EV Digest 6643
Topics covered in this issue include:
1) EVLN(Mike Harvey's Knoxville, MD EV Conversion)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
2) EVLN(Randy Holmquist EV alive & well on Vancouver Island)-long
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
3) EVLN(Ken Canon's Keizer, OR Xebra PK electric PU)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
4) EVLN(AU volt-heads: Rod Muller & Edward Booth)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
5) Re: EV APU (genset) emissions & FE
by Danny Miller <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
6) EVLN(Gasless in Green Bay: GEM OK'd, selling her hybrid)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
7) EVLN(Riley's do-it-yourself phEV kit)-long
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
8) Re: EV APU (genset) emissions & FE
by "David Roden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
9) Re: Intro
by "David Roden" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
10) EVLN(DC Sprinter van phEV)-long
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
11) EVLN(GM Volt phEV attention causes intense & scathing scrutiny)
by bruce parmenter <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(Mike Harvey's Knoxville, MD EV Conversion)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://www.nbc25.com/content/fulltext/?cid=11055
Knoxville Man Converts His Car To Electric
Reported by: Adam Hudson 03/23/2007 04:47pm
[Video http://www.nbc25.com/media_player.php?media_id=6012 ]
KNOXVILLE, MD - Finding cheap gas is no longer a huge concern for
one local commuter. Instead of filling up at the pump, he's
"plugging in" at home before he gets in his car.
A sunny spring day means Mike Harvey can put the top down on his
convertible and take it for a spin. There's just one difference
-- he has to unplug it first.
Most people don't notice it going down the road that it's
electric, says Harvey.
Fed up with rising gas prices, the Knoxville man started doing
research on electric cars. Last fall, he got a conversion kit
and three months later he finished turning a '92 Volkwagon
Cabriolet into an electric vehicle. Harvey says the conversion
would cost most people between $5,000 and $7,000.
I get the grin every time I drive down the road and know that
I'm not putting 19 pounds of carbon dioxide for every mile, every
gallon of gas, that I drive. So, I feel good about it, he
says.
Harvey estimates it costs about 31-cents every day to pay for the
6 ½ hour it takes to charge up the car. Fully charged, he says
the car can go about 70 miles, more than enough for his commute
to work. Now he says, people are approaching him about
converting their cars.
90% of Americans could probably use an electric car as their
second car and we could reduce greenhouse gas emissions and our
dependence on foreign oil, says Harvey.
Harvey does all of the car's maintenance himself -- no more
filter or oil changes, and no more emissions tests. After
100,000 miles he will have to replace the motor brushes. Harvey
says this project has inspired him to look into using more
alternative energy.
We're trying to do a bunch of different things. We're building
another electric car, and we're building a new house, so we're
putting solar panels on the new house. Our goal is to use zero
petroleum, says Harvey.
Harvey says a legacy of using renewable energy is one he wants to
leave for his two children, who by the way, fit safely in the
back seat on the family's Sunday drives.
Copyright (c) 1998- 2007 Nexstar Broadcasting, Inc. All rights
reserved.
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Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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EVLN(Randy Holmquist EV alive & well on Vancouver Island)-long
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/driving/story.html?id=e0190a0b-62d6-4d09-8eb7-0ac67ae8547d
Electric-car conversion alive on Vancouver Island
Goody Niosi, Can West News Service Friday, March 23, 2007
[...]
in a small shop near the rural Vancouver Island community of
Errington half an hour north of Nanaimo, the electric vehicle is,
well, humming along on a modest scale, courtesy of Randy
Holmquist [ http://canev.com ].
In fact, his conversion vehicles are now in use around the
globe.
Spencer Baird drives one in Tofino on Vancouver Island's west
coast.
"It's quiet," he says. "I can drive it right into my garage and I
don't get exhaust fumes in my house."
John Joseph drives one in Virginia, clocking about 120 kilometres
each day to and from work.
"It's a great commuter vehicle," he says. "And it's fun to drive.
I'm just tickled to death with it."
Holmquist became fascinated with electric vehicles in 1990 when
he worked as a marine mechanic in Nanaimo, about 28 kilometres
from home. He got a small handbook from a man in Oregon who was
doing conversions from gas to electric. Following the rough
instructions, he converted his 1963 Triumph Spitfire.
"The book was very crude," Holmquist recalls. "There wasn't
anyone doing anything at that time so I was winging it. I blew up
some stuff, particularly batteries, broke some axles -- actually
I broke a lot of stuff -- but it got me hooked."
The conversion eventually worked and Holmquist recalls driving
the Triumph to work each day, plugging it in, and putting a
nickel on his employer's desk to pay for the electricity. But the
Triumph wasn't a practical car, so his next project was
converting his Datsun truck, which had a range of about 60
kilometres and was a perfect commuter vehicle.
In 1993 he met a B.C. Hydro employee who was interested in an
electric truck. Holmquist was delighted: his first customer! He
converted his Chevy S10 pickup, which was used for years to drive
around town to read meters.
That truck changed hands several times, Holmquist says, and is
still being driven in Vancouver.
With gas prices back above the $1-a-litre mark, one starts to
wonder: "Why aren't we driving these things?"
Holmquist answers: "These vehicles don't have as much power and
there are very few commercials out there that advertise a
fuel-economy car. Power and sex is what sells, and there's no
power nor sex in an electric S10 pickup."
But he was determined to get electric vehicles out on the road
and met with the fleet buyer for the B.C. government, who
commissioned an S10 for himself, using it as a show vehicle at
car events up and down Vancouver Island.
But when the government put out a tender, their specifications
were impossible to meet, Holmquist says. "They wanted a
four-passenger car with a 120-kilometre range and zero
maintenance. It was all do-able as individual components, but not
when you put it together as a package."
Holmquist refused to give up. He made annual trips to California
where more and more people were doing remarkable things with
electric cars. At home, he started building conversion kits for
S10s.
He also continued to do the odd conversion. He took part in a
demonstration program through the Vancouver Island Advanced
Technology Centre and sold one of the demo vehicles to Kim Kerns,
a professor at the University of Victoria, who later bought an
S10 and still commutes with it daily.
Kerns says her vehicle is excellent for commutes. If there is a
disadvantage, it's that she can't be spontaneous and decide to
drive to somewhere else instead of going home after work.
"But really, how often does that happen? I still have a gas car,
so we're a two-car household and one of those is an electric
car."
After selling the demo vehicles, sales remained few and far
between and Holmquist continued to plod along, averaging one or
two kit sales a year.
"But I knew that it eventually had to happen," he says.
Things happened in the late 1990s when PLH Aviation in Vancouver
asked him to design an aircraft refuelling truck for the LAX
airport in Los Angeles.
He worked with the engineers and when the vehicle was complete,
it glided smoothly out of the company's shop in Vancouver.
Everyone liked it and PLH wanted more, but the cost of building a
big truck from the ground up was prohibitively expensive. What to
do?
One of the company principals came up with a winning solution. He
bought a GM truck for about $30,000 and asked Holmquist to
convert it. Holmquist hired an engineering student from the
University of Victoria and together they designed a drive train
that worked perfectly. PLH ordered five more trucks.
The aviation company had also found a dealership in Portland,
Ore., willing to take the motor and components Holmquist
discarded. Curious, the dealer paid Holmquist a visit in 1999 and
decided he was on to something. He sold the idea of electric
trucks to South West Airlines and Holmquist converted two trucks
for them.
He was finally busy enough to quit his day job and form his own
company, Canadian Electric Vehicles Ltd. Shortly after his trucks
hit the ground in Phoenix, Air BP noticed them and ordered nine
for themselves and then several for Puerto Rico, Hawaii,
Australia and Dubai.
"We were getting about one inquiry a day and selling one or two
kits a year," he says. "Now we're getting 40 inquiries a day and
selling about one kit a month. All of a sudden the conversion
thing has come back."
Holmquist suspects that it won't be long before the large auto
manufacturers start building affordable plug-in hybrids and then
electric-only cars. He admits he could never compete with them
and is concentrating on the industrial market. He recently built
a crawler for a large company in Japan and is now also building
small utility trucks originally designed in that country. Perhaps
his biggest coup to date is a little yellow vehicle called the
"Mighty Tug" that was originally commission by a hospital to pull
heavy laundry carts. The little vehicles worked so well that they
have rapidly circled the globe and are used for towing torpedoes
for the US Navy, baggage for the Hong Kong airport and engine
parts for Detroit Diesel.
The technology is growing, Holmquist says. In California an
electric car has been developed with a 300-kilometre range. With
a retail price of $100,000, 100 of the vehicles pre-sold within
weeks of the prototype's debut.
Holmquist notes that his electric utility trucks have all been
sold to business and government in the United States -- not one
has been purchased in Canada.
"It takes a long time for a new product to get on the market," he
says, adding the sooner this one catches on, the better. "Every
electric vehicle on the road is one gas or diesel powered one off
the road, and that certainly can't hurt. Electric cars are a very
clean alternative."
© The Vancouver Sun 2007 Copyright © 2007 CanWest Interactive
All rights reserved.
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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. EV List Editor & AFV newswires
. (originator of the above ASCII art)
===== Undo Petroleum Everywhere
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--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(Ken Canon's Keizer, OR Xebra PK electric PU)
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informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://www.keizertimes.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=7853
Keizer man goes electric By JASON COX Of the Keizertimes
Published: March 23, 2007
[KEIZERTIMES/Jason Cox
http://www.keizertimes.com/photos2/upload/20070323094713.jpg
Above, Ken Canon shows off his Zap Xebra PK electric pickup
truck. It can move up to about 35 miles per hour and can travel
about 30-35 hours on a single charge. At right, Canon shows the
electric relay box, connected to a slew of batteries. The engine
and batteries are under the bed of the truck.]
If you see a diminutive blue pickup truck driving around Keizer,
its driver asserts it won't be the last one you see.
A longtime electric car enthusiast, Keizer resident Ken Canon
said he finally decided to put his money where his mouth is.
He recently purchased a Zap (Zero Air Pollution) Xebra PK, an
all-electric truck from a dealership in Salem. Like many modern
cars it features leather seats, a car stereo and seatbelts.
However, the similarities largely end there.
Instead of a gas-powered motor with cylinders, the engine near
the rear tires looks as though it came from a music box. The
truck bed raises up to reveal the engine and a slew of batteries
that can move the car about 30 miles per charge.
When one opens the fuel door an electric plug betrays the true
source of the three-wheeled truck's power a simple
three-pronged plug, one that could be on any number of
appliances. The three wheeled system is actually classified as a
motorcycle.
Recently retired from Bonneville Power Assocation, Canon said he
has been fascinated by electric cars for decades.
"I've been preaching these things for 40 years along with
developing alternative energy," Canon said. "It's nice to have
one, finally."
Reaching top speeds of 35 miles per hour with a range of about 30
miles, the Zap wouldn't be practical for long road trips or a
sprint on the freeway.
"For your basic transportation needs, taking the kids to school,
going to the store, it's great," Canon said.
The biggest problem, Canon said, is finding charging stations
behind one's home. But Canon believes this will change. He plans
to put a decal on the rear of the truck saying, "This is what
your grandchildren will drive."
And while there's no gas mileage to fret about, Canon asserts he
gets "about 50 smiles per mile" driving the truck around town.
"I even have kids whipping out their cell phones and taking
pictures," Canon said. "It brought the fun back to driving for
me."
Canon said he became excited about the potential of electric
power many years ago after seeing a wind-powered ranch in
Montana.
"This had a big three-blade rotor that put out about 32 volts,"
Canon said. "They powered the ranch off of it, and it fascinated
the heck out of me."
While he has owned an electric-powered moped for some time, Canon
said high gas prices motivated him to seek out a covered
vehicle.
"That car is going to be the next generation's first car, or it
should be," Canon said.
The engine makes only a high-pitched whine as it drove down the
streets of Keizer. The motor makes no noise when turned on, and
the car beeps in reverse to make up for the lack of engine
noise.
And while electric cars are still a relatively uncommon sight,
this Keizer resident insists his purchase is only the beginning.
© Copyright 2000-2007 Keizertimes, Inc.
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Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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TV dinner still cooling?
Check out "Tonight's Picks" on Yahoo! TV.
http://tv.yahoo.com/
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(AU volt-heads: Rod Muller & Edward Booth)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,21439495-2682,00.html
Build your own electric car BRTAD CROUCH March 25, 2007
THEY look like normal cars and drive like normal cars, but these
two have one big difference to normal models they cost
virtually nothing to run.
[
http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5427340,00.jpg
BRIGHT SPARKS: Rod Muller and Edward Booth with their
electric-powered cars.]
Oh, they also are eerily quiet.
The electric cars, owned by Goolwa engineer Rod Muller and fellow
"volt-head" Edward Booth, can reach speeds of more than 70km/h,
have a range of about 60km and can recharge off mains power in a
few hours.
TO BUILD YOUR OWN ELECTRIC CAR
[ http://strathsteam.com/page10.html ]
Mr Muller decided to go electric after the petrol price hikes of
2005, so he replaced the petrol engine in his Suzuki Swift with
an electric one.
Mr Booth was so intrigued he asked Mr Muller to help him do the
same with his 1986 Subaru Sherpa, and Mr Muller has since also
converted the 1988 Suzuki Alto he now drives.
Mr Muller is not exactly sure how much they cost to run his
electricity bill has not noticeably changed since he switched
from petrol to the power point while Mr Booth estimates his car
costs around 1c a kilometre.
While South Australian Solar Shop operator Adrian Ferraretto
continues to fight to get his Indian-made electric Reva car
registered, the Goolwa men have had no such worries.
The cars already are registered, having passed all necessary
safety tests as petrol-powered cars.
"It is actually a piece of cake to do; after some preliminary
work I did the conversion in a weekend," Mr Muller said.
"I drive the Alto strictly around Goolwa it is nice and flat
and I would only do about 10km a day tops, so it is perfect.
"It is the way of the future. Adelaide is so flat and so many
people just commute to work that an electric car is ideal.
"I like to think the electricity we use comes from the Cape
Jervis wind farm, so it is all nice and green." Mr Muller runs
Strath Steam, which makes steam engines and boilers with a
worldwide client base, and used his workshops for the
conversions.
The State Government introduced guidelines for electric-powered
cars last year following efforts to have the Reva put on the
road, and the Sherpa became the first car in SA to get a
compliance plate under the guidelines.
Mr Muller said the guidelines were easy to meet and suggested
anyone who only uses their car for short trips should consider
going electric.
"Pick a little, light car something like the Daewoo Matiz or a
Daihatsu Mira would be good," he said. "It is not rocket science
these days the gear you need to do it with is readily
available."
The Alto has six eight-volt batteries for a 48-volt system and
can reach 71km/h, while the Sherpa has six 12-volt batteries for
a 72-volt system and can reach 85km/h.
Mr Booth estimates the total conversion for the Sherpa, including
an eyecatching paint job, cost about $8000.
He has been using the Sherpa to drive an Italian delegation who
are deciding whether Goolwa will be the first town outside Europe
to be designated a "Cittaslow" town.
These towns encourage the "slow" lifestyle such as enjoyment of
food and traditions rather than being caught in a rat-race of
technology and fast food.
Copyright 2007 News Limited. All times ACDT
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Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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. EV List Editor & AFV newswires
. (originator of the above ASCII art)
===== Undo Petroleum Everywhere
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--- Begin Message ---
Efficiency, cleanliness, and legality.
A typical genny, even one of the new OHV 4-stroke inverter gennies, are
not especially efficient or clean.
The thing to realize is that the idea of a smaller engine being
remarkably more efficient is largely a myth. Well, it was truer back in
the 80's when a large displacement engine, with a higher peak power, did
not do so well at low power cruise settings. These days, better design
with computer controls, the specific fuel consumption- lb of fuel
consumed for each hp-hr- can be "pretty good" even for a large engine at
low power settings. By contrast, generators are not really designed for
great efficiency. They're small, cheap, and get a job done. No one
wants to pay for the complexity and weight of a computer fuel injection
system and water cooling.
Look at wh/mi for your vehicle on batts, hunt down the specific fuel
consumption for the genny. If the power's going to be stored in the
batts- either from charging in the parking lot or at stoplights- you
need to deduct charge cycle losses. How much is difficult to gauge
since it depends on charge state and the way it's used but for lead-acid
like 80%-70% efficient might be realistic. Gasoline weighs like 6
lbs/gal. From here you can estimate the mpg.
But these numbers do not address the smog sitation. These engines are
not designed to a smog standard in most areas. I'm pretty sure
California now regulates their emissions, but only to a very loose
standard relative to cars. They're essentially still smog machines,
making many times the emissions of a car engine for each hp-hr created.
Since you're using it for motive power, it should meet automotive
emissions standards. This modification is legally as bad as removing
your catalytic converter and might well be interpreted as illegal. I've
read about technology that scans the road looking for emissions cheats,
I don't know if it's actually in use though.
Danny
John Fisher wrote:
I think a central question in this genset-hybrid approach is the
efficiency of the genset. Is this guy's solution a good approach? What
I can't tell from looking at marine diesels for instance, is whether
they are really optimized for efficiency. I am guessing the answer is
"no" they are optimized for reliability, simplicity, and
maintainability under sea conditions. But I don't really know...
I saw this Crower motor before, but I guess only he knows how viable
it is. I just shot off my opinion on another post about tinkerers not
be able to compete with factory engineers. In this case a smart
tinkerer can compete if the factory isn't trying, i.e. if they aren't
trying to build an efficient motor. Lombardini makes small diesels, as
well as Kubota, and there are some in microcars in Europe, like the
Smart. Maybe there are some sources across the pond for small
efficient diesels? I am not personally convinced by B100 or even
restaurant grease for greeness, but we can take that OT. Not so bad I
wouldn't run a diesel though, if they weren't so expensive and heavy.
flash: the LSR guys might have somebody with a diesel record in small
displacement. There are some smart dudes building those...
John Russell wrote:
I've been toying with the idea of running one based on a small
constant speed diesel running on B100.
I am in the process of researching small 1 or 2 cylinder compact
diesels that can be modified to run like Bruce Crower's experimental
engine. The idea would to then put that engine under the hood of a
car running a generator to power an electric motor.
Bruce's motor:
http://www.autoweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060227/FREE/302270007/1023/THISWEEKSISSUE
Am I looney for thinking this is a workable option?
John Boy
--- End Message ---
--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(Gasless in Green Bay: GEM OK'd, selling her hybrid)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/GPG0101/703250631
Electric-car devotee swears off use of gasoline for a year
Crawford convinces local governments to allow her vehicle
By Lee Reinsch [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Posted March 25, 2007
Conservationist and electric-car driver Tracy Crawford is taking
her quest for environmental kindness a few steps further: She's
challenging herself to go a year without using a gasoline-fired
vehicle.
Crawford recently won a nearly year-long struggle with local
municipalities to get her electric car OK'd to drive around the
Green Bay area.
"I'm not sure if I can pull this off. I'm determined to give it a
good try, though," Crawford said.
Crawford, who also has a Toyota Prius hybrid and a moped,
discovered electric cars a year ago and bought a DaimlerChrysler
Global Electric Motorcar for less than $10,000.
Then she learned that Wisconsin law says such vehicles are OK to
drive as long as each municipality in which they're driven
permits them.
She fought for most of 2006 to convince local governments to
permit her to drive her GEM.
She went before officials in the cities of Green Bay and De Pere
and the villages of Ashwaubenon, Allouez, Bellevue and Howard,
attending multiple meetings in each jurisdiction and following up
with e-mails and phone calls to trustees.
She's celebrating her victory with a personal campaign to wean
herself off electricity by converting to as many battery-operated
household appliances as she can.
So far, she's got a battery-operated lantern, laptop computer and
cordless mouse, clock with alarm, radio, cell phone, television,
vacuum cleaner, and of course, her electric car.
She said she hopes to add a battery-operated lawn mower to her
repertoire and is in frequent contact with Batteries Plus.
Crawford is so intent on going a year without gas that she's
selling her Prius because at 50 mpg, it uses "too much"
gasoline.
"I'm thinking if I could possibly make it a year without driving
a stinker gas car I could maybe just not have a gas car at all,"
she said.
She plans to use the money she spends insuring her Prius on a
contingency fund.
"I pay about $800 a year for my Prius insurance, so I can just
use that savings to pay to rent a car whenever I would need to,"
Crawford said.
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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Now that's room service! Choose from over 150,000 hotels
in 45,000 destinations on Yahoo! Travel to find your fit.
http://farechase.yahoo.com/promo-generic-14795097
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--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(Riley's do-it-yourself phEV kit)-long
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http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0329biz-riley0329.html
Glendale designer creates kits for hybrid vehicle
Andrew Johnson The Arizona Republic Mar. 29, 2007 12:00 AM
[Rendering courtesy of www.rgriley.com
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/pics/breaking/0329biz-riley.jpg
A rendering of Robert Riley's plug-in hybrid vehicle.
MORE ON THIS TOPIC
Plug-in hybrid Robert Riley
Age: 66.
Company: Robert Q. Riley Enterprises LLC.
Location: Glendale.
Business: Independent product-development firm that helps design
alternative-vehicle parts, do-it-yourself vehicles, medical
devices and other products.
Founded: 1986.
Background: Riley has been designing kit cars since the 1970s.
He started his first business in Phoenix, and his designs have
been featured in Popular Mechanics and the former Mechanix
Illustrated.
XR-3 specs
Robert Riley plans to begin selling the manual for his latest
do-it-yourself kit car in June. Because he is still designing it,
he said, he does not know how much it will cost to build but does
not expect it to top $18,000.
Seating: Two.
Wheelbase: 88 inches.
Track: 66 inches.
Curb weight: 1,300 pounds.
Height: 43 inches.
Source: Robert Riley]
Twenty years ago, Robert Riley made waves in the automotive
industry with his last major do-it-yourself car design for the
Tri-Magnum, a three-wheeled vehicle that graced trade magazine
covers and eventually spawned numerous Web sites and online
discussion groups.
The Glendale resident once again is creating buzz on the Internet
with the do-it-yourself design for his XR-3, a plug-in hybrid
vehicle.
Early renderings of the sleek two-passenger vehicle look like a
small spacecraft on three wheels. advertisement
Riley said he anticipates selling the XR-3 design manual for
about $200, although the price is not finalized. He already has
received about 2,000 pre-orders for the design on his Web site
www.rqriley.com.
The design will be available as a kit with pre-fabricated parts
or for complete do-it-yourself construction, he said.
Riley's designs may look futuristic, but he said the day these
small vehicles become commonplace on highways is not far off.
"That's what's going to happen over the next 15 years," said
Riley, 66, who started designing so-called kit cars and other
automotive products in the early 1970s under a company he started
in Phoenix called Quincy-Lynn Enterprises.
Riley and his work are likely unknown to most Valley residents,
but the product designer and author is one of the foremost
experts in the country on alternative vehicles. His book
Alternative Cars in the 21st Century: A New Personal
Transportation Paradigm is an explanation about how such vehicles
can affect society.
Fuel concerns
Concerns over the United States' fuel consumption and a passion
for kit cars drive Riley's work. Americans' dependency on oil "is
on the verge of actually undermining society," he said. "As a
civilization we're not taking it seriously."
Yet, the researcher holds what many environmentalists would
consider contradictory views on the role individuals play in
environmental causes.
"If I walked everywhere I went . . . could you even measure that,
my impact on the environment?" asked Riley, who drives a newer
Ford Mustang. "I could measure my impact on my life . . . if I
walked or rode a bicycle. But could anyone measure the impact of
me riding a bicycle instead of driving a car on the environment?
No."
Riley said his research and car designs have greater potential to
change people's attitudes and affect the environment than the
kind of car he drives.
The oil crisis of 1973 influenced him to design his first kit,
the Urba Car. The 650-pound vehicle had a 16-horsepower,
one-cylinder engine and could get up to about 65 miles per
gallon, he said. Quincy-Lynn sold about 7,000 design manuals for
the car for about $15 each through the former Mechanix
Illustrated magazine.
Riley still sells many of his old designs online through his
home-based product-development firm, Robert Q. Riley Enterprises
LLC.
The Tri-Magnum is of his most popular models. To date, Riley has
sold about 30,000 designs for that car, which he said costs about
$5,000 to build today.
Although he does not have a final cost for what it will take to
build the XR-3, he said he does not expect it to exceed $18,000.
Tom Cyr built a kit van called the Phoenix that Riley designed.
Cyr said it cost him about five times as much to construct one of
the vehicles than what the plans initially called for.
Cyr, a Lockheed Martin engineer who lives near Dallas, said the
thrill of having a vehicle that could not be found on car lots is
what influenced him to build it.
"It's kind of a distant memory for me now," said Cyr, who keeps
on his desk a picture of one of his Phoenix vans.
Creative edge
Riley started Quincy-Lynn with a partner after quitting a job as
a sporting-goods store manager near Los Angeles and moving to
Arizona. He said the daily tasks required to run a business
numbed him.
"I want to make something that (did not) exist before," he said.
"I don't want to sell 10 percent more athletic shoes, you know
what I'm saying? I want to give birth, and you don't do too much
giving birth in business. What you do is maintenance, and you do
incremental increases."
Riley's friends and colleagues say his knack for anticipating
technological shifts shapes his creative edge.
"I think most of the early (kit car) designers that I was
familiar with . . . concentrated a lot on what the newest
technology was at the time they were writing," said Phoenix
resident Howard Daudet, a founding member of the Arizona-Nevada
section of the Society of Automotive Engineers. "Bob looked
forward a lot more than that. He was looking 20 years ahead into
what he foresaw as the future of automotive transportation."
Consulting business
Riley started Robert Q. Riley Enterprises after dissolving
Quincy-Lynn around 1986. Since then, he has helped design
everything from medical devices to exercise equipment and other
prototype vehicles. The business has two employees, who work out
of his home.
Although he still sells his do-it-yourself car designs online,
consulting is the mainstay of his business, making about $250,000
in revenue per year.
Riley charges his consulting clients $150 per hour. He says many
of his clients are similar to him.
"I seem to attract very entrepreneurial people," he said. "I
think like attracts like."
Jayson Leisenring, who works as a mutual-fund seller by day in
New Jersey, said he hired Riley to help him design his full-body
fitness machine after doing a Google search for product
developers.
"I approached a couple of different people, and they were all
focused on . . . how much I would pay them," the former personal
trainer said.
Riley, on the other hand, was more concerned about making sure
Leisenring took steps to protect his invention, he said.
Leisenring began working with Riley in late 2005, and he said he
has spent about $20,000 to develop his product, which has yet to
hit the market.
In recent months, Riley said, he has been cutting back on his
consulting work to focus on finishing the design of the XR-3,
which he has been working on for the past seven years.
His intentions are for a fully constructed XR-3 to be powered by
a three-cylinder diesel engine on its two front wheels and be
powered by lithium-ion battery on its single rear wheel. Drivers
could use a switch to select among three power modes, including
battery-only, diesel-only and hybrid. In hybrid mode, the vehicle
could get more than 220 miles per gallon over an 80-mile trip, he
said.
Reach the reporter at [EMAIL PROTECTED] or (602)
444-8280.
Copyright © 2007, azcentral.com. All rights reserved.
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
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. (originator of the above ASCII art)
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TV dinner still cooling?
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--- Begin Message ---
On 7 Apr 2007 at 10:56, John Fisher wrote:
> All guesses to be sure. caveat emptor!
As I'm sure you realize, it's often possible to tweak the numbers, or
"forget" certain data, to get whatever answer one wants. And it's tempting
to do so. Often one does this without even realizing it. Believe me, I
know!
So, don't forget to "attack yourself." That's how I came up with the
surprising mpg number on the genset. In the real world that number may not
hold up - the ACP APU returned mpg in the mid 30s, IIRC - but I wasn't going
to ignore that part of the calculation because it didn't fit with my
hypothesis. It was tempting, though. ;-)
David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
EV List Administrator
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or switch to digest mode? See how: http://www.evdl.org/help/
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To send a private message, please obtain my email address from
the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ .
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--- Begin Message ---
On 7 Apr 2007 at 13:12, Jeff Shanab wrote:
> I am gonna go for 55ah at 19.8 / module and 15 modules for a total 2160
> cells for a 400-500 lb pack then work on the donor until I get to
> 150wh/mile.
I'm just waiting with bated breath for Jerry Dycus to leap in here and point
out that the practical route to long range goes through relentless reduction
of mass and aerodynamic tweaking, rather than through lead-sledness. ;-)
David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
EV List Administrator
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--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(DC Sprinter van phEV)-long
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://www.auto123.com/en/info/news/news,view.spy?artid=79468&pg=1
Chrysler to build a Sprinter-based plug-in hybrid
by Auto123.com March 29, 2007
Chrysler has announced plans to build a plug-in hybrid vehicle
for their customers. It's an environmental commitment which is
now also scheduled to roll on the next-generation Sprinter
platform. Sprinter is a large utility van ideal for businesses,
and its' currently available with a diesel engine. Up to 20 of
the new hybrid models will be placed in use within the USA as a
test-fleet project to gather real-world data from real-life use.
[image
President Bush gets hands-on experience with Dodge Sprinter
plug-in hybrid with Mark Chernoby, Vice President - Advance
Vehicle Engineering, Chrysler Group.]
There are currently four such machines on American roads which
are built off the existing Sprinter platform. This makes Chrysler
the only manufacturer currently evaluating a variety of plug-in
hybrid powertrain configurations in such conditions.
Such evaluation is important, as one of the current hurdles in
the plug-in hybrid race is battery technology. Mike Chernoby, VP
of Advanced Vehicle Engineering at Chrysler explains. "For
plug-in hybrid technology to move forward, a dramatic leap in
battery technology is necessary. The energy storage systems in
the Dodge Sprinter Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) concept
fleet will provide valuable field experience on the possibilities
with lithium-ion battery technology."
Current information indicates that Chryslers PHEV technology is
ideal for fleet vehicle use in machines which can be returned to
home base at the end of a shift to be recharged. They have the
ability to drive up to 20 miles on electricity only, and on stop
and go trips would use minimal fuel to power their diesel or
gasoline engines.
Photo Credit : DaimlerChrysler
© 2000-2007 Xprima.com Corporation. All Rights Reserved
===
http://www.edie.net/news/news_story.asp?id=12831&channel=0
Hybrid vans to hit US roads (published on 30-March-2007)
New plug-in hybrid vans could deliver zero-emission driving and
improved fuel efficiency following "real world" trials about to
start in the US.
A fleet of up to 20 plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) will
be tested between now and the first quarter of 2008.
Four of the vehicles, built on the previous-generation Dodge
Sprinter, are already in operation with customers.
DaimlerChrysler claims it is the only auto manufacturer currently
evaluating a variety of plug-in hybrid powertrain (diesel and
gas) configurations in real-world, customer-operation service
within the United States.
The new plug-in electric van can drive up to 20 miles running on
electric power only. It accomplishes this with a switch on the
dashboard giving the operator the ability to manually switch
between modes as needed, or automatically by the vehicle control
system.
Two different combustion engines are being offered in the Dodge
Sprinter PHEV - diesel and gasoline. The diesel version will
yield the highest fuel economy benefit and is the first fleet
test of a diesel plug-in hybrid system.
In pure electric mode, there are zero emissions and even in
hybrid mode, the diesel engine is very efficient and fuel economy
improvement can be up to 50 per cent. The plug-in technology
lends itself to commercial applications where the vehicle returns
to base after each shift to be plugged into the power grid. In
short stop-and-go routes, the vehicle will use very little fuel.
"For plug-in hybrid technology to move forward, a dramatic leap
in battery technology is necessary," said Mark Chernoby, vice
president of Advanced Vehicle Engineering at the Chrysler Group.
"The energy storage systems in the Dodge Sprinter PHEV concept
fleet will provide valuable field experience on the possibilities
with lithium-ion battery technology," he said.
Throughout the testing in 'real-world driving conditions,'
factors such as lifetime, performance and cost of batteries will
be closely monitored.
The vans will also be tested in small fleets in Europe, where
smaller electric vehicles such as the G-Wiz have rapidly gained
popularity, particularly in larger cities.
Dana Gornitzki © Faversham House Group Ltd 2007.
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
' ____
~/__|o\__
'@----- @'---(=
. http://geocities.com/brucedp/
. EV List Editor & AFV newswires
. (originator of the above ASCII art)
===== Undo Petroleum Everywhere
: MEPIS Linux & WiFi powered :
____________________________________________________________________________________
The fish are biting.
Get more visitors on your site using Yahoo! Search Marketing.
http://searchmarketing.yahoo.com/arp/sponsoredsearch_v2.php
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--- Begin Message ---
EVLN(GM Volt phEV attention causes intense & scathing scrutiny)
[The Internet Electric Vehicle List News. For Public EV
informational purposes. Contact publication for reprint rights.]
--- {EVangel}
http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070326/BIZ/303260003/1001
GM hasn't made hybrid it touted BY SHARON TERLEP
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE Monday, March 26, 2007
General Motors Corp. seized the worlds attention in January when
it unveiled plans to build the Chevrolet Volt a plug-in hybrid
car touted not so much as a mode of transportation but as part of
a solution to the nations energy crisis.
The Volt grabbed headlines, lit up online chat boards and
dominated the buzz at the auto show in Detroit.
Theres just one problem: The Volt may never get built.
Production depends on advances in battery technology that could
be years away.
The uncertainty led to intense debate within GM over whether it
was wise to show the Volt in Detroit. And now that the worlds
waiting for GM to deliver what could be the biggest environmental
breakthrough so far this century, company officials are actively
trying to temper expectations.
The enormity of GMs challenge was evident last week when it
called journalists to a backgrounder to explain the technological
hurdles facing the Volt project and reiterate that it cant
guarantee the futuristic car will ever hit the road.
The pressure is intense, Nick Zielinski, the Volts chief
engineer, said at the event, which attracted more than 100
reporters. We came out with this idea and now people are saying,
OK, where is this car. We want it now.
The auto industry has disappointed before when it comes to green
technology.
DaimlerChrysler AG promised a production fuel-cell vehicle by
2004, but couldnt deliver despite spending $1 billion on the
technology. And little came of a $1.5 billion taxpayer-funded
effort, called the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles,
to build an 80-miles-per-gallon car. Last year, Ford Motor Co.
took an image beating when it backed away from a pledge to put
250,000 hybrids on the road by 2010.
Still, GMs Volt gamble could pay off big for an automaker trying
to transform its behind-the-times image. A vehicle loaded with
cutting-edge green technology would position GM as an
environmental leader and help it compete against foreign rivals
that dominate the growing market for Earth-friendly cars and
trucks.
The concept Volt is designed with an electric drivetrain and an
internal combustion engine that recharge the vehicles batteries
while on the road.
While the range of plug-in cars has typically been no more than
20 to 30 miles on battery power alone, the Volt would have a
range of 40 miles, GM says, and drivers wouldnt have to stop
every time it needs a charge.
Theres just one obstacle.
All of this is irrelevant until they get a battery pack
invented, said Joseph Phillippi of AutoTrends Consulting in
Short Hills, N.J. For a long time, they were out there knocking
the idea of a plug-in hybrid. Now theyre on board, but,
theoretically, GM is still learning.
The Volt isnt GMs first foray into electric cars. In the 1990s,
the automaker spent $1 billion on its EV1 electric car program,
which ended when GM demanded the return of its leased vehicles.
The decision drew the ire of environmental groups and EV1 drivers
and spawned the unflattering Who Killed the Electric Car?
documentary.
GM chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner has called killing the EV1 his
biggest mistake. For evidence he was right look no further than
Japans Toyota Motor Corp. The maker of the popular Prius hybrid
has capitalized on its green image just as more Americans are
embracing environmentalism.
With the Volt, GM has a shot at redemption.
Its a breakthrough of immense magnitude potentially one of the
two or three most significant game changers that weve seen in a
long time, said David Cole, chairman of the Center for
Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.
When the time came to unveil plans for the Volt, GM wanted to
make a bold statement.
Wagoner began dropping hints about GMs plans in November at the
Los Angeles Auto Show, where he listed developing alternative
energy sources as one of GMs top priorities. When it debuted in
January in Detroit, the Volt generated glowing praise for its
striking appearance and the technology behind it.
Shortly after the show, GM launched a Vote for Volt Web Site,
which asks visitors if they think GM should build the Volt and if
they would consider buying one. Nearly 440,000 people had cast
votes as of Thursday.
With all the attention, though, has come intense and sometimes
scathing scrutiny.
Some dismiss the move as a publicity stunt by a company
struggling to stay relevant. Others question whether GM was being
realistic in pinning its hopes on the uncertain science of
battery technology. Still others say GMs Asian rivals are likely
to beat it to the punch.
GM has more of a recent history of failure than of being at the
cutting edge , said Bruce Vanden Bergh, a Michigan State
University advertising professor.
GM faces a credibility challenge with the American public, Vanden
Bergh said. If the Volt flops, it could do irreparable damage to
the companys reputation.
Theyd better make it work, he said, or theyre going to look
stupid.
Copyright 2007, Enquirer.com
-
Bruce {EVangel} Parmenter
' ____
~/__|o\__
'@----- @'---(=
. http://geocities.com/brucedp/
. EV List Editor & AFV newswires
. (originator of the above ASCII art)
===== Undo Petroleum Everywhere
: MEPIS Linux & WiFi powered :
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Get your own web address.
Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! Small Business.
http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/domains/?p=BESTDEAL
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