Recently by Robert Green

This weekend we filmed some footage of Craig's S10 EV.  I thought it was a very nice conversion although he wants to make it even cleaner still.  The truck had plenty of pep and good range.  If you have questions about this conversion, this is the place to ask.

Recently, I was discussing my vision of electric cars on american roads with a few different people.  During the course of the conversations, I explained the limitations of range, battery life, charging and top speed.  What I ended up explaining was that pure EVs are going to require an acceptance of different driving habits from most drivers.  There will be exceptions, of course, but for most families there will be 2 major options:  Drive hybrids or have 2 cars.  Both of these options will work for most people.

Major news keeps buzzing about Hydrogen, Flex-fuel, E85/Ethanol, Bio-Diesel and other alternative energies but when it comes down to it, I believe that only the least common denominator will be able to survive in a world of constantly changing energy sources and that thing is called electricity.

Does anyone remember natural gas lighting in houses?  How about oil?  They were once a big hit, just like our oil-based engines in our cars are today.  They went away for one simple reason.  It's easier to convert many sources from many locations into electricity and distribute via wiring than it is to try to have competing fossil-fuel based systems in different houses.  I believe the current paradigm of personal transportation is much like this.

2007 is almost over so to wrap up the year, we've decided to make a chart of all the major motor controllers that were available for purchase in 2007.  This should prove to be a good reference to people still planning their EV or others who are looking to upgrade.  The types of controllers covered are for DC series-wound motors and AC motors.  The major manufacturers this year are Alltrax, Cafe Electric, Curtis and Zapi.  We searched for information on DC Power's controllers but either they are no longer in business or they have no working website anymore.  Read more to see the chart!

Toshiba announced Monday in this press release the commercial release of the SCiB (Super Charge Ion Battery).  The battery's selling points are that it can recharge to 90% capacity in less than five minutes, it's safe and it has a 10-year lifespan.  It can also operate down to -30 celcius (-22F).  This means that it would apply well to an Electric Vehicle type application, but is a five minute charge feasible for an EV?

With all of the hype surrounding hybrid vehicles today, I thought I'd do some research and post my findings on the next generation of fully electric and plug-in hybrids.  The fully-electric EV has had a bad name in the past, mostly due to insufficient battery technology, politics, lack of performance models and other factors.  Starting this year with the Tesla Roadster, the EV is going to take on a new form in the eyes of John Q Public.  Quiet, efficient EVs will start to become commonplace in the next few years as major manufacturers go into production with the newest generation of vehicle sporting more powerful motors, efficient generators and the latest battery technology.

My vision for the future of personal transportation involves an at-home solar-charging electric vehicle.  The vehicle would be fully electric, running off of affordable lithium-based light-weight high-capacity high-discharge batteries.  The vehicle charges overnight in a garage or near a parking facility.  The charging facility (garage or otherwise) has a bank of much cheaper flooded lead-acid batteries in which it charges by means of a building exterior (roof and sides) made of high efficiency silicon solar and polymer solar skin.  This allows for as free of energy as possible, only costing the driver vehicle maintenance.