HybridFest update - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

MetroMPG · 07-19-2008, 10:26 PM

Greetings from Madison, WI!

Ben (SVOboy) picked me up at the in the company car at the Milwaukee airport and I got my first ride in a lowered, lean-burned, MPGuino-equipped (thank you, dcb!) vehicle.

Conclusion: lean burn is awesome fuel economy for the lazy. Holy cow - do nothing more than take it easy on the gas, avoid the dropping-out-of-lean-burn-stumble and be richly rewarded. Or less penalized. Depending on how you look at it. How about 68 mpg on the airport trip at around 60 mph.

The CRX, and later Ben Nelson's electric motorcycle and a bunch of signs and a couple of laptop slide shows made up the EM display. People liked the CRX ("68 mpg @ 60 mph signs taped to the windows), and loved the e-motorbike.

Met a bunch of people from the forums (quite a few CMPG hybrid owners in attendance) including EM members Arminius, bestmapman, Daox, bennelson (of course) and semi-lurker krousdb. Sorry if I forget anybody else. My brain was a bit fried by the end of the day.

Also got to check out krousdb's Prius (thanks for the HSD driving clinic), Daox's Paseo and bennelson's S-10.

We'll be there again tomorrow if anybody's in the neighbourhood (Alliant Energy Centre.

Madison's nice, but I'm looking forward to getting back to Ottawa and driving that Kammback down the highway to gather more butt-o-meter readings on how well it seemed to work...

And I'll get and post a bunch of pics tomorrow. Some interesting vehicles here.

bennelson · 07-19-2008, 11:02 PM

Hey everyone, having fun at Hybridfest!

SVOboy · 07-20-2008, 01:31 AM

UPDATE: Both darin and ben are asleep, and I'm eating vegan ice cream.

Arminius · 07-20-2008, 02:09 AM

Yeah, it was great to meet everyone that was there. I didn't expect to meet Doax, so that was an unexpected treat. Darin and I were talking about drilling holes in Ben's car for a boat tail just before I left. I wouldn't turn my back on him with my car around if I were you, Ben.

(Thanks for the $100 free gas card and the case of free beer you gave everyone who showed up. I don't drink, but I'll give it to my wife and kids.)

justpassntime · 07-20-2008, 02:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVOboy

UPDATE: Both darin and ben are asleep, and I'm eating vegan ice cream.

What is that? You know cows eat vegetables, so by proxy you are eating processed vegetables even if it comes from a cow. Works the same for poultry and pigs too.

I wasn't there, did anyone miss me?

Didn't think so.

SVOboy · 07-20-2008, 02:26 AM

It;s soy based. And I definitely don't trust darin...I could kill him in his sleep right now though, MWAHAHA

Daox · 07-20-2008, 09:35 AM

I'm kinda glad I went home...

bennelson · 07-20-2008, 10:07 AM

Well, Darin and I are now awake and the other Ben is sleeping on the floor.

Vegan ice cream cartons litter the room!!!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arminius

(Thanks for the $100 free gas card and the case of free beer you gave everyone who showed up. I don't drink, but I'll give it to my wife and kids.)

They guys say "you're welcome!" Your reward for coming out and helping promote the site and the event!

-Ben N.

TomO · 07-20-2008, 12:14 PM

I'm frustrated that the wife had to work this weekend and I couldn't make it. I'm only 6 hours away too, sad me.

dcb · 07-20-2008, 12:50 PM

That's really cool to put a booth together

How was the turnout? You guys should get in a paintball game with the cleanmpg folks or something

Arminius · 07-20-2008, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dcb

That's really cool to put a booth together

How was the turnout? You guys should get in a paintball game with the cleanmpg folks or something

Ecomodding is the the only thing that excites me, other than alternative energy. I just walked past all the hypermiling guys. The propane car and the natural gas cars were cool. There was a Prius every two feet. Where were the Civic and Escape hybrids (or even a GM, for that matter)? Hmmmm. There was even a Smart Car there.

Ben Nelson should have been selling electric motorcycles. He would have made a fortune. I bet there are at least 10-20 other people that took his ideas home and are starting their own.

I got to sit in SVOboy's car and pretend I was driving an efficient car. I quitely made motor noises when no one was around.

SVOboy · 07-21-2008, 05:45 PM

Did anyone actually take a picture of the booth? I forgot to.

ericbecky · 07-21-2008, 06:59 PM

We have one, but I probably won't get to uploading it until late Sunday at the earliest.

EDIT: You can check through Evan Fusco's Hybridfest pics on Flickr.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/efusco/...7606284179380/

Found one: http://www.flickr.com/photos/efusco/...7606284179380/

bennelson · 07-21-2008, 07:14 PM

Here are a couple photos I took!

Matching electric motorcycles!

Held Hostage by Big Oil!

Carpooling in my S10 Pickup - 3 grown men (physically at least), all of our gear, and SVOboy's carbon-fiber bike!

Did I mention it's a COMPACT pickup!?
Ask Darin where the stickshift is.

Schwaebz · 07-21-2008, 07:14 PM

lol, playin wiht fire

what is vegan ice cream anyways?

bennelson · 07-21-2008, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Moonbaby

Those don't match at ALL!

Aw, come on!

They are both yellow! And both electric!

It was actually pretty funny. A guy just rode over on his little electric cycle and parked it right next to mine. I had to at least get a photo!

Said he uses it all the time to get around, inside hotels and conference centers!

Schwaebz · 07-21-2008, 07:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bennelson

Aw, come on!

They are both yellow! And both electric!

It was actually pretty funny. A guy just rode over on his little electric cycle and parked it right next to mine. I had to at least get a photo!

Said he uses it all the time to get around, inside hotels and conference centers!

wouldnt a person get kick out for driving inside?

MetroMPG · 07-26-2008, 11:23 PM

Sorry, my camera bites. (It's not MY fault.) About half my pics didn't turn out.

I just snapped shots of the ecomodding related displays:

Another pic of the EM booth, with Ben explaining to the curious exactly how it is that he can get 68 mpg at 60 mph.

To me, the University of Wisconsin vehicles made up the most interesting display (and people) at the event. Going to school for modding!

Ben & I had a good chat with one of the engineering students who worked on this project: a through the road parallel hybrid conversion - rear wheels driven electrically; front wheels driven by a biodiesel with a 6 speed manual transmission.

I asked the student if any of the team members had ecomodded their own cars. Nope! That was a bit of a surprise.

Anyway, the guy said that everybody who worked on the project would likely receive a job offer from GM. He was trying to decide if he wanted to go that route, given hole the company has dug itself into of late.

More of the UW vehicles.

A biofuel co-op showed this b-100 capable Merc.

Hymotion put on a dynamic display: they installed their 5 kWh plug-in Prius conversion module as a demonstration project.

MetroMPG · 07-26-2008, 11:27 PM

PHEV's were everywhere. You couldn't throw lithium ion cell without hitting one, it seemed!

Along the lines of the Hymotion demo, I think Ben should have saved his VX engine swap for the event. Two demo's daily!

Arminius · 07-27-2008, 02:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

To me, the University of Wisconsin vehicles made up the most interesting display (and people) at the event. Going to school for modding!

What was your general impression of the visitors to the boots? Mine was that the senior citizens were disproportionately represented. I would have been really excited to see more people in their 20's and 30's than 50's and 60's.