Way-way back when it was decision time, do I put my name on a long-long
waiting list to only lease a GM EV1, or do I get a conversion that can
seat 4, that will be mine, and possibly be driven by my son to school?
I chose to have a 1985 Chevy S-10 Blazer converted to electric, and
drive it right-away. my drive train choices the converter (Solar
Electric, now defunct) had was a Curtis controller and an ADVanced DC
series motor (no regen), or there was a shunt motor and controller Zapi
(had regen) was selling.
But everyone was satisfied with the first, and near no one had the
latter. The person who had a conversion shop up in Sacramento, CA (who
also had the U.S. distribution rights to sell zapi chargers. He had
built a conversion using a shunt motor and a Zapi controller that had
regen. It was an OK drive, but I knew my Blazer would be heavy after the
conversion (2 tons in fact), and I did not believe the shunt motor and
controller where up to the job to handle the load.
Too bad because I really wanted regen. Regaining some miles is good, I
planned to go everywhere and anywhere in my EV, which included
mountainous driving. The problem with going up, is you will need to come
back down. And in a 2 ton EV without regen, that is brakes pumping all
the way.
As I found out, after some fun up in the mountains, and then pumping the
brakes to safely get back down to the valley (home base), it felt that I
would soon need another brake job.
So, while regaining a few miles is good to stiffen the pack, my just as
important need for regen in an EV, is dynamic braking. At EVS-21 I
especially liked the regen ACPropulsion had on their pih. They mounted a
slider just under the shifter, so the driver could adjust the regen on
the fly. I knew if I were up in the mountains, I could set the regen to
max and use almost nil friction brakes coming back down.
So, that is how regen became doubly important to me.
Now a days, all production-plugins use AC motors and controllers that
have regen (but may not allow the driver to adjust how aggressive that
regen is, i.e. have drive-style/type settings: normal, eco/long-range,
sport/performance, rain/snow, etc.).
Regen and how much control I as the driver would have over it, is
important in my next EV purchase. I would say just as important as my
charging ability (and we all know how much of a charging-nut I am).
{brucedp.150m.com}
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On Sun, Mar 16, 2014, at 07:33 AM, tomw wrote:
> /How can regen be a reason to buy or not?/
>
> You mean compared to what color the vehicle is, what wheel covers, LED
> running lights, what size computer screen...?
-
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