You will find articles organized by categories, along with recent comments, along the right hand column of the website. If you are just getting started with the idea of converting a gas car to electric be sure to check out Your First Electric Car .
Welcome and enjoy!
-Jerry
PHEV · 27 September 05
A friend sent along a link the other day to Energine. Energine, a Korean company, makes a PHEV, or Pneumatic Hybrid Electric Vehicle, which runs off of a combination of compressed air or electric/batteries.
CNN ran an article earlier this year with a few details. Basically when the car needs a little extra oomph the air engine kicks in. Looks like a nice around-town car, with top speeds around 30mph.
The pictures in their gallery will have to suffice for those of us who don’t read Korean. I especially like the photo showing the air engine running under water.
One of Energine’s pages showcases alternate vehicles which can use the PHEV technology (so I’m guessing), including this groovy looking track drive robo-arm contraption.
I read that they are shooting for a release date sometime next year.
Energine isn’t the only air powered vehicle coming to the market. The Air Car from France has been in and out of the news over the past few years as they get closer to releasing their MiniCat air powered car. You can find out more about the engine powering it here.
Comment [10]
Shaun's Electric Car · 6 September 05
Shaun Williams converted a 2000 Toyota Echo into a battery powered electric car and documented the whole process on his web site.
Electric Vacuum Pumps · 23 August 05
After ten years on the internet, hundreds of thousands of visitors, and thousands of emails what do you think the most popular question about the EV conversion is?
Hey, where’d you get the Vacuum Pump?
Well, I’m here to tell ya…
Batteries · 20 August 05
Batteries can be the hardest item to decide on for a new EV. Do you buy huge, deep cycle batteries for the utmost in range or spry, lightweight “new tech” batteries which cost more but promise snappier performance?
Our first EV started off with twelve Trojan SCS225 deep cycle batteries. Even though I treated them rather badly (a charger failure and a missed watering) they lasted for three years. The next set ended up being a slightly cheaper set of generic deep cycle marine batteries and they barely lasted a year. After that it was back to the SCS225.
For longer battery life a 12v deep cycle isn’t the optimal choice. It is better to go with an 8volt, or better yet 6volt deep cycle battery, which are rated for 300-500 80% discharge cycles.
Here’s a list of FAQs, information, and suppliers.
- Battery Glossary
- Deep Cycle FAQ
- Ultimate Battery FAQ
- Battery User’s Guide
- Battery Info
- Simon’s Battery Info
- Uve’s Battery Page
- Trojan Batteres
- Optima
- Evercel
- NiZn Batteries
- Ultra Capacitors
- Thundersky
- Avestore
- Valence
Comment [4]