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A DIY Electric Car Member, david85, has been testing a 200 Amp-Hour LiFePo4 Battery for a few weeks now and has been keeping a public journal of the results. If you're not familiar with LifePo4, it's a fairly new battery technology that promises greater safety than Lithium Ion or Lithium Polymer while still holding a good energy density and a decent discharge rate. Many new LiFePo4 manufacturers are popping up in China and Japan and prices continue to get lower which is very encouraging for use...

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.

He used 16 8v Trojan golf cart batteries to make a 144v system. His Zivan charger sits between the seats in the cab and he said he normally charges it by just running an extension cord up to the truck....

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...

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....

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?



One of the major roadblocks to...