We have coveredlotsofelectricconversions here but rare is the bird that soars like this one. The idea behind this project was to showcase the potential of A123 Systems cells that are also being used in a "conventional" car conversion. "Conventional" as in a 2003 BMW 325i. (We'll keep an eye on its progress.)
The project started with two Honda CRF250Rs, with one being converted and one remaining stock for after-completion comparison. Each step was documented with a photo and a brief description. The builder, named on the web site as Bob Simpson BSEE, had a goal of keeping the weight, balance and abuse quotient as close to the original as possible and with all the cool tools and quality components he's working with, it seems he got pretty close.
The final product certainly looks terrific. The range is yet to be determined as more testing needs to be done. The highest speed mentioned is 57.4 mph. As evidenced by the photo above the electric bike certainly doesn't seem to be lacking for torque, although it could perhaps use a second gear. The website featuring the conversion has lots of other information and links for those interested in electrified transportation and is well worth checking out.
Are looking for a project to keep you busy this summer? Have you always wanted to have your own electric car to go along with your solar panels? You don't want to wait for the Volt and the Tesla is too pricey? Perhaps you can build one yourself. What's that? You don't know anything about converting a gas hog to a green dream machine? Well, if you live in the Seattle area perhaps you can take a course.
This summer, a 6-day intensive course on electric car converting will be held at the South Seattle Community College starting June 16th. Classes will be from 8 am to 5 pm. with the mornings devoted to classroom instruction (no spitballs) and the afternoons dedicated to the hands-on conversion of a lucky student's donor car. The finished product will be capable of "highways speeds" and have a range of between 40 and 60 miles, according to an item on the Post-Intelligencer reader blog.
If it isn't your car that gets converted, you still won't walk away empty handed. Every student will receive a copy of the book, "Convert It" written, not coincidentally, by the instructors of the course, Mike Brown and Shari Prange. Since they have written a book on the subject (as well as possessing lots of other experience) you can be assured they have a clue what they are talking about. Supplemental help may also be rendered by various members of the Seattle EV community.
If you want to hear more information and ask questions before committing to any part of the $800 total fee then why not call them about attending the absolutely free informational meeting (signup details after the jump). Have fun and happy gas-free driving!
Unhappy with your plugless Prius? Zap thinks it has an answer for you.
The king of green car press releases has issued another announcement, this time talking about the availability of a Toyota Prius and Highlander plug-in conversion kit. In collaboration with Hybrid Plus, Zap's kit will convert hybrid Priuses and Highlanders into what tests predict will be 120 MPGe (city) and 90 MPGe (highway) vehicles. Depending on the vehicle, the kits cost between $24,000 and $36,000, and Zap says turnaround time is about four weeks. The press release doesn't get into great details, but it sounds like you need to bring your Prius/Highlander to Boulder to have Hybrid Plus do the work. You might also be able to go to a local Zap dealer to have the work done (UPDATE: Zap says that Zap dealers will be able to do the conversions).
While electric car dealerships seen a little more business in the last few years, as a recent New York Times article points out, it's still hard to get by selling nothing but electric cars. Many EV dealers already sell other types of vehicles and, as Hybrids Plus CEO Carl Lawrence says, electric car companies and hybrid conversion companies collaborating is "natural."
Gallery: Zap, Hybrid Plus Plug-in Prius Conversion
Tampa Bay Local News did a report about a conversion by the Clean Vehicle Research Institute (CLE.VE.R) of a 1997 Nissan Sentra to a plug-in, fully electric demonstration car. The report says the car cost $8,000 to convert, has 27-horsepower, a 60-mile range and can recharge in two hours. CLE.VE.R has also converted municipal vehicles and taxis in Mexico City and hopes to do the same in Florida. "Before the end of the year, we will start seeing electric cars and have Tampa as a lead in the green movement" said CLE.VE.R's Victor Juarez.
Among the videos at the NBC News website, mostly of CEOs and political leaders, there is one video about a company that converts gas cars to run on electricity. This "tiny shop in the middle of Kansas," the NBC News reporter says, "turns out more purely electric cars than any other place in the U.S." The segment includes a 40-year-old black and white video from the Today Show, where the host says electric cars are nothing new, are not golf carts but real cars that operate on the streets. Lots of people are still trying to get that message out today.
I think conversion shops will soon be a thing of the past as the large auto makers become aware of the advantages of electric vehicles. The video includes a converted VW, but VW has said they plan to make every car with an optional hybrid drivetrain. VW has also said if all cars were a hybrid the auto industry would go bankrupt. So, while they might not have a great future, for now, converters do enjoy their moment in the spot light as literally the only source for a normal, affordable, electric car.
Recently, I told you MotorWeek's Pat Goss said ethanol conversions are impractical. Drive Flex Fuel put a video on YouTube countering everything Pat said. You can read everything they wrote below but the one thing that struck me was they seem to accuse Pat of making up a metal. The text in the video says "TURN METAL? Much like the Unicorn, we have not been able to find any sign of its existance. After extensive internet research, we still have not found any information on 'turn metal.'"
I found it. I think it's Terne not Turn and according to this .ppt file (Power Point Presentation) "Terne metal material (typical metal tank) is not compatible with ethanol without special coatings." I am not taking MotorWeek's side because they are a little wrong too: Pat could have mentioned the government has certified an ethanol conversion kit. I contacted Drive Flex Fuel as well as MotorWeek and I hope this is settled nicely. I saw the host of MotorWeek at the Washington Auto Show recently and I watch the show every week.
I also think the growing body of studies say, at the very least, regular cars can probably handle higher blends of ethanol. When I was at Washington Auto Show, someone on a panel told me that in Brazil, twenty percent ethanol (or E20) and even higher percentage blends, is the "standard gasoline" and gas cars in the country are doing just fine.
Jim Dawson gives a great tour of his 1994 Saturn SL1 converted to run on electricity for an Illinois public access cable show (you can watch the video below the fold). Jim shows us the insides of his four-door electric car, pointing out all the changes he made and then takes us for a drive. There is a fuse so Jim does not have to worry about electrocution and everything else - like brakes, air bags, etc. - is basically the same.
Jim could not leave the back suspension alone though because he added a thousand pounds of batteries which gets him up to 80-mile range. Jim has put over 8,000 miles on his electric Saturn and likes paying only 2 cents a mile (30 MPG gas car with $3 a barrel a gas costs 20 cents a mile). Jim thinks more people will be interested in electric cars when gas hits $4 this Summer.
We told you San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order in May 2006 calling for all diesel-powered city-owned vehicles to run on biodiesel by the end of 2007 and we told you recently it was almost complete. With a month to spare, this week the administration announced the goal has been accomplished: San Francisco's city-owned fire engines, ambulances, street sweepers and buses all run on biodiesel. Who knew San Francisco was such a liberal place? (I kid) Congrats San Fran!
NBC News got a look at mechanic John Goodwin's soon-to-be-released add-on kits for diesel cars in this video. The NBC video also takes a look under the hood of John's turbine, hybrid H3 that will get 60 MPG. That's not the only TV interview John has done recently. As promised, here is the article and full video of singer Neil Young and John Goodwin's appearance on CNN. In the CNN interview, John says "it's not cost-effective for someone to run out and spend $40,000 to double the fuel economy, but I have no shortage of customers." The CNN article also says John's $200 green conversion kit will include downloads to your car's computer.
John also did an interview with NPR's Weekend Edition last Sunday spreading the world that cars can be green and powerful. "The ironic thing is you can have a 1,000 horse power vehicle and get 25 MPG," says John. Below the fold is a video John did in June with Media Talk. Is John the first green, celebrity mechanic?
Singer Neil Young and mechanic John Goodwin, who is converting Neil's 1959 (so it's nota 1960) Lincoln Continental Mark IV convertible to a plug-in hybrid that runs on biodiesel that will get 100 MPG, will be on CNN's "American Morning" Monday, November 19th, 6-9 am EST according to this press release. The interview will be featured on CNN.com and I will live blog Neil and John talking about "the new fuel-efficient life of the car and how it holds exciting possibilities for the future."
The press release (in full below the fold) from Reprise Records also says Neil is directing a movie all about the car called Linc-Volt. The film will feature the delivery of the car from California to Kansas and then a trip to show off the car in Detroit with the goal of "raising awareness of the feasibility of hybrid-powered cars within the mainstream consciousness." The film is scheduled for release in 2008 and we will sure be on the look out for it.
We love John and Neil's green efforts but we should point out that in past articles about the Linc-Volt and John Goodwin, many comments questioned if John's turbine Hummer could get 100 MPG. Even a Fast Company editor chimed in commenting "this story is generating a lot of interest and even controversy" and the turbine was a one-off experiment. Also causing some controversy, Ecorazzi's Michael and our own Sebastian had an all-in-fun disagreement on the quality of the Neil working with Pearl Jam. We will let you decide on that one. Below the fold are videos of the Neil and Pearl Jam partnership.
UC Davis got $3 M from the California Energy Commission to open a new plug-in, hybrid research center. Pat's Garage will convert 10 Priuses for the center, adding a $12,000 battery that extends the electric-only range up to 40 miles, and the total range of the car to 100 miles per gallon. UC Davis will loan the cars for eight weeks to 100 random members of AAA Northern California.
The members must have a car port, garage or parking place with a 110-volt outlet close by, and a daily, round trip commute of 20 to 120 miles. "We're going to be interviewing households every week. ... We want to know how people respond to the car. Are they excited because it is cheaper [to operate]? Are they excited because they are saving the world? ... We're very interested ... to see how much the benefits consumers get from the vehicle offset the added cost of that battery" says Tom Turrentine, director of the Plug-In Hybrid Center.
"This is the first large consumer study of plug-in hybrids. ... We're the advance guard of putting a lot of these [cars] in households" says Tom. The program starts Spring 2008.
Johnathan Goodwin is the patron saint of green cars (although as of yet, this honor has gone unrecognized by the Vatican). Last April, John was the guy behind the Chevy Impala conversion that smoked a Lamborghini in a quarter mile on the Earth Day special of MTV's Pimp My Ride. Arnold Schwarzenegger was so impressed that when he did a guest appearance on the Earth Day Pimp My Ride special, he hired SAE Energy (where John is co-partner) to make his Jeep run on biodiesel. Recently, John made the cover of Fast Company magazine for an article describing a green gearhead's wet dream.
Fast Company visited John's garage and found a 2005 Hummer H3 on jacks. John is going to put a 60,000 PRM, 1985, turbine, jet engine in the Hummer. The turbine engine will run on biodiesel or waste vegetable oil with a hydrogen-injector. John plans to make a series hybrid with this turbine engine. A beauty like that going to waste as a range extender? No, it charges a set of super capacitors in a matter of seconds, giving the car 600 horse power.
That's not all. Jon says "it'll get 60 miles to the gallon. With 2,000 foot-pounds of torque. You'll be able to smoke the tires. And it's going to be superefficient. ... Think about it: a 5,000-pound vehicle that gets 60 miles to the gallon and does zero to 60 in five seconds!" John is not just making drool worthy cars for stars like Neil Young (John is converting a 1960 Lincoln Continental to biodiesel, electric hybrid for him.) John said he wants to make a 100-mile-per-gallon car one day and he is working on a $5,000 conversion kit that make diesels run 50 percent more efficiently and emit 80 percent less pollution. John estimates his bolt-on kit will pay for itself in a year for bigger SUVs and two years for a normal car. He is getting patents hoping to license them to the big carmakers but he thinks automakers can do a lot more right now.
Go below the fold to see how John is using Ace Hardware better than you.
I talked to Joe Lado about his Pontiac Fiero that he's converted to run on electricity at a Washington event for electric cars this week. You can see the golf cart batteries and solar panels in the front and back of the car in a video below the fold. Joe talked about the many advantages of owning an electric car, especially the low cost of fuel and maintenance. I was really impressed however by the charger. For a conversion, the charger was incredibly well done. There was a timer, switches and a second connector that made charging at almost any voltage possible. You can check it out in the video above.
We wrote about Fairfax County's converted Prius before. I got a look at their converted Prius at an electric car event in Washington. The county converted a Prius to PHEV status in November of last year with a kit from Hymotion. Fairfax plans to replace this older battery with the new batteries Hymotion is offering that have more power. Along with converting this Prius, if an E85 option exists for a car they plan to buy, Fairfax county purchasers get the E85 version for the county fleet. They don't use E85 right now but when they do, they will have hundreds of flex fuel cars in the fleet ready for it. Local, state and national government are very large purchasers of vehicles and can help the sales of alternative fueled vehicles. We need more counties like Fairfax, Virginia.
The video above is a tour, at a Washington event, of a plug-in lithium-ion Prius with Alan Shedd of Jackson electric coop. The Jackson coop and CRN converted the Prius in February '07 and has logged months of driving data. Below the fold is another YouTube video all about the car's conversion and the great publicity it gets. Alan gets 30 miles in electric-only mode, which is a lot better than the 2-mile range of the normal Prius.
Toyota just started testing plug-in technology in Japan and France. Toyota's test plug-in cars only have an 8-mile range in electric-only mode. The next phase for Toyota is a 40-mile range vehicle in electric-only mode which will probably use lithium-ion batteries. Alan showed me the data logger he has in the car and talked about his experience with plug-ins. Hey Toyota, save some money on research and give Alan a call!
NBC News got a look at mechanic John Goodwin's soon-to-be-released add-on kits for diesel cars in 
UC Davis got $3 M from the California Energy Commission to 
