[cruisin]

Originally Posted by rwaudio

How is the charger a bad choice if you don't know what charging station/electrical outlets are available? The PFC20 can max out a normal plug, if that is all that is available bigger helps how??

And for the car how is a 914 better than a 911? I can't stand the look of a 914, so I would never convert one, it's personal choice. Others don't like the 944 so they would never convert one. The best car for "you" is the car you will enjoy driving for the next decade or so, it could be a Bug, 911, 914, hummer or anything that fits you needs and wants.

If you have constructive input, like the transmission of a 911/912 won't last or shift or something related to an EV conversion then it may be useful to suggest one car over another, but it is very clear that the "dream car" is a 911 and unsupported comments about a 914 being better just don't seem to provide worthwhile input.

You may have valid points, but back them up and explain your reasoning, why is the charger a bad choice? What's wrong with a 911?

As the developer of the first EV on the road with 18650 Li-ion cells in 2003 and a part of the Tesla design team, a EV Conversion instructor since 2000, I thought you would see some benefit in my comments and others on this forum. You appear to be too hostile and non receptive to suggestions for me to feel good about helping you.
Why is a PFC a bad choice when out on the road needing power from a public charger that requires a 5-20 110v plug that will take forever or a J1772 that will take a couple of hours on 220v. I think you should be able to answer your own question.

[frodus]

Why such the negative chip on your shoulder all the time! You seriously need to lighten up. You take everything as if someone is assaulting you, you're always ready to attack.

He asked some fairly simple questions on WHY you made the comments you did so the poster and others in this threat know why you made those comments.

[dtbaker]

Originally Posted by cruisin

Why is a PFC a bad choice when out on the road needing power from a public charger that requires a 5-20 110v plug that will take forever or a J1772 that will take a couple of hours on 220v.

lets just stick to this....

I would argue that a simple PFC with 'normal' 110v plug is 'better' for several reasons:

- a properly sized battery pack won't leave you stranded in your daily travels, so the whole concept of quick charge on a public plug is a red herring benefitting only the manufacturers of the charging stations.

- a regular 110v plug allows a (slow) charge ANYWHERE

- most people's garages and outside outlets have only 15 amp 110v service anyway, so why pay double to put in a 220v high amp charger? The overnight charge will get ya a good 15kwhr.... enough to get *most* people their sub-50 mile daily needs.


....ok, ok, if you are driving OVER 50 miles a day, you probably need a higher capacity charger to get enough kWhr on board overnight. But I would still maintain that you'd be more likely to find a 110v outlet *somewhere* for an emergency charge than you are to have a J charge station handy.

[cruisin]

Originally Posted by frodus

Why such the negative chip on your shoulder all the time! You seriously need to lighten up. You take everything as if someone is assaulting you, you're always ready to attack.

He asked some fairly simple questions on WHY you made the comments you did so the poster and others in this threat know why you made those comments.

I think YOU need to look in the mirror at yourself, your postings have a lot to be desired. Always looking to get one up on somebody.Your reputation up there with scammers doesnt do well for you either.

[StanSimmons]

Originally Posted by dtbaker

- a regular 110v plug allows a (slow) charge ANYWHERE

- most people's garages and outside outlets have only 15 amp 110v service anyway, so why pay double to put in a 220v high amp charger? The overnight charge will get ya a good 15kwhr.... enough to get *most* people their sub-50 mile daily needs.

I've read about a few people using the Quick220 adapter to combine two opposite phase 110V 15A outlets into a 220V 15A for faster charging. It looks like it has some active electronics in it to make it safe. I'm thinking it might be useful when out on the road and charging at hotels.


http://www.quick220.com/220_volt.htm

My plan for my summer trip next year is to camp at RV parks and use their 220V 30A or 50A outlets to charge.

[frodus]

Originally Posted by cruisin

I think YOU need to look in the mirror at yourself, your postings have a lot to be desired. Always looking to get one up on somebody.Your reputation up there with scammers doesnt do well for you either.

You just made my point! Relax, you're gonna have a heart attack!

People aren't going to believe someone because of their credentials. People will believe you because you support your comments with fact, which is all he wanted you to do.




P.S. Not sure what scammers you're talking about.

[rwaudio]

Originally Posted by frodus

Why such the negative chip on your shoulder all the time! You seriously need to lighten up. You take everything as if someone is assaulting you, you're always ready to attack.

He asked some fairly simple questions on WHY you made the comments you did so the poster and others in this threat know why you made those comments.

I think what I said was clear and to the point without being "mean". I believe that frodus saw this from my point of view as well. I don't really care who you are if you don't take the time to fully explain your answers cruisin. All I ever see you do on here is push what you are selling and seldom contribute constructively. It's nice to see you provide input to this thread, I'm sure the builder and many more of us can benefit from what you have learned. Hell, I even watch Jack R's show and even though he is far from the most competent teacher, he doesn't hide his mistakes and we can all learn from them.

Originally Posted by cruisin

I think YOU need to look in the mirror at yourself, your postings have a lot to be desired. Always looking to get one up on somebody.Your reputation up there with scammers doesnt do well for you either.

cruisin, I'm not trying to start anything, and I don't think frodus was either, please just respond to my first post with constructive answers that can help this thread.

From my point of view dtbaker nailed it on why I think the PFC-20 is a good choice. If you disagree please suggest an alternative product and why. I personally live in a city with ZERO public charging stations (and it's a city of well over a million people) so for me and many others making the best use of a 120v outlet is not only the best, but the only way to go.

[DavidDymaxion]

Agreed the 914 is alot cheaper -- but there are reasons for that! Here are some goods and bads:

• Both cars have a surprising amount of room for batteries
• Both cars can put the battery weight low for good handling
• You can buy a kit for the 914
• There are race parts and an enthusiastic community for both cars
• Both cars have stronger brakes and transmissions than an economy car
• The 914s were not galvanized and much more rust prone (911s were galvanized 1977+)
• You can get a 911 with a roof -- this makes the car stronger
• You can cram 4 people into a 911 if you have to -- there is no hope of that in a 914
• 911 is a better looking car

Originally Posted by cruisin

... A 914 would be a much better donor car and a lot cheaoer than a 912/911.

[tomofreno]

I would argue that a simple PFC with 'normal' 110v plug is 'better' for several reasons:

- a properly sized battery pack won't leave you stranded in your daily travels, so the whole concept of quick charge on a public plug is a red herring benefitting only the manufacturers of the charging stations.

- a regular 110v plug allows a (slow) charge ANYWHERE

- most people's garages and outside outlets have only 15 amp 110v service anyway, so why pay double to put in a 220v high amp charger? The overnight charge will get ya a good 15kwhr.... enough to get *most* people their sub-50 mile daily needs.


....ok, ok, if you are driving OVER 50 miles a day, you probably need a higher capacity charger to get enough kWhr on board overnight. But I would still maintain that you'd be more likely to find a 110v outlet *somewhere* for an emergency charge than you are to have a J charge station handy.

I think, like many things, this depends on how/where you drive. Myself I think a 110V charger is useless anywhere but charging at home over night, or maybe at someone's house if you are staying there for a couple hours or more and just need to add 10 miles worth or so. If you only have an hour or so to charge it isn't going to help you much. I sometimes drive to a nearby town 60 miles round trip, return home in the afternoon then charge to drive another 30 miles a bit later. Or, drive to that town, charge in an RV park for 1 1/2 hr from a 240VAC/50A outlet while I walk to a nearby restaurant and eat breakfast, then continue on to my destination and have enough to get back home with about 30% SoC. Most of the time I charge at home over night at 7 to 10A, so a 120V charger would work fine, but the other times it would not.

I am thinking of upgrading to the new Curtis controller next year that is supposed to be about 160-170V max, so I can add 12-13 more cells and have about 100 mile range at 60 mph. If I do, I also plan to go to a 8 or 10kW charger - maybe valerun's. I could then charge at say 45A for an hour at the RV park adding 45Ah and drive to South Lake Tahoe to hike or mountain bike, and back home. So depends on how/where you drive.

[Joey]

Generally, you can't say one choice is better than another without considering the use case. If you need to quick charge, then the PFC 20 is a bad choice. I don't think I will need to, but I will think it over again before making a purchase. I will almost always have 12 hours of charge time per day and I have a 240 volt outlet already in the garage. So I need to select a charger that can charge a 180 V, 180 amp-hr pack in 12 hours. I may move up to the PFC30, but first I will have to do some math.

As for the 914, I have seen many nice conversions, and they make great donors. I need 4 seats, so it wouldn't work for me. The 911 is more attractive to me. My second choice was a 944, which would have been a lot less costly. I would have been happy with the 944, but the 911 is the right car for me once I found one in my budget. I think I can make it into a decent electric car that will make me very happy.

I want comments, criticisms, design reviews, opinions on my planning for this project. I don't want to buy too many components more than once. That's why I'm posting here. The most useful posts for me give an explaination of why something may be a problem.