Electric Cars

[Bob Scott]

Graph from BC Hydro web site is Canuck $ per 1,000 KWH. Divide by 1,000 to get C$/KWH. US$ is 88% of that.



JWAX,

I've never heard of different day/night rates.

According to the above image, New York pays way more than you do in New York. The above graph is in Canada$, so multiply by 0.88 to get US$.

If there is any significant shift towards using electricity for automobiles, we can expect government to add ROAD TAX, just like they do on gas. Then there will be no saving.

Regards,
Bob

[jwax]

Like I stated, I'm paying USD 0.0634 at night currently.
My point is that I have the ability to generate my own power, solar or wind, to fuel an electric.
Once global warming gets the attention it deserves, that Hummer will be the thing getting road taxed while I add another solar panel.

[Dean Huster]

Besides the inefficiencies of locomotion, the big range killers for electric cars are safety and creature comfort. At night, you have to have lights. In the rain, the wipers have to be going. When it's cold, you want heat. When it's hot, you want something besides 4/60 air conditioning. If the windows are fogging over, you need the defroster. Throw in a cold rain at night, and you have all sorts of extra loads present simultaneously. And there's no way that any electric car could have all the electrical options of an IC car.

Dean

[Smoke_Maker]

Wow, I just joined this forum and one of the first things I saw was this thread on electric cars and being a electric car owner I just had to reply.

To answer your orignal question, Yes *I* think the grid could handle the electric car industry, It takes about 4 hours to recharge my car and if I plug my car into the timer and the charging starts charging at midnight, were good. I think the power plants would like it better because when the demand for peak power go's down (at night) they just don't start throwing switchs, power plants has to be ramped up and down.

By the way I love the creature comforts EV's have, air conditioning, power steering, killer sound system, and I have powered my house with my EV when the grid went down, it won't run the A/C but it's nice having the TV, fans and lights.

[jwax]

OK, this EV lover needs to hear more new-comer! Welcome!
Could we get some details about your vehicle- basic frame, motor/controller/ batteries, etc.?
Range, cost per mile to drive, day/night elec rate in Las Vegas would be good too!

[Smoke_Maker]

Thank you for the welcome, component information on my car and a few hundred other cars can be found at
http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/179
as well as my web site. Our electric rates here in Las Vegas as well as across the country has changed so much and fast that I had to go look up the current rate ($ 0.09691) per kWh. here in Las Vegas. We also have a dual rate option of a straight rate or a peak and off peak rate option.

My car is a bad example for a efficient EV as it uses around 500 Wh/m, I built the car for EV drag racing not as a commuter car but I use it on the street also. I sold my street EV to a retired state trooper and have started building a new one which will be a special built EV to fit my needs, I have a 18 mile round trip to work 5days/52weeks, I will have A/C, power steering, heat, good sounds, power windows and great performance. I also have a Prius Hybrid for everything the EV can't do.

My EV runs on 100% American energy (coal) as opposed to foreign oil, pick you poison.



Richard Furniss
is it suppose to smoke like that ?

[jwax]

Great sites! Thanks!
"100% coal-produced" electricity? Doesn't any of Hoover juice get to you?
Maybe similar to Niagara Falls Hydro power- most (if not all) gets shipped into the "grid", not used locally.
Have you considered solar as a source?

[Chris Smith]

Its about time chicken little died of natural causes, pure stupidity.

Long live Enron some family members still quote?

Time to wake up and smell the real things in life other than greed, commerce, capitalism, and stupidity.

Give em time to catch up and screw up the whole thing, after all we lock them up in DC to keep the rest of the country safe from their thinking.

[Dean Huster]

But Richard, what's the car's practical range? Although you mention all of that extra electrical creature comfort stuff hanging on it, how can you stand that kind of overhead unless all you do is charge, drive 9 miles, charge, drive 9 miles, charge .....

Building dragsters and speedsters is good, but I'm trying to find something that's practical, with a range exceeding 200 miles under less-than-fair conditions.

Dean

[Chris Smith]

12 miles per gallon the American way,...or
http://www.greenhybrid.com/

Yeah the Smith’s and the Jone’s know best, push 4000 pounds of Detroit trash around just to get a gallon of milk, while wasting two gallons of gas just to get it?

When will we crawl out of the trees, when its too late?

Or is the “Cheap ass Buckâ€

[Smoke_Maker]

*I* think the best way to think of a EV is as a "purpose built" vehicle. EV's aren't for everybody, but when I tracked my driving habits I found it to be a egg shaped oval (I'm a man of simple needs) I built my car to fit "my egg".

My driving habits needed 40 miles round trip max, that's to 80% DOD (depth of discharge). Most days I will use 18 to 20 miles worth of energy, and when I get home I plug the car in and the next morning I have a full tank.

If you need 200 miles stick with a hybrid, EV's are for us city dwellers. EV's have been built that push the 100 mile mark, we call them "lead sleds" but the more range the more $$.

The creature comforts don't draw much energy, the accessory motor draws 6 amps. and runs off the high voltage pack.

[Chris Smith]

Bottom line is “If we don’t start today, we never will until its too lateâ€

[zotdoc]

Thanks a lot for your post smokemaker, especially the link, and welcome to this forum. After looking at some of the conversions, I realized I drive less than 40 miles per day and so the idea fits and I am thinking of converting a small pick up truck myself and using a large solar panel to recharge as much of my driving as possible. I know it will be expensive in the short run, but the sooner we can get away from oil imported from the middle east the better!

[Sambuchi]

component information on my car and a few hundred other cars can be found at
http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/179
as well as my web site.

Richard welcom to the forum.. WOW. what a great site you posted.

I am collecting parts for my land-cruiser (Electric Bike) for a month now... one of many projects.

How long have you been driving that Mazda?

I was wondering about the motor..

The motor that you are using, FB1-4001 Series Wound DC 9" have you experienced any problems with it?

I believe that is a brush motor...
Could you give an approximation on the life span of the motor or drive time?

Again welcome and thanks for post.

[Smoke_Maker]

I have had my Mazda for what? maybe 6 years now?, I built it as a drag car and then at before it got to the strip I decided to put it on the street and run it as a street legal car.

Motor problems, Oh yeah! but it wasn't the motors fault, all the damage belongs to me. The ADC 9.1 inch motor is rated for 120 volts DC, that's what it says on the name plate they put on the motor. I have run this motor as high as 300 volts but it didn't like it. The motor runs well at 240 volts but will melt the brush rigging if the wheels slip and the motor revs up to quickly, 192 volts and under 800 amps is the sweet spot for this motor with it's current brush timing.

The life span of the motor and brushes could be 100 thousand miles if you stay within the name plate voltage, temp, and current. But where is the fun in that.