what to do ?
 

Greetings,

This is my first post so please allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Christopher, I live in Montreal, Canada and I've had an electric bike change my life.

Canadian made Ecoped CityGo. 500 watt motor and wow... at 35km/h this thing is zippy and is fun as hell.. since purchasing this electric bike ive sold my V8 Cadillac and switched to a Toyota Echo. Began to recycle plastic, metals and other recyclables. And also started reusing wasted water around my appartment to flush my.. well you know :)

I once owned a 99 suzuki swift.. but had to let it go due to mechanical issues.. and from what i recall it was a very fun car to drive.

Surfing youtube i found a gentleman by the name of benjamen nelson i think ? "electro-metro" and from him i also discovered the "forkenswift" and a couple of "ev-capri's".

So... I wanna build one.. My knowledge in Mechanics is enough that I can put it together without harassing anyone too much. But I live in an appartment, my parking lot has no designated parking spaces, at least in Edmonton my sister-in-law has a plug for a block heater.

So ? what can i do ? any ideas ? should i bring all 10-20 batteries home ? and trickle charge them individually ? is there any Quebec laws that can make this right ? or can i make my landlords have designated parking spots and eventually with individual plugs ? move to edmonton ? :p

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated

Regards
Chris

Welcome to Ecomodder :thumbup:
Very nice story, really inspiring, sorry but I don't know what you could do...tricky situation

is that the ecoped in your avatar photo ?

Welcome to EM! Perhaps you could befriend a 16 year old rich JDM kid with a Skyline whose parents have a 4 car garage. Once you meet his parents and tell them about your idea, they'll think its a way better idea than keeping the yacht in the garage, and let you work there. Just an idea...

@ Laurentiu
yes that is my lovely wife sitting on my ecoped approximately 5 minutes before she ran it straight into a tree :)

@ Wonderboy
Im trying to figure out if your actually serious with your response.. im 29.. if i was to approach a 16 year old boy, well i can only imagine the many many outcomes of that situation.. none of them good :) but it is AN idea.
thank you

[QUOTE=ragez0r;182769]@ Laurentiu
yes that is my lovely wife sitting on my ecoped approximately 5 minutes before she ran it straight into a tree :)

:D:p


When you said ecoped with a 500W motor I thought of something like this
http://www.globaltrailer.net/v/vspfi...0Scooter-2.jpg

But your one looks like a proper scooter size, can you upload some bigger photos of it ? I see on one website the price is <1000 CAD , that's very cheap !!:eek:

apperantly i have to have 5 posts before i can link images :) please be patient

http://img651.imageshack.us/img651/3227/dsc00734n.jpg
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/8156/dsc00735gx.jpg

looks very nice :turtle: sturdy and not cheap-looking. Looks like the motor is hub-mounted , right ?

P.S. were the pictures taken before or after the tree incident ? http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/s...ansport030.gif(hope your wife, the scooter and the tree all managed to come out unscathed :D)

That is a very nice looking scooter. How fast will it go with a passenger ? Not like racing, but more like keeping up with traffic, I mean.

Nice Ecoped for those wondering here is more info on the CityGo Ecoped Canada - 2010 CityGo

You probably want to rent a garage to assemble your car in. You may want to retain it, or find just a rented parking spot as close as possible to your apartment with power access. Look at all possibilities and talk to people until you winnow out some sympathetic, helpful ones. You might trade for occasional elderly transport, and/or snow removal guarantees. Look for a very underused, securely parked car, and replace it.

Turn that baseball hat backwards and you're 19!

...but seriously...my honest and sincere advice would look like Bicycle Bob's; I'm just trying to keep things interesting and humorous. I'm sure you'll be able to work something out. The more people you talk to about your idea, the more likely you are to find someone willing to help out in some capacity. He doesn't post here regularly, but "nerdboy" on this forum is a Montrealer. He may know someone who could help you. I sincerely wish you good luck.

@ Laurentiu
it is hub mounted, the chain is just to pedal :)

@ Roger Jolley
wether im alone or chugging along with my wife.. its 35 kph

Well, you could always have your wife do the approach :-)

Seriously, though, it looks as though your only real option is to move to a house with a garage, or at least off-street parking, until there are enough electric cars around that landlords start having charging stations.

ok..i looked on the website, ecoped.ca and it says only one at a time should ride on it...but I guess two smaller built persons wouldn't be a problem. Two beer-belly guys though...pushed along by 500Watts....Umm...NO, that's not gonna happen

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/s...ansport026.gif

@ Bicycle Bob
there is a garage within 5 minutes drive from my house but 120$ a month but heres the kicker.. i didnt even spend 120$ a month for gasoline on the V8.. so i need an alternative :)

@ Wonderboy
i really wish i could appeal to someones sympathy but im kinda not that sort :)
and your sense of humour is awesome :)

@ jamesqf
dont get me wrong.. i do own property, 150 sqm beachfront townhouse.. 10,000$cad.. in the philippines :) due to my beliefs, i will not mortgage a house in north america.. so that idea is out :)

@ Laurentiu
the sheer hilarity of that would be endless lol but if you ever do it.. ill pay you for a photo :)
but i weight about 220 pounds (beer weight) and my wife weights half that.. and the maximum limit of the bike is 300 pounds.. i honestly doubt im doing any damage to it.. the only wear and tear is on the battery which is expected.. and if i really think the bike is struggling i let go of the accelarator and pedal :)

and thank you wonderboy :)

Hey Chris,

I would talk with the landlords and see if you could work some sort of deal for power.

Possibly, you could run an extension cord out your window. Not ideal, but possible.

If you have light posts in your parking lot, or power on the side of the building, it wouldn't be hard to make a parking space with power. You could even mention the merits of having parking spaces where people could plug in block heaters (makes that apartments more attractive to potential renters!)

To convert a car to electric, you are going to need some nice indoor space for a while. Find out if you have any "friends-of-a-friend" who are professional mechanics, work on cars, race cars, or are tinkerers. Those are the guys who can really help you out and maybe help locate some space for you.

How much time and skill you have will greatly effect how long it will take to do a conversion.

A garage would be ideal to keep the car in as well - it will keep the batteries happier in the winter, but it's not a requirement. Keep in mind what you will need for range and speed in your car. Without a garage and/or heater, both with drop a bit in the winter with battery temperature.

One of the advantages of electric bikes is that either the entire bike, or just the removable batteries can be brought inside both for charging AND for keeping them warm in the winter. An electric bike is most likely far more practical for apartment living than an electric car, but don't give up on it.

I'm sure that with a little work you can figure something out for charging in your parking lot.

Hey Ben, good to hear from you again.

My landlord isnt one person.. its i guess a company ??? something called turret management. Ive gone to the office and they told me to forget about it.. that unless i want to pay for my parking lot (to have designated parking space) i better shutup and enjoy my free parking lot.. and then they went on and on about how much it would cost to wire each parking spot to specific power meters. so that isnt viable..

theres only 1 light in the parking lot and its on a clothesline pole with no plug (go figure)

im sure they would love to make their buildings more attractive but this particular area never has a shortage of applicants due to its low rent cost.. i know it sounds like some sort of ghetto.. but i assure you.. it isnt..

making the swap should be very easy, ive gone to mechanic school and i could manage it without much hassle.. and i really would like an electric car for winter driving.. the bike will be stored in my appartment on the 3rd floor during the uglyness of Canada :)

as for the extention cord.. well lets see.. im on the 3rd floor.. and between my balcony and the parkinglot thers about 1/3 of a football field of grass.. and thats the entrance to the parking lot so every1 would be driving over my cable... as u can imagine...i dont have many options

my next option would be to have this done in the philippines where i DO own a house with a garage :D but something tells me that getting local help would b a disaster :)

well i guess tommorow i can start snooping around to find an outlet somewhere :)

Thank you
Chris

well i have somewhat of a solution, in the philippines there is a car called the Eagle G-car
which is Philippines first electric car, ill simply buy that 1 (3500$) and charge it at my home :) dunno if i can post a link here but .. here goesMygreenwheels - Journal - Eagle G-car - Philippines get their ownEV


as for driving electric here well.. i cant... apperantly transport Canada doesnt not believe it safe for small electric cars to be on the road... however.. the smart fortwo (smaller than the old mini i think) is legal.. or 50cc scooters is legal.. but electric cars arent.... ill be honest with you.. this is the biggest pile of bulls!@t ive ever seen my whole life.. and to make it even worse.. there is an electric car company that makes electric cars 10-15 minutes drive from home... its called Zenn ZENN Motor Company and they are here.. in Canada.. and they sell to .. usa and other places...

okay alanis morisette come here.. you can sing that "ironic" song of yours.. i thought Bush Jr was bad (no offense) but it would seem stephen harper is just as evil....

Cool!