mattW: May 2008 Archives

I've decided to try and work out the cost comparisons for a Lithium pack vs a Lead pack for a set range and a set number of years. Is Lead Acid actually cheaper or does is just seem that way up front? This article aims to find that out. The method is to get 10kWh of usable energy, I’ll try to get that with Lead and with Lithium and see what we find is cheaper in the long run. Assuming an efficiency of 250Wh per mile (a compact car) we should get a range of 40 miles (65km) with either pack. I’ll be using Australian prices since I’ve already researched them, but the comparison is probably close in other countries too.

Ah Oil, we’ve had plenty of good times together haven’t we? Remember me learning to drive… buying my first car… our first road trip together. We’ve made some pretty good memories… you and I. But if I’m honest I think we should start seeing other fuels. The last thing I want to do is hurt you but I think we are just drifting apart, heading in separate directions. You are having such a fantastic career, you’ve really found your niche and that more expensive demographic really suits you. I know your parents in the Middle East are really proud; $100 a barrel, wow, you’ve really made it. But you know I’m not that kind of guy, it’s just not my world. It was great when your career was just starting to grow and we could afford to spend a lot of time together, we could just hop in the car and go for a drive, just because we felt like it. Our relationship used to be about freedom, the open road, but now that you’re moving on with you life I feel like I’m being left behind, playing catch up. It’s taking big sacrifices in other areas of my life to keep this relationship alive, it seems like every week I’m have to put in more and more but you just stay the same. I’m starting to question whether or not its worth all the effort. Let’s face it you’re a bit high maintenance, making all these demands about your needs for us to stay together. First it was just lubricant, but now you want me to get coolant and filters. It’s all too much.

Just out of curiosity I thought it might be interesting to record to statistics of DIY electric car, since it seemed like it was growing pretty fast. After just a month of fairly sporadic recording of the threads, posts, members and active members I found the results pretty surprising. If you're interesting in statistics or just want to see how the website is going then check out these numbers (and excuse my dodgy excel graphs)...

My concern for the environment started when earth, fire, wind, water and heart combined to fight the forces of corporate greed and irresponsibility. Yes, Captain Planet was my hero. I’ve had quite a lot of greening influences in my life, from cartoons, to a kid’s solar experimentation kit, to my friend’s parent’s weird composting toilet. I’ve developed quite an awareness of global environment issues, especially to do with energy and I think make a decent effort to change my lifestyle in order to reduce my impact on the world. But I don’t call myself an environmentalist, not in a million years. How can I care about the environment on one hand yet refuse to join the ranks of like minded individuals on the other? The reason is that calling yourself green is about as definitive as calling yourself the world’s best street fighter. Within 24 hours of making such a claim you are almost guaranteed to be in a hospital ward after being well and truly schooled by a Thai underground kick boxing champion, or in this case a vegan Greenpeace activist who lives in a solar powered mound of dirt.