<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<rss version="2.0"
	xmlns:content="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/content/"
	xmlns:wfw="http://wellformedweb.org/CommentAPI/"
	xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
	xmlns:atom="http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom"
	xmlns:sy="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/syndication/"
	xmlns:slash="http://purl.org/rss/1.0/modules/slash/"
	>

<channel>
	<title>Hypermiling, Fuel Economy, and EcoModding News - EcoModder.com &#187; Electric Vehicle</title>
	<atom:link href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/tag/electric-vehicle/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog</link>
	<description>Wrench smart - driver smarter - save fuel</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 05 Nov 2011 01:56:20 +0000</lastBuildDate>
	<language>en</language>
	<sy:updatePeriod>hourly</sy:updatePeriod>
	<sy:updateFrequency>1</sy:updateFrequency>
	<generator>http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1</generator>
		<item>
		<title>Here&#8217;s Your Chance to Tell Mitsubishi How to Make its i MiEV</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/chance-mitsubishi-miev/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/chance-mitsubishi-miev/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 27 Dec 2008 14:52:14 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[imiev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mitsubishi]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=809</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[You&#8217;ve already read about my i MiEV test drive, but now Mitsubishi is asking you what you think about the i MiEV. Electric cars still haven&#8217;t really hit the market, and the main obstacle is still consumer acceptance. That means that even though this kind of survey might usually be easy to blow off as [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-810" title="Mitsubishi i MiEV" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/imiev3.jpg" alt="Mitsubishi i MiEV" width="460" height="308" /></p>
<p>You&#8217;ve already read about my <a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/mitsubishi-i-miev-test-drive/">i MiEV test drive</a>, but now Mitsubishi is <a href="http://www.mitsubishicars.com/MMNA/jsp/dashboard/winter08/technology.do?loc=en-us&amp;cid=400_50_850" class="broken_link">asking you what you think about the i MiEV</a>. Electric cars still haven&#8217;t really hit the market, and the main obstacle is still consumer acceptance. That means that even though this kind of survey might usually be easy to blow off as unimportant, Mitsubishi will probably put a lot of consideration into what you say about the car.</p>
<p>So, head on over the the survey and let your voice be heard. Are you looking forward to the i MiEV coming stateside?</p>
<p><a href="http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/12/26/mitsubishi-launches-imiev-survey-on-consumer-site/"><em>Thanks to ABG for the tip.</em></a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/chance-mitsubishi-miev/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>The Solar Car that Could</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/solar-car/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/solar-car/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:54:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Alternative Fuels]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[solar]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=799</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[These days it&#8217;s not unusual to hear about high-mileage stunt driving or incredibly efficient vehicles, but it is still a fascinating thing to hear about a solar car that can actually go somewhere, much less around the world. That&#8217;s not to say that solar isn&#8217;t great technology, but it does take a lot of energy [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/solar_taxi_04.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-800" title="Solar Taxi in Beijing" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/solar_taxi_04.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="333" /></a></p>
<p>These days it&#8217;s not unusual to hear about high-mileage stunt driving or incredibly efficient vehicles, but it is still a fascinating thing to hear about a solar car that can actually go somewhere, much less around the world. That&#8217;s not to say that solar isn&#8217;t great technology, but it does take a lot of energy to propel a car and it just hasn&#8217;t been done, until now.</p>
<p>But that&#8217;s just what Louis Palmer did, in driving around the world in his electric car over the span of what must have been a grueling 17 months. In total, Louis traveled through 38 counties over 32,000 miles during these 17 months, and became the first person ever to drive around the world in a solar-powered car.</p>
<p>As you can imagine, the car is not directly powered by the sun. Meaning, it doesn&#8217;t shut off when a cloud passes over head. Rather, the solar panels on the car and in the trailer behind it are used to charge an array of batteries that push the car at speeds of up to 55 mph and over a total range of up to 185 miles. The car can charge while driving, but also while parked, rather than being plugged in like a normal electric vehicle.</p>
<p>Palmer called the car a <a href="http://www.solartaxi.com/">Solar Taxi</a>, as he offered tons of rides over the course of the trip in order to raise awareness of solar power as a viable transportation solution among both common people and political movers and shakers all around the world.</p>
<p>Though the car was incredibly expensive to build (Palmer isn&#8217;t saying how much exactly), he says that both the vehicle and the panels can be mass-produced for less than $19,000. This is certainly an impressive number, though I&#8217;m sure there is a lot to be desired in terms of safety features for the 3 wheeled vehicle. Likely, it would need to cost a bit more and be a bit heftier to get tip top crash test ratings, but this is a great demonstration of the future for solar cars.</p>
<p style="text-align: center;">httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92T-T8rc6ys</p>
<p>Source: <a href="http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/12/around-the-worl.html" class="broken_link">Wired</a></p>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/solar-car/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>1</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Ontario to Allow Low Speed Electric Cars On Roads, with Additional Rules</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/speed-government-ontario-permit-small-electric-cars-roads-additional-rules/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/speed-government-ontario-permit-small-electric-cars-roads-additional-rules/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 07 Dec 2008 19:15:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Industry]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Politics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Safety]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[canada]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electric]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electric vehicles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LSV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NEV]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=724</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Canada&#8217;s most populous province is finally following the lead of British Columbia and Quebec in permitting low speed electric vehicles (LSV&#8217;s) to be driven on public roads.  Canada&#8217;s LSV class is based on the Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle class in the U.S., where 44 states permit their use (as of May 2008). However, Ontario vehicles and [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-723" title="Ontario to get LSV regulations" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/ontario-lsv.jpg" alt="" width="460" height="162" /></p>
<p>Canada&#8217;s most populous province is finally following the lead of British Columbia and Quebec in permitting low speed electric vehicles (LSV&#8217;s) to be driven on public roads.  Canada&#8217;s LSV class is based on the Neighbourhood Electric Vehicle class in the U.S., where 44 states permit their use (as of May 2008).</p>
<p>However, Ontario vehicles and their drivers will likely face additional regulations meant to address safety concerns raised in a <a href="http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/emerging/lsvtechreport.pdf">government study</a> released at the end of November.</p>
<p>&#8220;LSVs are a new kind of vehicle and it will take a new set of standards to allow them to be safely driven on Ontario roads,&#8221; <a href="http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2008/12/05/c7525.html?lmatch=&amp;lang=_e.html" class="broken_link">said Transportation Minister Jim Bradley</a>.  &#8220;Based on the study results, we plan to announce LSV safety standards and the rules of the road for LSVs this winter.&#8221;</p>
<p>The study recommends the province require a number of additional measures for the vehicles and their drivers, such as:</p>
<ul>
<li>daytime running lights (failing that, drivers must keep their headlights on at all times)</li>
<li>a notice affixed to the exterior of the vehicle indicating its maximum speed</li>
<li>a slow moving vehicle sign</li>
<li>three separate sound warning devices: horn, proximity warning system for pedestrians/cyclists, backup warning systems</li>
<li>defrosting and heating systems</li>
<li>three-point seat belts</li>
<li>requirement that buyers sign a “Notice of Limitations” document at the time of sale that explains<br />
what the LSV&#8217;s performance and safety limitations are</li>
<li>prohibition against carrying infants and children who require infant or child seats</li>
<li>restricted to drivers with G class license or higher (ie. no new drivers in Ontario&#8217;s graduated licence system)</li>
<li>no towing of any type of trailer</li>
<li>on multi-lane roads, the LSV must drive in the right lane, except if making a left turn</li>
<li>&#8230; and more (see NRC study pdf, below)</li>
</ul>
<p>Both the federal and provincial governments have been under some pressure by the public and media for apparent foot-dragging on the issue of approving for sale and permitting this vehicle class on public roads.</p>
<p><strong>Additional information:</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://ogov.newswire.ca/ontario/GPOE/2008/12/05/c7525.html?lmatch=&amp;lang=_e.html" class="broken_link">Ontario To Permit Low-Speed Vehicles</a> &#8211; Government of Ontario</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/emerging/lsvtechreport.pdf">Safe Integration of Electric Low Speed Vehicles on Ontario’s Roads in Mixed Traffic</a> (pdf) &#8211; National Research Council of Canada</p>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/speed-government-ontario-permit-small-electric-cars-roads-additional-rules/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Three Dirt Cheap DIY Electric Cars &#8211; Part 3</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-electric-cars-part-3/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-electric-cars-part-3/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 06 Dec 2008 02:56:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DIY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ecomodding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electric car]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=682</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Electric cars don&#8217;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. In this series&#8230; Part 1: [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-683" title="Three cheap EV\'s - Part 3" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/teaser-3.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="334" /></p>
<p><em>Electric cars don&#8217;t have to be prohibitively expensive.  In fact, they can be surprisingly affordable </em><em>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.</em></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>In this series&#8230;</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong><a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/cheap-diy-electric-car/">Part 1</a></strong>: So you want a cheap 100% electric car&#8230;<br />
<a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/3-dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-25/"><strong>Part 2</strong></a>: Ben Nelson’s $1200, 1995 Geo Metro “Electro-Metro”<br />
<strong> <a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-electric-cars-part-3/">Part 3</a></strong>: Darin Cosgrove’s / Ivan Limburg&#8217;s $955, 1992 Geo Metro “Project ForkenSwift”<br />
<a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-4/"><strong> Part 4</strong></a>: Paul Holmes&#8217; $2200, 1971 VW Beetle<br />
<a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-5/"><strong> Part 5</strong></a>: Parting thoughts</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ffffff;">.</span></strong></p>
<p><strong>1) Tell us about the build cost.</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">First, can I just say that even though I&#8217;m usually the &#8220;mouth&#8221; of <a href="http://www.forkenswift.com">Project ForkenSwift</a>, it was actually a two person build: my friend Ivan and I split the cost and the work.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The cost:  Well, we had it on the road for under $700 Canadian pesos.  But since then we&#8217;ve upgraded the motor controller (more power!), and bought a &#8220;new&#8221; set of used batteries (better performance, more range), and a few other bits and pieces.  So now we&#8217;re at $955.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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 &#8211; 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.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">We also had a couple of generous donations or deeply discounted prices on used parts from other EV enthusiasts.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">See the car&#8217;s full cost breakdown here: <a href="http://forkenswift.com/electric-car-conversion-cost.htm">Project ForkenSwift EV conversion costs.</a></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-686" title="fs-front-3-4" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/fs-front-3-4.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="288" /></p>
<p><strong>2) How far can it go on a charge?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">With the latest pack of &#8220;new to us&#8221; batteries, the farthest I&#8217;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.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">If you draw things out over the course of a few days or a week with multiple short trips, with more stop &amp; go, I&#8217;d say 25-30 km (17 miles) is more typical before it starts to get tired.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">In the winter, take maybe 40% off that distance, mostly because the battery pack isn&#8217;t insulated and lead acid batteries hate being cold.</p>
<p><strong>3) How fast does it go?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">It&#8217;ll hit 50 km/h (30 mph) in normal driving just fine, but it doesn&#8217;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.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">75 km/h (47 mph) is the absolute fastest I&#8217;ve had going.  It could actually go faster than that, but at that speed it&#8217;s accelerating so slowly that I&#8217;d need something like the Bonneville salt flats to get the distance required to max it out!</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">More performance information: <a href="http://forkenswift.com/how-fast-far-much.htm">How fast?  How far?  How much?</a></p>
<p><strong>4) Why did you build it?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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&#8217;re both basically gearheads &#8211; we&#8217;ve worked on cars a fair amount, but neither of us knew the first thing about EV&#8217;s.  So we started reading, crunched some numbers and agreed to go for it, figuring it probably wouldn&#8217;t cost much more than about $2k.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: center;">httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBQWXyxSTyU</p>
<p><strong>5) Where did you get the idea/motivation?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Specifically from two other EVs: I read about a <a href="http://www.evconvert.com/article/yugo-greg">Yugo converted to electric for $800</a>, good for 35 mph and 13 miles range.  That guy is a resourceful builder!  He even made his own charger. He&#8217;s since blown up the first motor and put a bit more money into it, but it&#8217;s still impressive.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The other car that proved a low-tech, medium speed EV can be practical for some drivers is the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citicar">classic Citicar / Comutacar</a>.  They sold over 1000 of them in the 70&#8242;s and 80&#8242;s.  Funky electric doorstops.</p>
<p><strong>6) What do you typically use the car for?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I use it mostly when the weather is crummy and I don&#8217;t feel like riding my bicycle.  I call it &#8220;the electric umbrella&#8221;.  I&#8217;ll use it in nice weather too if I&#8217;m feeling particularly lazy.  And sometimes it gets used to haul larger stuff that I can&#8217;t carry on my bike.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-685" title="Electric kayak carrier" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/forkenswift-kayak-roof.jpg" alt="" width="450" height="266" /></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Since finishing the EV, my gas car pretty much sits for weeks at a time between trips.  It&#8217;s become a highway-only vehicle &#8211; I hardly ever use it for local driving any more.</p>
<p><strong>7) What&#8217;s the coolest response you&#8217;ve had to your car?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Ivan&#8217;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.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">We&#8217;ve had more than a couple of people contact us online, out of the blue, and ask if they can come see the car &#8211; including CBC national news.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: center;"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-684" title="Electric car on CBC television national news" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/forkenswift-cbc.jpg" alt="" width="314" height="341" /></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: center;"><em>Canadians (only) can <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/video/popup.html?http://www.cbc.ca/mrl3/8752/news/features/gould-electricvehicles080703.wmv">watch this CBC News item</a></em></p>
<p><strong>8 ) Tell us something unexpected you learned/discovered from your project.</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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 &#8211; and there&#8217;s something almost sneaky about driving somewhere not burning any gas.  Google &#8220;EV Grin&#8221; and you&#8217;ll find out what I&#8217;m talking about.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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 &#8220;EV community&#8221; &#8211; online and in real life &#8211; is pretty amazing in its willingness to offer professional level advice, answer questions, loan tools, donate parts&#8230; you name it.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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 &#8211; all cleaned up for an EV car show &#8211; 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&#8217;t!)</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://forkenswift.com/offsite/motor-bay-shiny-angle.jpg"><img class="aligncenter" title="Electric car - Under the hood" src="http://forkenswift.com/offsite/motor-bay-shiny-angle.jpg" alt="" width="358" height="241" /></a></p>
<p><strong>9) What was the hardest part?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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 &#8211; normally you&#8217;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.</p>
<p><strong>10) Any advice for anyone else considering doing something like this?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">General advice: It&#8217;s not hard to build an affordable medium speed EV.  As long as you understand what you&#8217;re going to end up with and have realistic expectations &#8211; obviously this kind of vehicle doesn&#8217;t work for everyone.  As your &#8220;minimum goals&#8221; for performance (speed/acceleration) and range go up, it gets harder and harder to find inexpensive or used parts that will do the job.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Specific advice: start by surfing the <a href="http://www.evalbum.com">EV Album</a> to see what other people have built to get an idea of what you want to do.  That&#8217;s an incredibe resource.  If you get stuck on specifics, the EV Discussion List (<a href="http://www.evdl.org">EVDL</a>) 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: <a href="http://www.diyelectriccar.com">DIY Electric Car</a> forum.  And of course, if there&#8217;s an actual EV group in your area, go check it out.</p>
<p><strong>Thanks, Darin!</strong></p>
<p>Links to more info about Project ForkenSwift:</p>
<ul>
<li>Web site: <a href="http://www.forkenswift.com">Project ForkenSwift: electric car conversion on a beer budget</a></li>
<li>Follow <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/electric-car-conversion-project-forkenswift-33.html">the project&#8217;s extensive build thread</a> in the EcoModder forum</li>
<li>EV Album entry: <a href="http://www.evalbum.com/1146">Darin&#8217;s 1992 Geo Metro ForkenSwift</a></li>
<li>More <a href="http://forkenswift.com/electric-car-videos.htm">YouTube videos showing this electric car</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Next in this series:</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">&gt; <a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-4/">Paul Holmes’ $2200, 1971 VW Beetle</a></p>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-electric-cars-part-3/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Three Dirt Cheap DIY Electric Cars &#8211; Part 2</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/3-dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-25/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/3-dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-25/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 04 Dec 2008 18:45:53 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DIY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Ecomodding]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electric car]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=646</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Electric cars don&#8217;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. In this series&#8230; Part [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-654" title="3 Cheap DIY Electric Cars - Part 2 of 5" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/teaser-2.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="334" /></p>
<p><em>Electric cars don&#8217;t have to be prohibitively expensive.  In fact, they can be surprisingly affordable </em><em>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.</em></p>
<table border="0" cellpadding="10" bgcolor="#eeeeee">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td><strong>In this series&#8230;</strong><br />
<a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/cheap-diy-electric-car/"></a></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><strong><a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/cheap-diy-electric-car/">Part 1</a></strong>: So you want a cheap 100% electric car&#8230;<br />
<a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/3-dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-25/"><strong>Part 2</strong></a>: Ben Nelson’s $1200, 1995 Geo Metro “Electro-Metro”<br />
<strong> <a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-electric-cars-part-3/">Part 3</a></strong>: Darin Cosgrove’s / Ivan Limburg&#8217;s $955, 1992 Geo Metro “Project ForkenSwift”<br />
<a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-4/"><strong> Part 4</strong></a>: Paul Holmes&#8217; $2200, 1971 VW Beetle<br />
<a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-5/"><strong> Part 5</strong></a>: Parting thoughts</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ffffff;">.</span><br />
1) Tell us about the build cost</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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 &#8220;glider&#8221; for free.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">Other parts were mostly purchased used. Some were salvaged, and a few were donated. I bought my motor for $50 out of a guy&#8217;s garage.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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!</p>
<p style="20px;" align="center"><img class="size-full wp-image-658" title="electro-metro-batteries" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/electro-metro-batteries.jpg" alt="The battery pack can be the most expensive single item in a cheap EV.  Finding used ones will save a lot of money." width="427" height="320" /><br />
<em>The battery pack could be the most expensive part of a<br />
cheap EV.  Two of the three EV&#8217;s in this series (including<br />
this one) are running on used batteries.</em></p>
<p><strong>2) How far can it go on a charge?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The farthest I have gone is 20 miles. My batteries are slightly used, but purchased at &#8220;core-charge&#8221; cost. I only have 6, 12V, 100AH batteries, so it&#8217;s a pretty small pack in electric car terms. But considering most my trips are only about 10 miles, it&#8217;s more than enough.</p>
<p><strong>3) How fast does it go?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/electric-cars-fast-just-got-speeding-ticket-5454.html">Fast enough to get a speeding ticket!</a> 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.</p>
<p><strong>4) Why did you build it?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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.</p>
<p><strong>5) Where did you get the idea/motivation?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I don&#8217;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.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">
<p style="text-align: center;"><img class="size-medium wp-image-659 aligncenter" title="electro-metro-motor" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/electro-metro-motor-300x224.jpg" alt="All three EV's are driven by used forklift motors.  Here's Ben's after he disassembled and cleaned it up, having never worked on an electric motor before." width="300" height="224" /></p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em>Each of the cheap EV&#8217;s in the trio is driven by a used<br />
forklift motor.  Ben disassembled and cleaned his,<br />
having never worked on an electric motor before.</em></p>
<p><strong> 6) What do you typically use the car for?<br />
</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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.</p>
<p><strong>7) What&#8217;s the coolest response you&#8217;ve had to your car?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I did get a good one a while back: I showed it to the husband of my wife&#8217;s co-worker. After a brief tour, he said &#8220;A knucklehead like you can build something like this? Why can&#8217;t Detroit?&#8221; I just had to ask him right back, &#8220;I don&#8217;t know, why can&#8217;t they?&#8221;</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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&#8217;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&#8217;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!</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">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 &#8220;cool electric car&#8221;. 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!</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px; text-align: center;">httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntwje4ZiFsg</p>
<p><strong>8 ) Tell us something unexpected you learned/discovered from your project.</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">I guess a big thing is that I didn&#8217;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&#8217;s electric vehicle projects. We have even talked about building a group project, maybe auctioning it off for charity. There&#8217;s lots of amazing people out there, doing incredible work, and it&#8217;s not the sort of thing you hear about on the nightly news.</p>
<p><strong>9) What was the hardest part?</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">The hardest part of this project was forging ahead at times where it seemed like I hit a dead-end. A part didn&#8217;t work. I didn&#8217;t know how to do something. I didn&#8217;t have the right tool.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">There have been too many things in my life I haven&#8217;t completed. I wasn&#8217;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&#8217;t going to be usable. I tore down and rebuilt a forklift motor, even though I had never done anything like that before.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">When we learn new things and work on projects like this, we really aren&#8217;t building machines, we are building ourselves. When we get together with friends, we forge bonds of friendship as much as we weld steel.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-697" title="metro-front-3-4" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/metro-front-3-4.jpg" alt="" width="427" height="320" /></p>
<p><strong> 10) Any advice for anyone else considering doing something like this? </strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">You are crazy! But that&#8217;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&#8217;s rusty, even if it only goes 25 mph.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">99% of all the advice I get on my project comes from people who have never done anything similar to it. The other 1% &#8211; they&#8217;re my new friends &#8211; comrades in greasy hands, busted knuckles, and EV grins.</p>
<p><strong>Thanks, Ben!</strong></p>
<p>Here are some links to more info about Ben&#8217;s Electro Metro and his other EV projects:</p>
<ul>
<li>The detailed <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/ben-nelsons-electro-metro-build-thread-848.html">Electro-Metro build thread</a> in the EcoModder forum<a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/ben-nelsons-electro-metro-build-thread-848.html"><br />
</a></li>
<li>Quite a few <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/BenjaminNelson">YouTube videos documenting the conversion</a></li>
<li>Its EV Album entry: <a href="http://www.evalbum.com/1595">Ben Nelson&#8217;s 1996 Geo Metro</a></li>
<li>Here&#8217;s his <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/electric-motorcycle-conversion-599.html">DIY electric motorcycle</a> (and <a href="http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/cycle/Welcome.html" class="broken_link">here</a>, and <a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/diy-electric-motorcycle-kicks-butt-blows-up/">here</a>), plus the <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/bens-citicar-5116.html">classic electric CitiCar</a> he picked up this fall to restore</li>
<li>He&#8217;s also working with another EV builder on a video series about the electric conversion of a Dodge Neon.  He posts <a href="http://greencarvideos.blogspot.com/">updates on his blog site</a></li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Next in this series:</strong></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px;">&gt; <a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/dirt-cheap-electric-cars-part-3/">Darin Cosgrove&#8217;s / Ivan Limburg&#8217;s $955, 1993 Geo Metro &#8220;ForkenSwift&#8221;</a></p>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/3-dirt-cheap-diy-electric-cars-part-25/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>4</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>LA Auto Show: Mitsubishi i MiEV Test Drive</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/mitsubishi-i-miev-test-drive/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/mitsubishi-i-miev-test-drive/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 22 Nov 2008 01:08:17 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[2008 LA Auto Show]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[imiev]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mitsubishi]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[test drive]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=584</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Yesterday I had the pleasure of driving Mitsubishi&#8217;s new i MiEV electric car, based on a Japanese kei car. The car, while not in its final stages of production yet are currently being field tested around the world for a rollout in Japan in 2009. Next summer Mitsubishi plans to sell 2,000 units of the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/imiev1.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-585" title="Mitsubishi i MiEV" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/imiev1.jpg" alt="" width="460" height="308" /></a></p>
<p>Yesterday I had the pleasure of driving Mitsubishi&#8217;s new i MiEV electric car, based on a Japanese kei car. The car, while not in its final stages of production yet are currently being field tested around the world for a rollout in Japan in 2009. Next summer Mitsubishi plans to sell 2,000 units of the car at 4 million yen (~$41,000), with production to increase sharply in 2010 and 2011.</p>
<p>Right now the cars are pretty much hand-built. The chassis, of course, is common for Mitsubishi, but the electric drive train and the batteries especially are still handbuilt. As I was told by the Mitsubishi representative that rode shotgun, the costs of production will go down significantly when Mitsubishi&#8217;s battery production company gets up to full steam and becomes automated.</p>
<h3><a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/imiev3.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-591" title="Mitsubishi i MiEV" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/imiev3.jpg" alt="" width="460" height="308" /></a></h3>
<h3>i MiEV Test Drive</h3>
<p>I&#8217;ve been in quite a few small, fuel efficient cars in my time (including other Japanese Kei cars), and I can honestly say this is faster than any of those. In fact, I drove a smart fortwo immediately afterwards and was shocked at the difference in pulling power. Even though the i MiEV is a small electric car, one of the characteristics of electric cars is that they deliver full torque all the way from 0 rpm.</p>
<p>Of course, Mitsubishi has designed the car not to do exactly that to prevent accidental burn outs, but they didn&#8217;t cripple the car&#8217;s acceleration at all. Even in ECO mode, a range extending mode that tunes down the performance of the car a small amount, the i MiEV was faster than the gasoline-powered fortwo. Besides the normal and ECO modes, there was also a regenerative braking mode that could be easily accessed to provide greater recharge when your foot was off the pedal.</p>
<p>Taking the car around turns was also a pleasure. Mitsubishi obviously beefed up the suspension to hold the extra weight, and because the batteries were towards the bottom of the car the center of gravity is significantly lowered compared to its gasoline-powered cousin. And all of this came without any noticeable compromise to the interior space.</p>
<p><a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/imiev2.jpg"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-590" title="Mitsubishi i MiEV" src="http://ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/imiev2.jpg" alt="" width="460" height="308" /></a></p>
<p>Overall, the test drive was great. The car can go between 80-100 miles on a 2-4 hour charge (depending on what kind of plug you use) and the only problem was that I kept turning on the wipers when I meant to signal.</p>
<p>Will you be buying one when it comes to your market?</p>
<p>If you liked this post, sign up for out <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/EcomoddercomFuelEconomyBlog">RSS Feed</a> for automatic updates.</p>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/mitsubishi-i-miev-test-drive/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Dodge EV Outpaces Challenger Muscle Car in 1/4 Mile</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/dodge-ev-outpaces-challenger-muscle-car-14-mile/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/dodge-ev-outpaces-challenger-muscle-car-14-mile/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Nov 2008 23:03:43 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Challenger]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Dodge]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Racing]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ecomodder.com/blog/?p=567</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L9Git7GvcI Ever wondered what would happen if a major manufacturer put one of their fastest muscle cars up against a similarly tricked out electric car? Well, Dodge did just that, pitting their Challenger against the Dodge EV in the run up to the LA Auto Show. You can watch the video for yourself, but in [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p>httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9L9Git7GvcI</p>
<p>Ever wondered what would happen if a major manufacturer put one of their fastest muscle cars up against a similarly tricked out electric car? Well, Dodge did just that, pitting their <a href="http://www.dodge.com/en/2008/challenger/" class="broken_link">Challenger</a> against the Dodge EV in the run up to the LA Auto Show.</p>
<p>You can watch the video for yourself, but in my opinion there is no competition. In both runs the EV clearly wins against the 6.1 liter V8-powered Challenger. Though both are high-performance sports cars, the big difference here is that while the <a href="https://www.chryslerllc.com/en/innovation/envi/specs/dodge_vehicles.php" class="broken_link">EV only puts out 268 hp</a> compared to the <a href="http://www.dodge.com/en/2008/challenger/performance/engine/" class="broken_link">Challenger&#8217;s 425 hp</a>, it can put 480 ft-lbs of torque to the ground from a standstill, easily allowing it to outpace the Challenger with it&#8217;s peak 420 ft-lbs at 4800 rpm.</p>
<p>Now here&#8217;s the important question: which one would you drive?</p>
<p>If you liked this post, sign up for out <a rel="nofollow" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/EcomoddercomFuelEconomyBlog">RSS Feed</a> for automatic updates.</p>
<table border="0">
<tbody>
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/dodge-ev-outpaces-challenger-muscle-car-14-mile/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>5</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>&#8220;Revenge of the Electric Car&#8221; Coming in 2009</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/revenge-of-the-electric-car-coming-in-2009/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/revenge-of-the-electric-car-coming-in-2009/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 09 Jul 2008 23:33:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[electric car]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ev1]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[movie]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/2008/07/09/revenge-of-the-electric-car-coming-in-2009/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[  I thought there was no better image to break the news of a new movie from the creators of &#8220;Who Killed the Electric Car?&#8221; than one of GM&#8217;s iconic EV1 dressed up as a crime scene. Besides being a great film, &#8220;Who Killed the Electric Car?&#8221; gave GM and other automakers a bad rap [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p> <a href="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/174225594_c353072ccc.jpg" title="GM EV1"><img src="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/174225594_c353072ccc.jpg" alt="GM EV1" width="427" height="321" /></a></p>
<p>I thought there was no better image to break the news of a new movie from the creators of &#8220;Who Killed the Electric Car?&#8221; than one of GM&#8217;s iconic EV1 dressed up as a crime scene. Besides being a great film, &#8220;Who Killed the Electric Car?&#8221; gave GM and other automakers a bad rap for killing off their EV projects. The good news for GM is that they&#8217;ve cleaned up their act with the highly anticipated Chevy Volt.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s also good news for the filmmaker,  Chris Paine, who is <a href="http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/07/09/revenge-of-the-electric-car-coming-to-a-theater-near-you/">now working</a> on a film called &#8220;Revenge of the Electric Car.&#8221; If it were me, I would&#8217;ve called it something like &#8220;The Electric Car Strike Back&#8221; or &#8220;Return of the Electric Car,&#8221; but then I couldn&#8217;t hold a video camera still for the life of me.</p>
<p>Anyway, regardless of the name, the movie promises to be interesting and I&#8217;m excited to see what Chris thinks of all the new electric options coming to market soon (including those that already have). For those of you that haven&#8217;t seen the first movie yet, I&#8217;ve embedded part one (on youtube) below. You can follow along through the whole movie if you have the time. Enjoy!</p>
<p>httpv://youtube.com/watch?v=9vD33UMAtBY</p>
<p>If you liked this post, sign up for out <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/EcomoddercomFuelEconomyBlog">RSS Feed</a> for automatic updates.</p>
<p><em>Image: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/osbornb/174225594/">osbornb </a></em></p>
<table border="0">
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/revenge-of-the-electric-car-coming-in-2009/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>DIY Electric Motorcycle Kicks Butt, Gets 300 eMPG</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/diy-electric-motorcycle-kicks-butt-blows-up/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/diy-electric-motorcycle-kicks-butt-blows-up/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Jun 2008 20:52:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DIY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[EV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[motorcycle]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/2008/06/24/diy-electric-motorcycle-kicks-butt-blows-up/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[A year ago, EcoModder forum member Ben Nelson got an old, non-running motorcycle and converted it to electric drive. He&#8217;d never had a motorcycle before and wasn&#8217;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, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><a href="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/attachment-2.jpg" title="DIY electric motorcycle"><img src="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/attachment-2.jpg" alt="DIY electric motorcycle" width="485" height="364" /></a></p>
<p>A year ago, <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum" target="_blank">EcoModder forum</a> member <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/member.php?u=198" target="_blank">Ben Nelson</a> got an old, non-running motorcycle and converted it to electric drive. He&#8217;d never had a motorcycle before and wasn&#8217;t an expert with electric vehicles, but in true DIY nature, he learned as he went along.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/dsc04578.jpg" title="DIY electric motorcycle"><img src="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/dsc04578.jpg" alt="DIY electric motorcycle" align="right" width="213" height="160" /></a> 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 <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php?t=848" target="_blank">building an electric car</a>, 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.</p>
<p>Here&#8217;s what Ben has to say about the costs of this project:</p>
<blockquote><p>$100 for original cycle<br />
$500ish for motor (used on Ebay)<br />
$300ish for New Alltrax AXE 48v 300 amp programmable controller<br />
$160 EACH for 4 Optima yellow top 55AH batteries.</p>
<p>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.</p></blockquote>
<p>So, the total cost for the bike was really only about$1500, with a few new parts (like the controller) that could&#8217;ve been found used if you&#8217;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.</p>
<p>Comparing the energy content of gasoline to that used by the motorcycle, Ben&#8217;s determined that on average, his bike gets the equivalent of 300 mpg:</p>
<p><img src="http://ecomodder.com/forum/fe-graphs/graph67.gif" width="468" height="266" /></p>
<p>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&#8217;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 <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/test-250w-electric-bicycle-efficiency-1512-mpg-equivalent-604.html" title="electric vehicle mpg" target="_blank">this thread</a>.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/web.jpg" title="electric motorcycle blows up"><img src="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/web.thumbnail.jpg" alt="electric motorcycle blows up" align="right" width="149" height="116" /></a>However, Ben&#8217;s story isn&#8217;t all gumdrops and happy endings. One day, while out riding the motorcycle he managed to <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/electric-motorcycle-blows-up-2809.html" target="_blank">blow up the controller</a>. He and the bike are fine and he&#8217;s got it going again, but when attempting a DIY project like this, especially because it involves a vehicle responsible for your safety, it&#8217;s always good to go in with open eyes and be ready for the unexpected. That said, it wasn&#8217;t as dramatic as it sounds.</p>
<p>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&#8217;s reaction to the electric bike and the second is Ben talking about the project:</p>
<p>httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8eUqNp70Gpk</p>
<p>httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ujydj6SBfxM</p>
<p>For more depth about the building and the tech specs behind this bike, check out <a href="http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/cycle/Welcome.html" target="_blank" class="broken_link">Ben&#8217;s site</a> and his <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/electric-motorcycle-conversion-599.html" target="_blank">build thread</a>. More inspiration for EV motorcycles can be found at the <a href="http://www.evalbum.com/type/MTCY" target="_blank">motorcycle section</a> of the Austin EV album. You can even find <a href="http://www.evalbum.com/1133" target="_blank">Ben&#8217;s bike</a> on there.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE: </strong>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!</p>
<p>If you liked this post, sign up for out <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/EcomoddercomFuelEconomyBlog">RSS Feed</a> for automatic updates.</p>
<table border="0">
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/diy-electric-motorcycle-kicks-butt-blows-up/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>30</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Rav4 EV Update: $89,200 Bid Retracted?</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/rav4-ev-update-89200-bid-retracted/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/rav4-ev-update-89200-bid-retracted/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 28 May 2008 17:40:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ebay]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[rav4]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Toyota]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/2008/05/28/rav4-ev-update-89200-bid-retracted/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Just the other day, we told you about a Toyota Rav4 EV that had sold for a ridiculous $89,200 on Ebay. Even though the listing makes it look like all is well and good with the sale, it seems that the bid was retracted. Here is the story in the words of Chip Gribben, from [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img src="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/rav-0216.jpg" alt="Toyota Rav4 EV" height="245" width="350" /></p>
<p>Just the other day, we told you about a <a href="http://www.ecomodder.com/blog/2008/05/26/ev-madness-2001-rav4-ev-goes-for-89200-on-ebay/" title="Toyota Rav4 EV on Ebay" target="_blank" class="broken_link">Toyota Rav4 EV</a> that had sold for a ridiculous $89,200 on Ebay. Even though the listing makes it look like all is well and good with the sale, it seems that the bid was retracted.</p>
<p>Here is the story in the words of Chip Gribben, from the <a href="http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html#nabble-to17481787|a17481787" title="EVDL on rav4 ev" target="_blank">EVDL</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p>An alert friend following the bidding on the RAV-4 discovered the<br />
$89,000 bid has been retracted.</p>
<p>Not sure all the details but from what I understand the wife of the<br />
man who bid $89,000 for the RAV-4 said her husband has a brain tumor<br />
and is not making responsible decisions at this stage.</p>
<p>The seller says, he is not expecting anyone to buy it for $89,000 and<br />
would be interested in selling it for an offer over &#8220;the 3rd bidder&#8217;s<br />
$69,800.00.&#8221;</p>
<p>Anyway, whether it sold for $69 or $89 grand that is well above the<br />
original $40,000 the RAV-4 originally cost.</p>
<p>I told my wife it should send a message to the car makers. But she<br />
says the only thing the US automakers will get from it is not<br />
necessarily the US should build hybrids but they should build more<br />
&#8220;SUV&#8221; hybrids.</p></blockquote>
<p>Of course, we don&#8217;t know the full story, but as Chip points out, either way, EVs are commanding a premium in these days of high fuel prices. It makes you wonder what some of the other EVs (notably the EV1) would be selling for if they hadn&#8217;t been crushed by the manufacturers.</p>
<p>Whether or not the bid was actually cancelled, it seems that word of the high price the Rav4 EV &#8220;sold&#8221; for has spread, and it is even mentioned in this <a href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___RAV4-EV-ELECTRIC-CAR-02-SILVER-LEATHER-NO-GAS-RARE_W0QQitemZ330239561069QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item330239561069&amp;" title="Toyota Rav4 EV on Ebay" target="_blank" class="broken_link">Rav4 EV Ebay auction</a>, which, at the time of publication has 6 days of bidding left, is already above $50,000.</p>
<p>These EVs may look like relics of the past compared to what&#8217;s upcoming from companies like Tesla and Nissan, but the high prices their pulling in definitely show that the market is ready for electrics, even if it comes with a hit to the wallet.</p>
<p><strong>UPDATE:<a href="http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/05/28/toyota-rav4-ev-ebay-auction-resolved-still-a-record/" target="_blank"> </a></strong><a href="http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/05/28/toyota-rav4-ev-ebay-auction-resolved-still-a-record/" target="_blank">According to ABG</a>, the bidding issues have been resolved and the original ended up selling for a still record-setting $69k+.</p>
<p>If you liked this post, sign up for our <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/EcomoddercomFuelEconomyBlog">RSS Feed</a> for automatic updates.</p>
<table border="0">
<tr><!--adsensestart--></tr>
</table>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/rav4-ev-update-89200-bid-retracted/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>16 year-old builds electric pickup truck</title>
		<link>http://ecomodder.com/blog/16-year-old-builds-electric-pickup-truck/</link>
		<comments>http://ecomodder.com/blog/16-year-old-builds-electric-pickup-truck/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 26 Jan 2008 19:32:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Benjamin Jones</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[DIY]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Electric Vehicle]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://ecomodder.com/blog/2008/01/26/16-year-old-builds-electric-pickup-truck/</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[digg_url = \\\\\\\\\\'http://ecomodder.com/blog/2008/01/26/16-year-old-builds-electric-pickup-truck/; (See also: Two Canadian friends build a $672 street legal electric car ) We all know the major manufacturers are saying it canâ€™t be done, so I guess itâ€™s up to the youth! Andrew Angelloti, an Ecomodder forum member, converted his very own 1988 Mazda pickup to run on electricity last year, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p></p><p><img src="http://ecomodder.com/imgs/evtruck.jpg" alt="Andrew's 1988 Mazda EV Pickup" align="top" /></p>
<p><script type="text/javascript"> digg_url = \\\\\\\\\\'http://ecomodder.com/blog/2008/01/26/16-year-old-builds-electric-pickup-truck/; </script></p>
<p><script src="http://digg.com/tools/diggthis.js" type="text/javascript"></script><em>(<strong>See also:</strong>  <strong><a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/2008/01/30/a-672-electric-car/">Two Canadian friends build a $672 street legal electric car</a> </strong>)</em></p>
<p>We all know the major manufacturers are saying it canâ€™t be done, so I guess itâ€™s up to the youth!</p>
<p>Andrew Angelloti, an <a href="http://forum.ecomodder.com" title="Ecomodder.com Forum" target="_blank">Ecomodder forum member</a>, 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 9â€ electric motor.</p>
<p><a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/2008/01/30/a-672-electric-car/" title="$672 home-built electric car"><img src="http://ecomodder.com/imgs/blog-fs-672-teaser.jpg" alt="$672 home built electric car" align="right" height="146" hspace="6" width="159" /></a>How does it perform? Reaches a top speed of 55mph, has an acceleration of â€œnot too badâ€¦,â€ 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).</p>
<p>Whatâ€™s even more amazing is that Andrew is now working on a second EV conversion. This time heâ€™s doing the same with a 1992 Toyota Tercel, but with a much bigger motor for a lot more speed. Heâ€™s hoping to use a 120HP motor to have the top speed up to 80 MPH with a bit of sacrifice of the range.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>For more information, check out these links:</p>
<p>- &#8211; &gt;  <a href="http://greenflightev.blogspot.com" title="Andrew's EV Blog" target="_blank">Andrewâ€™s blog</a></p>
<p>- &#8211; &gt;  <a href="http://ecomodder.com/blog/2008/01/30/a-672-electric-car/">Two Canadian friends build a $672 street legal electric car</a></p>
<p>- &#8211; &gt; <a href="http://ecomodder.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=10" title="Fossil Fuel Free" target="_blank">More electric vehicles @ the Ecomodder.com Fossil Fuel Free Forum</a></p>
<p><!--adsensestart--></p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://ecomodder.com/blog/16-year-old-builds-electric-pickup-truck/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>62</slash:comments>
		</item>
	</channel>
</rss>

