileage??

[AFreeBird]

It's a Honda CRX, how much smaller do you want it? Read the site. This guy lays out the conversion, and all the components and electronics in great detail.

My hat's off to him.

[kbennkc]

I have invented a wind powered boat , but big oil is scaring off investors .

[the anti-liberal]

"simply plugs his truck into an electric wall outlet in his Douglasville, Georgia, garage and charges it overnight"

A. How much is his monthly electric bill now?

B. How much more pollution is he causing by burning coal (to produce the electricity that powers his car)?

If both of these, and the cost of the conversion, add up then it may be worth while, otherwise....

[Devilinbaggypants]

~~~”I’m a raging greenie,” he said.~~~

Can be replaced with I’m a raging idiot who worships in the temple of the Great goreical!

[wyowolf]

funny i live here , never heard about it...

[wyowolf]

I understand that, i just think it would be easier and cheaper to buy a fuel efficient car then spend 12 grand on something you really cant travel with... i do appreciate the ingenuity of it though...

[Paradox]

I am all for this kind of tinkering and experimentation, and all for trying every sort of alternative. I am something of a greenish conservative. Having said that...

Somethings I've often thought about:

Suppose we are comparing gasoline to diesel cars.Lets say you use a regular gasoline engine in a car, but used a considerably smaller one, one that only put out the same horsepower as the diesel engined car you are comparing it too (Diesel engine generally put out less HP than an equivalently sized Gasoline engine). The gas mileage would go up for the gasoline engined car. Now lets factor in the price difference... would the two cars get about the same miles/dollar? Something to ponder..

Now with electric conversions. What if you went and replaced the large, powerful gasoline motor, with a small one. Perhaps a tiny one, of equivalent HP to the electric. How would that work out?

I mean, in both these cases, you are looking at making compromises. What if you matched those compromises using regular old gasoline engines? Would those things, then, perhaps balance out? Just something to think about.

[kbennkc]

Stories that do not include answers to your very sound , very basic questions , are just retelling failed experiments .

[the anti-liberal]

Being as you live there - do you, by chance, happen to know how the electricity in your area is generated? Coal, hydro, etc.?

[the anti-liberal]

I suspect that any costs of inefficiency are merely seen as offerings to the god of "green."

The cost of piety - like the Prius.

[PGalt]

Thanks for the link. Great site. Fascinating.

[ThomasThomas]

Looks like a fun project for someone with the money and time. I once help a friend turbo charge his lawn mower.

[AFreeBird]

Well the Tesla Roadster has a range of 200~250 miles. Not bad for an EV. This guy gets around 90. Not great, but he's getting there and he's doing it on his own. Still, back to the Tesla, that's plenty for daily commuting for a week, but you can still plug it in every night while you're sleeping, so every day you start out with 200+ mile range.

Battery tech is really the key. Lots of new chemistry in the works.

[wyowolf]

our is Greystone, part of a large co op... with Georgia power... i know they have a lot of Hydro but i am not sure where it comes from for us...

[the anti-liberal]

Serious question:

Which is cheaper and more environmentally friendly - electricity from the grid or gasoline from the station?

[RetiredArmy]

What was his electric bill before and what is it now, that he has to charge these batteries every night for a few hours?