[david85]

Originally Posted by zibko

Thanks for sharing your dream list David. Why to try reinventing the wheel? Most of cars these days are nice already. Variety is here and everyone can find something to suit needs or budget at the moment of purchase. The only part we do not like is IC engine.
What is the point of building whole car from scratch anyway? There are few corporations on the planet doing that for decades. Let’s concentrate instead on what they can not or don't want to do so far - long range EV.

Most cars are heavy being made out of steel, which will kill some range no matter what battery is used, so even with the best batery, overall performance will still be better with a lighter platform. I'm shooting for the moon here, but time will tell if its actually possible in the end.

Oh, and I can't stand rust, since it does rain a lot where I live.

[EricN]

Originally Posted by david85

EricN,

I would be very interested in learning more about your project. I have some experience with polyester and glass fiber, but never tried something as big as this before. How did you get the shape? the GT40 is not an easy shape to make from scratch.

I pulled molds off of a body. I will tell you right now if you are planning on building your own body it better be so you can sell it because to make the molds is about 4 times the cost of actually buying a body already done, plus you have to deal with storing them. I was lucky because I had the help of a buddy who owns a fibreglass shop who is also wanting to build one and maybe sell too so the mold was a viable option. Also, the mold took a year from prep of the body to copy all the way to actually making a mold. Now the molds still need to be prepped and ready to actually use, probably another 6 months. It would definately be better to find a kit car and modify it, but if you have the ability and time, start from scratch, that is what I did,,,,, 6 years ago.

[david85]

Originally Posted by EricN

I pulled molds off of a body. I will tell you right now if you are planning on building your own body it better be so you can sell it because to make the molds is about 4 times the cost of actually buying a body already done, plus you have to deal with storing them. I was lucky because I had the help of a buddy who owns a fibreglass shop who is also wanting to build one and maybe sell too so the mold was a viable option. Also, the mold took a year from prep of the body to copy all the way to actually making a mold. Now the molds still need to be prepped and ready to actually use, probably another 6 months. It would definately be better to find a kit car and modify it, but if you have the ability and time, start from scratch, that is what I did,,,,, 6 years ago.

Very VERY, interesting, as it so happens, I was considereing using a GT40 (kit) at one time, the original location of the large fuel tanks on both sides make it a tempting conversion platform (and thats before you consider the space where the V8 and tranny normally go) due to the potential space for batteries. But getting replies to my inquiries proved difficult. I would be very interested to see how it turns out.

[pandaran]

Originally Posted by david85

panraran,

I'll just go over some of the basics first [...]

A simple way to think of the difference betwwen series and parallel, is that series is based on a pure electric car, a series is based on a ICE powered car.

Series is definitely what I'd be interested in in the long run. It makes me feel safer. I'd hate to think of running out of "fuel" out in the country somewhere with an EV! Especially since they take so long to charge! (I wonder how the Tesla charges so much faster than the other cars Rob posted in his blog, when it uses the same type of batteries. http://www.diyelectriccar.com/blogs/2007/11/six-major-preproduction-electric-vehicles-compared.html)

Have you seen the drop in kits that convert the Prius to optional electric drive? http://www.electric-cars-are-for-gir...n-hybrids.html
Waaay out of my price range, though. :P

[Greenflight]

Not to go off topic, but an interesting note about the Prius is that it's sold in Europe with an EV mode. i.e., you can press a button and the car will operate purely off the batteries, without running the engine. It's got a very short range, but can be used to avoid starting the engine just to move the car across the street.

In the US, the car is sold with the full capability of using EV mode, only without the button. So all you have to do is populate an empty cavity in one of the ECM connectors, and run it to a switch on the dash, and run the other side to ground. Voila, an electric car with a one mile range. There's about a million articles on the web that show exactly how to do this.

Now, I'm guessing that once this is done (cost: $4?) it's a simple matter to add a few batteries (maybe 8 or so lead acid, figure around $700) and a charger (maybe $400 or more, depending on what you use) and probably voltage and amp gauges ($100?) and this should provide an adequate plug-in hybrid. The range probably wouldn't be outstanding, maybe 10 or 20 miles depending on how many batteries were used, but this is plenty to cut down on gas costs for a lot of people! As long as you keep the voltage similar (parallel the new pack with the old, or something like that) the car should be able to handle it OK. So, you should be able to convert the Prius to a PHEV for around $1300 or so. Or at least, having never done it myself, that's my guess.

Okay, I'm done, back to topic.

[mattW]

Only problem is they run at 288V I think, so thats 24 batteries, then you have to work out which string is going to give you more current (because the existing pack has barely any Ah so you want most of it coming out the lead ones, i don't know exactly how it works but its to do with the internal resistance). Apparently the 1st gen prius is experiencing some reports of battery failure (10 years old). You could just buy one of those dead ones for cheap and completely replace the battery pack with good old lead at a much higher capacity. That would be much cheaper and easier than trying to match a tiny Lithium pack to a giant lead one.

[pandaran]

So people are giving up on them and selling them for cheap just because the battery got old? O.o That's one of the weirder things I've heard lately.

[david85]

There are many other options other than just lead acid battereies. I have seen several examples of prius conversions, one that comes to mind is one I saw on the evening news. They were able to access the OEM NiMh batteries an that is what they fitted to the upgraded prius, but ofcourse it was not cheap. The car had a range of ~30miles and a limited top speed in all electric mode (still fast enough for city driving).

Apearently its possible to get a conversion kit for the Rav4 as well, you have to admit, it is at least a little ironic. since toyota stopped offering their own EV Rav4 (although toyota did not have much of a choice, leagally).

pandaran, about your comment about there being more than just one type of lithium batteries....

From what I have seen, there are about a dozen different chemisties, that are under active developement, or already in use, its basically an arms race for the ultimate battery. Each one of them having their own unique advantages, and not all of them are restricted from the general public.



......This does bring cost into the picture though, thundersky batteries are available to anyone who wants them (lithium iron phosphate), and volume discounts are up to 40%, but it remains to be seen how reliable they are.

I'd like some opinions here, what is more important to the rest of you, affordability, or performance and long range? (within reason, ofcourse)

[pandaran]

Will I get smacked if I say both?

Affordability is important to me, but if the battery's life made it more affordable over an extended period of time, as opposed to replacing the cheap ones more frequently, I'd be willing to fork out a little more at the beginning. Especially if it would get me longer range, too!

[houseoffubar]

Originally Posted by pandaran

Series is definitely what I'd be interested in in the long run. It makes me feel safer. I'd hate to think of running out of "fuel" out in the country somewhere with an EV! Especially since they take so long to charge! (I wonder how the Tesla charges so much faster than the other cars Rob posted in his blog, when it uses the same type of batteries. http://www.diyelectriccar.com/blogs/2007/11/six-major-preproduction-electric-vehicles-compared.html)

Have you seen the drop in kits that convert the Prius to optional electric drive? http://www.electric-cars-are-for-gir...n-hybrids.html
Waaay out of my price range, though. :P

I suspect that despite the chart showing 110volt charging that the 3.5 hour time for the Tesla it is actually 220v. The Tesla holds significant amounts of energy, that is simply not possible to charge that fast using a 15 or 20 amp 110v outlet