The blue car is an original petrol BMW isetta from 1957…. The orange car- may look similar but it is in fact a brand new EV (electric car) we have made the steel body, the tubular chassis, the glass, the trim, the rubber. Indeed the whole thing! It has 4 brushless hub motors- so it is four wheel drive. It also has double wishbone front suspension, rear trailing arm suspension, and disk brakes all round, rack and pinion steering. So far we have done more than 800 miles in her over the last …
The endurance of electric cars is soon to receive a timely boost. One California company unveiled a solution — a prototype energy station that swaps electric vehicles’ empty batteries for fully charged ones. The Better Place Company hopes such networks would replace existing conventional gas stations sometime in the near future. [Yoav Heichal, Chief Engineer, Better Place]: “A switch station is actually a gas station for electric vehicles. But it’s clean because you’re using the energy …
The blue car is an original petrol BMW isetta from 1957…. The orange car- may look similar but it is in fact a brand new EV (electric car) we have made the steel body, the tubular chassis, the glass, the trim, the rubber. Indeed the whole thing! It has 4 brushless hub motors- so it is four wheel drive. It also has double wishbone front suspension, rear trailing arm suspension, and disk brakes all round, rack and pinion steering. So far we have done more than 800 miles in her over the last …
The blue car is an original petrol BMW isetta from 1957…. The orange car- may look similar but it is in fact a brand new EV (electric car) we have made the steel body, the tubular chassis, the glass, the trim, the rubber. Indeed the whole thing! It has 4 brushless hub motors- so it is four wheel drive. It also has double wishbone front suspension, rear trailing arm suspension, and disk brakes all round, rack and pinion steering. So far we have done more than 800 miles in her over the last …
With fuel prices still high, the electric car is becoming a more attractive form of transportation. Electric cars were first introduced in the 1970s, but the technology has dramatically improved in the last ten years. By 2010 automakers like Mercedes and General Motors plan to bring their models to showrooms. Jeff Swicord introduces us to one man who uses electric cars built several years ago as his primary mode of transportation.
At last! The battery racks are in! After a some battery choice problems, some battery rack sizing problems and a few delays I’ve finally got all three racks installed. It took a while and there was many a stressed moment but at last the racks are complete. The rear rack is bolted into the floor with 5mm thick steel bar underneath to hold it in place. The front racks are welded to the chassis (not the sub frame) to ensure the crumple zones remain… well, crumpley in an accident. Now it’s …
The batteries have arrived and are installed at long last! It took a few days of fiddling about but we installed and secured the front and rear batteries into place with super-strong stainless steel strapping. I also created and installed my sealed rear battery box which has the extraction system connected to the turbo timer and a relay so that both the ignition and the charging system activate the fans. The turbo timer ensures the fans keep going for 3 minutes after I’ve turned the car off …
Hi, my name is Ken Davis. I grew up working on cars, and have always been comfortable under the hood. I also care about the environment, and was searching for some way I could do my part to help fight global warming. Saving some money on my gas bill wouldn't hurt either. A friend suggested I take a look at converting one of my cars to run on electricity, and gave me some tips about how to get started. I put together this blog to share my experience.
Now it’s …