.
Parting thoughts…

Naysayers are quick to scoff at medium-speed electric vehicles as “useless”, arguing that they’re too slow and don’t go far enough on a charge (OK, they say that part about almost all EV’s).  What these people fail to understand is that their vehicle needs are not the same as everyone else’s vehicle needs.

Tens of thousands of people in North America and elsewhere have already bought and are using low- and medium-speed electric vehicles for local driving, from actual golf carts, to NEV’s (neighbourhood electric vehicles), to faster cars such as the classic Citicar/Commutacar, to the newer Zap Xebra.

And now they’re building their own, on the cheap!

Feel motivated?  Well then, here’s what we learned about budget EVs from the 3 amigos, both in general and specifically:

In general…

Be realistic

Understand that you probably can’t build a highway capable EV with a 40+ mile range on the cheap.  (But if you’ve done it, drop us a line!)  Each of these cars tops out around 45 mph, and a more realistic “working” top speed is probably low to mid 30′s.  Steep hills are to be avoided.

No experience required

- two of the builders had zero experience with electric vehicles
- one had little experience working on cars in general
- all you need to know you can learn on the Web

Reuse & recycle

Read the build threads for these vehicles and you’ll discover lots of creative low-cost recycling ideas.  “Repurposed” parts in the ForkenSwift, for example, include bits from a dead inkjet printer, old tricycle, dead 12v cooler, old bed frame, used welding cable and more.

Patience is a virtue

The challenge of buying used parts and scouring eBay for killer deals is that it will probably take some time to find the things you’ll need.  If you’re an impulsive type prone to temper tantrums when you can’t get something you want RIGHT NOW, a budget EV project is probably not for you.

Let no parts go to waste

Just because you’ve decided the internal combustion engine is useless for your purposes, doesn’t mean it’s actually worthless.  In the case of both Metro projects, slightly more money was recovered by selling good parts (fuel tanks, radiators, working engines) than the cars originally cost!  As well, hundreds of dollars were recovered by selling the forklift chassis after stripping the electric parts.

More specifically …

Go light

By definition, a medium speed budget EV is not going to need to carry a lot of batteries or generate a lot of power.  Which means you should try to find a lightweight host car to keep the overall power to weight ratio manageable.

Forklifts and golf carts and used parts, oh my

The biggest fleets of EV’s in the world are found in warehouses and on golf courses.  The companies that sell/service/repair these vehicles are potentially a good source of affordable used parts, particularly if you take an entire old unit off their hands.

The 72 volt threshold

The lower your system voltage, the lower your component and battery costs.  That said, a 48 volt 400 amp subcompact car is just barely workable in what most people would consider normal driving, and only on flat roads.  A 72 volt setup is more realistic, and as it turns out, motor controllers that can handle 72 volts seem to be just below a threshold where the price goes up significantly.

A 48-72 volt battery pack (assuming lead-acid) also keeps you closer to the weight limit that a smaller host vehicle can carry without exceeding its gross vehicle weight limit (affecting suspension & braking ability).

Used batteries

Second hand batteries can be a viable option, which is good because along with the motor and motor controller, the battery pack is one of the 3 costliest parts of an electric conversion.  Depending on your range needs, it is possible to find used ones that may meet your minimum range goals.  Two of the three cheap EV’s featured in this series are running on batteries from other EV’s owners which were either upgraded, or replaced once they no longer met their minimum range needs.

Connect with experts & people with experience

Electric Vehicle Discussion List – evdl.org
EValbum – evalbum.com
EcoModder Fossil Fuel Free forum – ecomodder.com/forum/fossil-fuel-free.html
DIY Electric Car forum – diyelectriccar.com

Well – what are you waiting for?

]]> http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-5/feed/ 3 http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-4/ http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-4/#comments Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:39:34 +0000 Benjamin Jones http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=747

Electric cars don’t have to be prohibitively expensive.  In fact, they can be surprisingly affordable for a resourceful tinkerer.  In Part 4 of this 5 part series, Paul Holmes answers ten questions posed to him about his $2200, 1971 Volkswagen Beetle electric conversion, and the lessons learned from the experience.

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1) How much did it cost?

The total cost was $2200. The batteries were $1500, and everything else was about $700. I could have gotten a good deal on some used Deep Cycle batteries, but my wife applied for a Sears Card, so we got six Platinum Die Hard Deep Cycle AGM batteries.

2) How far can it go on a charge?

I estimate that it will go 20 miles at 25 mph (totally dead battery pack). The maximum I have driven it was about 12 miles in a day, and it still had plenty left.

3) How fast can it go?

The top speed is about 50 mph. The fastest I’ve gone is 45 mph. The front of the car shakes if I go over 35 mph (the Super Beetle Shimmies – still working out some bugs). I typically cruise at 30 mph. No one gets angry at me, and it keeps the current draw from the battery pack down to about 70 amps.

4) Why did you do this?

My wife and I rented the movie “Who Killed the Electric Car” a while back. Around the same time, I watched “An Inconvenient Truth”. I converted my bike to electric and began using it as my commuting vehicle to various substitute teaching jobs. As I would sit in traffic behind cars, it would make me choke sometimes. I started to see all those cars as stink bomb factories. They were everywhere, everyday. I noticed that it smelled really nice for about an hour after it would rain, and then the stink would slowly take over once again. I imagined what it would be like if all the cars were electric. Sitting at lights in total silence. No stink being emitted. It could smell beautiful and fresh every day, assuming we could generate the electricity in a clean way. Well, I wanted to be the change that I wanted to see in the world. I decided to attempt a cheap conversion, even though I had no idea how.

5) Where did you get the idea/motivation?

I knew a cheap conversion could be done after reading Dr. Larry Tillman’s conversion blog (part one, part 2, EV Album). Then I saw some videos of the ForkenSwift. $680? Heck! I could afford that! Also, after riding an electric bike around for a while, I just had to drive in an electric car. Also, gas was $4.00/gallon.

6) What do you typically use the car for?

I use it to drive to school every day, each time I get groceries, every time I go somewhere that is not freeway driving.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Wlm4CXnWs

7) What’s the coolest response you’ve had to the car?

I incorporated it into a math lesson for algebra students. We went outside to the parking lot and when I turned the car on, they thought it was very funny that it made no sound other than a click of the contactor. Only when I started to back up did they really believe me that it was on. They started taking out their cell phones and snapping pictures. When I pulled back into the parking spot, the crowd of students parted and then enclosed the car in a circle once I was back where I started. Everyone was offering congratulations and asking how they could do it too.

8 ) What is something unexpected you learned/discovered from your project.

I didn’t really think it would work once it was done. Except for a few minor things, everything worked exactly as I hoped it would. It was EASIER than I thought it would be.

9) What was the hardest part of the project?

The hardest part was connecting the motor to the transmission. Specifically, making the spacers for the adapter plates was very difficult. They had to be exactly the same length, and they needed a hole drilled down their center, which was hard.

10) Any advice for anyone else considering doing something like this?

You don’t need to know anything about cars to convert a car to electric! I knew NOTHING about cars!!! I’m not demonstrating false humility here – I knew NOTHING!!! If you keep it simple, it can be a fairly straightforward and cheap process. Also, get a professional to mate the motor and transmission. It will be like $500, but it’s really, really annoying making those spacers! Pay the dang money.

Thanks, Paul!

Links to more info about Paul’s car:

• Read the project’s build thread in the EcoModder forum
• Vehicle specs at DIYelectriccar
• More vids on YouTube showing this electric car

Next in this series:

> Part 5 – Parting thoughts

Electric cars don’t have to be prohibitively expensive.  In fact, they can be surprisingly affordable for a resourceful tinkerer.  In Part 3 of this 5 part series, Darin Cosgrove answers ten questions posed to him about his $955, 1992 Geo Metro electric conversion, and the lessons learned from the experience.

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1) Tell us about the build cost.

First, can I just say that even though I’m usually the “mouth” of Project ForkenSwift, it was actually a two person build: my friend Ivan and I split the cost and the work.

The cost:  Well, we had it on the road for under $700 Canadian pesos.  But since then we’ve upgraded the motor controller (more power!), and bought a “new” set of used batteries (better performance, more range), and a few other bits and pieces.  So now we’re at $955.

The TOTAL cash outlay was closer to $2100, but we got a lot of that back by selling a bunch of stuff:  $400 for left over car parts that were in good shape – engine, radiator and gas tank; we got $364 in scrap metal prices for the stripped forklift, and sold the main drive motor to another EV builder.

We also had a couple of generous donations or deeply discounted prices on used parts from other EV enthusiasts.

See the car’s full cost breakdown here: Project ForkenSwift EV conversion costs.

2) How far can it go on a charge?

With the latest pack of “new to us” batteries, the farthest I’ve gone on a single charge was 44 km (27 miles).  But that was under ideal conditions: warm weather, fresh off the charger, good traffic conditions.

If you draw things out over the course of a few days or a week with multiple short trips, with more stop & go, I’d say 25-30 km (17 miles) is more typical before it starts to get tired.

In the winter, take maybe 40% off that distance, mostly because the battery pack isn’t insulated and lead acid batteries hate being cold.

3) How fast does it go?

It’ll hit 50 km/h (30 mph) in normal driving just fine, but it doesn’t get there particularly quickly.  On a fresh charge it takes about 21 seconds to hit that speed.  My 7 year old nephew could out sprint the car in a drag race for a good 5 car lengths!  So we stay on the side roads.

75 km/h (47 mph) is the absolute fastest I’ve had going.  It could actually go faster than that, but at that speed it’s accelerating so slowly that I’d need something like the Bonneville salt flats to get the distance required to max it out!

More performance information: How fast?  How far?  How much?

4) Why did you build it?

Because Ivan built a new garage/workshop, and he put a beer fridge in it, so we needed a project! Both of us had seen some electric conversions on the web and basically thought they were cool and unique.  We’re both basically gearheads – we’ve worked on cars a fair amount, but neither of us knew the first thing about EV’s.  So we started reading, crunched some numbers and agreed to go for it, figuring it probably wouldn’t cost much more than about $2k.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBQWXyxSTyU

5) Where did you get the idea/motivation?

Specifically from two other EVs: I read about a Yugo converted to electric for $800, good for 35 mph and 13 miles range.  That guy is a resourceful builder!  He even made his own charger. He’s since blown up the first motor and put a bit more money into it, but it’s still impressive.

The other car that proved a low-tech, medium speed EV can be practical for some drivers is the classic Citicar / Comutacar.  They sold over 1000 of them in the 70′s and 80′s.  Funky electric doorstops.

6) What do you typically use the car for?

I use it mostly when the weather is crummy and I don’t feel like riding my bicycle.  I call it “the electric umbrella”.  I’ll use it in nice weather too if I’m feeling particularly lazy.  And sometimes it gets used to haul larger stuff that I can’t carry on my bike.

Since finishing the EV, my gas car pretty much sits for weeks at a time between trips.  It’s become a highway-only vehicle – I hardly ever use it for local driving any more.

7) What’s the coolest response you’ve had to your car?

The mailman LOVES the car.  He watched me tinkering on it in the driveway quite a bit and saw the project progress from beginning to end, and always stopped to talk to me about how it was coming along.

Ivan’s house is on a different mail route, and even HIS mailman had the same response.  The guy even brought his kids over one day after work so they could see it.

We’ve had more than a couple of people contact us online, out of the blue, and ask if they can come see the car – including CBC national news.

Canadians (only) can watch this CBC News item

8 ) Tell us something unexpected you learned/discovered from your project.

Two things: First, I had no idea it would be so much fun to drive.  Who knew going this slow could be such a blast?  I love how quiet it is – and there’s something almost sneaky about driving somewhere not burning any gas.  Google “EV Grin” and you’ll find out what I’m talking about.

Second, I was totally blown away by how generous people were when they found out about the project.  When they saw we were seriously doing this, they wanted to help!  The “EV community” – online and in real life – is pretty amazing in its willingness to offer professional level advice, answer questions, loan tools, donate parts… you name it.

Even the guys at the local lift truck shop where we bought the forklift were great.  When I brought over the car to show them – all cleaned up for an EV car show – the manager was so blown away, he made us a standing offer to sell batteries at cost if we ever decide to go for a brand new pack.  (Probably won’t!)

9) What was the hardest part?

Technically, the hardest part was deciding how to mate our oddball motor to the transmission, and lining it up perfectly.  (The motor has an internally splined female shaft – normally you’d use a male shaft for this kind of thing.)  So we had a machinist fabricate a custom coupler and drill all the holes in the various parts so they lined up 100%.  Then he gave us a discount because he liked what we were doing.

10) Any advice for anyone else considering doing something like this?

General advice: It’s not hard to build an affordable medium speed EV.  As long as you understand what you’re going to end up with and have realistic expectations – obviously this kind of vehicle doesn’t work for everyone.  As your “minimum goals” for performance (speed/acceleration) and range go up, it gets harder and harder to find inexpensive or used parts that will do the job.

Specific advice: start by surfing the EV Album to see what other people have built to get an idea of what you want to do.  That’s an incredibe resource.  If you get stuck on specifics, the EV Discussion List (EVDL) is the grand-daddy of electric car discussion groups where you can talk to real experts and get help.  Also check out the plucky upstart: DIY Electric Car forum.  And of course, if there’s an actual EV group in your area, go check it out.

Thanks, Darin!

Links to more info about Project ForkenSwift:

• Web site: Project ForkenSwift: electric car conversion on a beer budget
• Follow the project’s extensive build thread in the EcoModder forum
• EV Album entry: Darin’s 1992 Geo Metro ForkenSwift
• More YouTube videos showing this electric car

Next in this series:

> Paul Holmes’ $2200, 1971 VW Beetle

Electric cars don’t have to be prohibitively expensive.  In fact, they can be surprisingly affordable for a resourceful tinkerer.  In Part 2 of this 5 part series, Ben Nelson answers ten questions posed to him about his $1200, 1995 Geo Metro electric conversion, and the lessons he learned from the experience.

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1) Tell us about the build cost

I put about $1200 into the project all together, and that includes buying the car in the first place. I spent $500 to get the car, but then got back $550 in parts that I sold off of it. That means I got the “glider” for free.

Other parts were mostly purchased used. Some were salvaged, and a few were donated. I bought my motor for $50 out of a guy’s garage.

I paid almost $400 for a bunch of work by a local machinist. It was all worth it, as I had NO experience or the right tools for that. But if I had been able to do that work myself, the whole project would have only been around 800 bucks.

Considering that many EV conversion kits start at around $6000, I think I did pretty well. I saw a guy a few weeks back doing a very nice high-end truck conversion. His battery CHARGER cost more than my ENTIRE PROJECT!

The battery pack could be the most expensive part of a
cheap EV. Two of the three EV’s in this series (including
this one) are running on used batteries.

2) How far can it go on a charge?

The farthest I have gone is 20 miles. My batteries are slightly used, but purchased at “core-charge” cost. I only have 6, 12V, 100AH batteries, so it’s a pretty small pack in electric car terms. But considering most my trips are only about 10 miles, it’s more than enough.

3) How fast does it go?

Fast enough to get a speeding ticket! The car can get up to 45 mph. Typical driving is around 35 mph. Acceleration is good from 0-30 and pretty slow from 35-45.

4) Why did you build it?

I wanted to have a vehicle that was cheap to run. I also just wanted something much more efficient on short trips. Short trips are the absolute worst for internal combustion engine efficiency.

The more I learn about oil production, and its true cost, the less I want to use any of it, period. My car runs on renewable electricity, not power made from coal or oil.

5) Where did you get the idea/motivation?

I don’t think I ever would have even attempted something like this without at least a little electric vehicle experience under my belt. Last year, I converted a motorcycle to electric. That gave me the confidence to try an automobile.

Each of the cheap EV’s in the trio is driven by a used
forklift motor.  Ben disassembled and cleaned his,
having never worked on an electric motor before.

6) What do you typically use the car for?

The car gets used a lot for all those little errands that always add up: quick trips to the grocery store, to get take-out food, to go to the post office. We also used the car a few times for pickup up and dropping off my wife at her carpool. Take-out pizza seems to be a theme in how I used electric vehicles.  I also used it for hauling wood for my annual bonfire in October.

7) What’s the coolest response you’ve had to your car?

I did get a good one a while back: I showed it to the husband of my wife’s co-worker. After a brief tour, he said “A knucklehead like you can build something like this? Why can’t Detroit?” I just had to ask him right back, “I don’t know, why can’t they?”

On another occasion, I was riding back from some out of town work with a guy, and was getting dropped off at a parking lot, where I had driven the Electro-Metro to meet him in the morning. I had made it there first, so he hadn’t seen the car drive yet. During the day, we chit-chatted about what I had done converting a car to electric. When we finally made it back to my car, I told him I would show him the car in action. I was planning on just driving a loop or two around the parking lot. The instant I had the car in reverse, and started backing out of the parking space, he burst out in uncontrollable laughter! I really don’t think he was expecting how quiet it was, the fact that it could move without an engine, or that I had built the thing!

Another time, my high-school-school aged younger brother and his three friends showed up un-announced at my house. They came to see the “cool electric car”. I was excited to know they thought of my Metro that way. Unfortunately, they were there to see my 1977 Citicar! None the less, since the Metro is a four-seater, I was able to take all three of the friends for a ride around the neighborhood. Try fitting 4 people in a Citicar!

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntwje4ZiFsg

8 ) Tell us something unexpected you learned/discovered from your project.

I guess a big thing is that I didn’t realize how many new people I would meet, and become friends with. I had no idea how many people were quietly working on similar projects in their backyards and garages. A group of us have an informal club going now, working on each other’s electric vehicle projects. We have even talked about building a group project, maybe auctioning it off for charity. There’s lots of amazing people out there, doing incredible work, and it’s not the sort of thing you hear about on the nightly news.

9) What was the hardest part?

The hardest part of this project was forging ahead at times where it seemed like I hit a dead-end. A part didn’t work. I didn’t know how to do something. I didn’t have the right tool.

There have been too many things in my life I haven’t completed. I wasn’t going to let this be one of them. I seriously did pull the engine out with LITERALLY a clothes line. I negotiated an unbeatable deal on a second transmission at the junk yard when I found the original wasn’t going to be usable. I tore down and rebuilt a forklift motor, even though I had never done anything like that before.

When we learn new things and work on projects like this, we really aren’t building machines, we are building ourselves. When we get together with friends, we forge bonds of friendship as much as we weld steel.

10) Any advice for anyone else considering doing something like this?

You are crazy! But that’s ok. Just decide to do it. Make the choice, then throw your heart into it. Make new friends. Go to the library. Learn all you can. Get support. Find other people who are interested in it. Join the Electric Auto Association. Brag about it. Revel in success and learn from setbacks. Take pride in something you can do yourself, even if it’s rusty, even if it only goes 25 mph.

99% of all the advice I get on my project comes from people who have never done anything similar to it. The other 1% – they’re my new friends – comrades in greasy hands, busted knuckles, and EV grins.

Thanks, Ben!

Here are some links to more info about Ben’s Electro Metro and his other EV projects:

• The detailed Electro-Metro build thread in the EcoModder forum
  
• Quite a few YouTube videos documenting the conversion
• Its EV Album entry: Ben Nelson’s 1996 Geo Metro
• Here’s his DIY electric motorcycle (and here, and here), plus the classic electric CitiCar he picked up this fall to restore
• He’s also working with another EV builder on a video series about the electric conversion of a Dodge Neon.  He posts updates on his blog site

Next in this series:

> Darin Cosgrove’s / Ivan Limburg’s $955, 1993 Geo Metro “ForkenSwift”

So you want a 100% electric car for commuting or running errands in your town or small city.

Maybe you’ve dreamt of whipsering down the road in a clean, quiet Tesla roadster … and then you woke up screaming at the thought of the $109,000 U.S. price tag.

In that case,  may we present the other end of the EV spectrum: a trio of street legal electric cars converted from gasoline to battery power for an average price of $1450 each.  (No, that’s not a typo.)

.

We have written previously about Project ForkenSwift, the electric Geo Metro made from forklift and golf cart parts for the princely sum of $672 (its build cost has since crept up to  $955 – details in part 3).  At that time, it might have been easy to dismiss that low-cost grocery getter as an unrealistic one-off, assembled by obsessively cost-conscious builders.

But since then, two more affordable, electric runabouts (their motors also sourced from used forklifts) have hit the streets.  Which lends proof to the idea that electric drive does not have to be prohibitively expensive for the motivated tinkerer (note that we specifically didn’t say “experienced” or “skilled” tinkerer).

To be clear, nobody is pretending for a moment that these cars can go even remotely as fast or as far as a Tesla.  But compare on “cost per range” or “cost per MPH”, and they’ve got the roadster beat!

(Tesla image: Tinou Bao)

OK, OK, so the average motorist won’t be lusting after these cars for their range & performance specs (or their looks, for that matter).   They probably wouldn’t even meet the current daily needs of the motoring majority.  But that doesn’t mean “medium speed”, relatively short-range EV’s can’t be practical for some drivers.   Used in the context they were designed for, the owners of these cars each report that they are useful and fun vehicles.

In this 5 part series, we’ll find out how they did it, what lessons they learned along the way, and what advice they have for others thinking about inexpensive EV conversions.

Next, the three EV amigos:

Part 2: Ben Nelson’s 1995 Geo Metro “Electro-Metro”

Total build cost, including car: $ 1200.00
72 volts / 400 amps
Wisconsin, USA

Part 3 – Darin Cosgrove’s 1992 Geo Metro “Project ForkenSwift”

Total build cost, including car: $ 955
48 volts / 400 amps
Brockville, Ontario, Canada

Part 4 – Paul Holmes’ 1973 VW Beetle

Lacey, Washington, USA
72 volts / 300 amps
Total build cost, including car: $ 2100

Part 5 – Parting thoughts

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Every so often, we at EcoModder get asked if we’re ever going to get into the business of making production, bolt on ecomods. Even though it makes sense, we’re much more interested in sharing information and encouraging crowd-sourcing within the EcoModder community. A prime example of that can be seen with the MPGuino, a piece of open-source instrumentation that has been developed and supported by some great forum members.

Well, now it seems like ecomodding has trickled down as far as the aftermarket gas mileage nuts in Japan. These days, for as little as 171 bucks you can buy an undertray for your Honda Fit. Undertrays improve aerodynamics and therefore gas mileage, and are a common addition for many ecomodders. However, it’s rare to see a part with such polish coming out on the aftermarket.

As the original forum poster notes, it’s not a direct fit, but it definitely can fit and looks good when installed:

This of course brings up that age-old question: how much money will you spend to save on gas? Is it really worth $171 bucks for a little bump in fuel economy? Over the life of the car, it’s likely that you’ll come out ahead, which is why many manufacturers have been adding larger and more complete undertrays to their cars. However, you’ve got to consider that this is the aftermarket ecomodding, and the cool factor definitely kicks in. Don’t you want to be the first on the block with a professionally made undertray?

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Not only is it electric, but it’s a DIY Landspeeder! Does it get any better than that? Daniel Deutsch used to work for Lucasfilm has been a long-time model-making enthusiast, and now he’s spending his time putting together perfect R2D2 replicas and building electric Landspeeders. With a top speed of 25 mph it’s definitely no weekday commuter, but it’s perfect for driving around town with the top down and confusing the neighbors.

I wish we had more information about the electric drive system, but according to Daniel it can go several miles on a single battery charge. Because the frame is made of aluminum and the body fiber glass, we can safely assume it’s fairly light, so it’s possible that it could be operated using a beefy golf cart set up or something to that effect. The fact that this is an electric vehicle is not only sweet, but goes well with those fond memories of Luke and Obi-Wan Kenobi buzzing across the sand on Tatooine.

Either way, I think nothing says it better than the “White and Nerdy” music overlay in the video on his homepage. Click on over to see more pictures of the Landspeer and Daniel’s other projects.

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NOTE: The above readout may seem a bit unclear at first glance, but from left to right, top to bottom, here’s what the information means: Instantaneous MPG, Speed, Trip MPG, Distance. I took this photo after a short drive.

By now, we know about devices like the PLX Kiwi and the Scangauge II, but what about those of us who don’t have 1996 or newer cars? How about those who don’t want to spend $170-$300 on instrumentation or prefer to support open-source projects?

Well, the MPGuino is the answer! A few months ago, Darin posted on the forums looking for someone to help him build an open-source MPG gauge for all fuel injected cars. From there, forum member dcb stepped up to the plate and has taken the reigns in a really big way. Nowadays, on release v0.66, the MPGuino is a fully functioning, useful display that anyone with a bit of soldering kills can put together.

Building the MPGuino

The MPGuino is based on the arduino platform, and for it’s tiny footprint I chose to base my build around the iDuino, even though lots of folks use the freeduino. Since the iDuino doesn’t accept the car’s 12v, I used a cell phone charger to convert to 5v and wired directly to the board. Everything else, down to the LCD, which I bought on ebay, is pretty standard to the build. For more of the basic, check out the release one thread.

Anyway, here was my parts list and aproximate prices:
- iDuino: $20
- HD 44780 LCD: $10
- Parts from ratshack: $6-7
- Auto cell charger: $5 (at the dollar store)

Total: $42-43

It’d be a bit cheaper with a freeduino and some parts you might have laying around or found online, but I was trying to slap this together quickly.

Anyway, on to the assembly! The first thing I did was follow the iDuino assembly instructions, posted and annotated by the makers of the kit. However, I didn’t insert the jumper pins because I found it easier to just run the wires I would be connecting through the holes and soldering directly. From there, go ahead and follow the wiring instructions from this image:

My button and component board is a little ugly, but here’s what it ended up looking like:

The next step from here would be to find a project box and try to clean up the mounting a bit, but I haven’t quite gotten to that part yet.

Anyway, with the physical unit put together, go ahead and download the arduino 11 platform to your computer and then test out some of the sample programs. If it isn’t broken (hopefully it isn’t!), go ahead and upload the latest MPGuino software and make sure that everything is working.

That’s about it! The next is to wire it into the car. I disassembled the cigarette lighter cell charger like this and wired it into one of the spare spots on my fuse box so that it would be powered whenever the key was in I or II. From there I simply tapped into the speed sensor wire and fuel injector wire, which I’ll leave up to you to find on your own car, though some suggestions can be found here.

The next step is to power up the MPGuino in your car and figure out how to use it.

Using the MPGuino

Luckily, there’s really not much to using the MPGuino. The first thing you need to do is go ahead and figure out the calibration figures for your car. I’m told that most Japanese makes will use 8204 for the speed sensor and that many American makes will use 10000. However, it’s easy enough to compare the distance on the MPGuino to your odometer in order to see if any adjustments need to be made.

The fuel variable is a bit trickier. Some of them have been figured out, so I would search and then ask, but if your car hasn’t seen the likes of the MPGuino before, you might be the pioneer who figures out the numbers for a perfect calibration. The trick here is to simply keep track of your tank mileage on the MPGuino and then compare it to a standard fill up and make adjustments based on the percentage you’re off from the pump fill.

I’ll be the first to admit calibration can be a pain in the ass, but luckily it’d already been done for me. After that’s out of the way, you can check out your mileage by simply using your three buttons to scroll through the screens. See more about that here.

Personally, I tend to use the instant/current screen the most, and when I’m on longer trips or trips where the sun will hurt visibility on the screen, I use the big instantaneous numbers.

Anyway, this is really were the fun begins. The MPGuino in conjunction with your EcoDriving skills will net some good numbers (see first image).

Limitations of the MPGuino

As of writing (v0.66), the MPGuino has a few issues, the biggest of which is that you have to do all the assembly yourself. That’s not a problem for a lot of us, but for the MPGuino to go more mainstream we’ll have to figure out how to make it more accessible to your average ecomodder.

What’s more, the LCD leaves a little to be desired in terms of readability in the sunlight. However, a solution is currently being worked on.

For more issues, and more up-to-date issues, check this thread or more generally look around the MPGuino forum.

Places for MPGuino Improvement

Luckily, the MPGuino’s faults all play into it’s biggest asset: open-source. Sure, I may want an AFR display, but all that means is that I’ll have to do it or find someone smarter to do it for me. Though limited by hardware (but only to a small degree, platform changes are always a possibility), everything else is up in the air with the MPGuino and anyone can edit the code. If you’re interested, check it out for yourself in the Arduino 11 environment.

Well, I hope you’ll find this useful. If you have any questions or knowledge, don’t hesitate to post in the forums, open-source relies on all you to test and help improve the project!

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A year ago, EcoModder forum member Ben Nelson got an old, non-running motorcycle and converted it to electric drive. He’d never had a motorcycle before and wasn’t an expert with electric vehicles, but in true DIY nature, he learned as he went along.

The bike was never designed to be a fast, flashy race bike, but rather a cheap and effective way to get around town in style. Ben is currently building an electric car, but by all accounts a motorcycle is a great (and slightly less expensive) step down the road to electric vehicles. In the end Ben had built himself a motorcycle with speed up to 40 mph and a range of around 15 miles, all for less than $2000. The best thing about the conversion is that, unlike many, it is completely street legal, with full registration and insurance.

Here’s what Ben has to say about the costs of this project:

$100 for original cycle
$500ish for motor (used on Ebay)
$300ish for New Alltrax AXE 48v 300 amp programmable controller
$160 EACH for 4 Optima yellow top 55AH batteries.

I am also including in this total cost, a motorcycle safety class, new helmet, a year of insurance, lots of little trips to the hardware store, etc.

So, the total cost for the bike was really only about$1500, with a few new parts (like the controller) that could’ve been found used if you’re running on a tighter budget. Currently, the bike is only using three of those four batteries, as Ben is trying to find out how to mount the 4th battery and up the bike to 48 volts.

Comparing the energy content of gasoline to that used by the motorcycle, Ben’s determined that on average, his bike gets the equivalent of 300 mpg:

This shows that not only is the electric version more efficient, but if you crunch the numbers comparing the current price of gas to the price of grid energy, you’ll see that this motorcycle is not only cool and environmentally friendly, but has the potential to save a bit of money. For more info on eMPG, check out this thread.

However, Ben’s story isn’t all gumdrops and happy endings. One day, while out riding the motorcycle he managed to blow up the controller. He and the bike are fine and he’s got it going again, but when attempting a DIY project like this, especially because it involves a vehicle responsible for your safety, it’s always good to go in with open eyes and be ready for the unexpected. That said, it wasn’t as dramatic as it sounds.

Besides being a great ecomodder, Ben is also pretty good with video. Check out these two that he put together, the first one is his neighbor’s reaction to the electric bike and the second is Ben talking about the project:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eUqNp70Gpk

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujydj6SBfxM

For more depth about the building and the tech specs behind this bike, check out Ben’s site and his build thread. More inspiration for EV motorcycles can be found at the motorcycle section of the Austin EV album. You can even find Ben’s bike on there.

UPDATE: I talked to Ben and he told me that he had in fact added the forth battery, and that with that and the system running 48v his top speed has been increased to 45 mph and the range to 20 miles. Sorry for the error!

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It was about two years ago when I first saw ice vests in a running catalog and thought something along the lines of “wouldn’t that be a sweet thing to wear in the car on the way to school instead of blasting my (non-working) A/C!” Well, it seems the idea hasn’t quite died. Some users on the EcoModder forums have recently been discussing this idea, so I thought I’d put together some of the ways I know to beat the heat without turning on the A/C, which reduces your fuel economy.

1. Get an ice/cold vest: If you don’t want to look through a sports catalog for an ice vest, you can use something like this (shown in the picture above), that circulates cold water through a shirt next to your skin. These things are usually used by racers who need to be in their cars for long periods of time in extreme conditions, and can cost several hundred dollars. But if you really want to squeeze that extra 5 MPG by not turning on the air conditioning, this (or a cheaper version, like an athlete’s ice vest) might be for you.
2. Throw on a beaded seat cover: I have yet to try this, but Darin Cosgrove, of MetroMPG ecomodding and hypermiling fame swears that it works. He even goes so far as to call it his “air conditioning.” I used to think they were just for hippies with back problems, but don’t let those biases deter you! I’ll be trying them out this summer, for sure.
3. Check out the “EV Seat”: There sure isn’t much information, but the idea of a heating and air conditioning seat cover you can just plug in is definitely interesting. Check it out, and if you can find another version that’s a little more available looking, drop a comment and let me know!
4. DIY a portable air conditioner: Instructables has some great stuff, but this DIY air conditioner is definitely one of the cheapest I have ever seen. If you feel like getting a little dirty, or just getting inspiration from this great device, you’ll be able to go without A/C all summer long.
5. Window tint is your friend: I haven’t done this yet, but this summer I will be finding some heat-reflective window tint and doing up my windows in order to keep the heat down just a few degrees. It works and is worth checking out, especially if you leave your car parked out in the sun.

I’ll be trying out all these things this summer, looking to get the best mix for me, my fuel economy, and my wallet, so look forward to some updates.

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If you haven’t heard by now, there’s a guy named Mike Turner who’s doing what most people would at first think impossible: getting 95 MPG in an old Civic. How did he achieve such an outstanding feat? Ecodriving and aeromodding.

An Ecomodder.com Forum member, Mike is well known for being one of the first to step out on a limb and make some radical modifications to his car. And better than just radical modifications, Mike’s had radical results, “95 mpg is what I typically get while driving at a constant speed from 30 to 65 mph on a flat road in 80 degree F temperatures with well broken-in tires.”

The most shocking thing, when hearing the 95 MPG figure, is perhaps that Mike is driving a 15 year old car, which was built long before hybrids even saw the market.

It would certainly be fair to say that Mike is now famous within the ecomodding community for his extensive modifications. Many of us (myself included), just don’t have the guts to go the extra mile, and we applaud his efforts for showing us how worth it it can be.

Mike combined highly-honed ecodriving skills with innovative aeromods to get the full package. At first, he began with engine-off coasting, driving with load (setting a target fuel economy and attempting to reach it at all costs), feathered acceleration, and plain old slowing down.

On the aeromodding side of things, as you can see in the original thread, Mike has decked out his car from the nose cone to the side skirts to the full boattail. For more pictures, see the bottom of the post.

Related links:

• More photos (19) of the Aerocivic
• Ecomodder Forum
  
• Ecodriver’s Ed – driving techniques
  
• Aerodynamic modifications discussion
  

From behind:

The nosecone:

(See also: Two Canadian friends build a $672 street legal electric car )

We all know the major manufacturers are saying it can’t be done, so I guess it’s up to the youth!

Andrew Angelloti, an Ecomodder forum member, converted his very own 1988 Mazda pickup to run on electricity last year, using $6,000 he had saved up from his part time job as a life guard. He built his truck using 20 flooded lead acid batteries to create 120 volts, which he couples to a 60 HP 9” electric motor.

How does it perform? Reaches a top speed of 55mph, has an acceleration of “not too bad…,” and can get up to 40 miles on a charge (which is more than enough to get him to work and back, and coincidentally, will be something similar to what the Chevy Volt is supposed to be able to do).

What’s even more amazing is that Andrew is now working on a second EV conversion. This time he’s doing the same with a 1992 Toyota Tercel, but with a much bigger motor for a lot more speed. He’s hoping to use a 120HP motor to have the top speed up to 80 MPH with a bit of sacrifice of the range.

I wish Andrew the best of luck, as he is certainly going out there and doing it on his own, without waiting for the major manufacturers to do it for him.

For more information, check out these links:

- – > Andrew’s blog

- – > Two Canadian friends build a $672 street legal electric car

- – > More electric vehicles @ the Ecomodder.com Fossil Fuel Free Forum