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Welcome and enjoy!
-Jerry
A Tale of Hope · 23 September 05
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Once upon a time there lived a greasy, noisy ogre that hid in the dank, dark recesses of nice automobiles. People wandering by might not notice the ogre, but when the ogre awoke there was no ignoring the sounds and smells that belched forth.
Yet they did nothing about it. The ogre had always been there and they felt helpless. All throughout the land lived similar ogre hiding within all manner and size of automobile. The people fed the ogres and tried not to have much to do with them, developing a selective blindness to its very existence. The ogre was a necessary evil that seemed to be their only means of moving the automobile.
The ogre began to eat more and more. At first this didn’t bother the people. They thought a bigger, well-fed ogre would somehow protect them. But when the price of feeding the ogre went up the people seemed to wake from a dream and wonder why they kept an ogre in the first place.
A rumor spread through the land, that some of the ogres had been removed and the automobiles were still usable. It was a messy and troublesome battle to remove an ogre, but it could be done by almost anyone with a strong heart and dedication of purpose.
First they severed the ogre’s nervous system and cut off its supply of food. Then, moving carefully to avoid nasty ogre teeth, they pried and disconnected the anchors which held the ogre in place. Some of the ogre had grown muscle and bone that merged with the poor automobile and made removal complicated and troublesome.
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Slowly and surely, the ogre was extracted and the automobile set free from its awful tyranny.
Cast aside and dejected, the ogre sat in it’s oily refuse pile and plotted an evil future.
“Perhaps the people might be happy with a small ogre married to an electric motor? A marriage of convenience?” the ogre thought smokily, “It’s all about packaging and marketing. My reign is far from over.”
The ogre chuckled to itself, not noticing the 5lb sledge hammer descending upon its head…
Looks great so far, Jerry. Keep up the good work. You’re inspiring me to perhaps do something similar some day soon…
Hi Rob,
Hey, glad to hear you are considering an EV. Leave a comment or drop an email if/when you start, especially if you decide to document it online.
Jerry, Your trials and tribulations have inspired me. I have been into cars and mechanical things most of my life and realize now that as a society we cannot depend on fossil fuels forever. Your documented efforts will prove to be a timesaver for me as I attemp an electric car endeavor. Now for the first part, selling off the excess gas burners, Chevy 1/2 ton truck, and other extra automobiles that I do not need to keep. Thanks for the inspiration. Greg
Hi Greg, thanks for the comment and stopping by. Are you thinking of converting a Mustang? That’s a nice website you guys have there.
Jerry, Maybe a Mustang 2nd. I have a ‘86 Escort I would like to experiment with first, provided a motor like the Advanced 9.1” would fit without clearance problems. I have seen alot of the Escorts converted, not up close though. I wish I could find a few detailed pics of the EV Escort mods. Greg
I read this story out loud to my three year-old daughter last night and she couldn’t fall asleep till 3 am. Very Creative.
I thought I wasn’t going to leave a message, that story made me smile. I love the fact you told a tale of ole for removing an engin….oh I mean “Ogre” from the car. I so want to convert my lil 2002 Suzuki Arieo into an EV. From what you decribe, it looks like hell just to remove the Engi… ..”Orge”, I keep forgetting. Gas here in FL is too high. from $2.89 to $3.09 regular. When I first move to FL from NY Long Island (year 2003), it only cost me $40 to get to Orlando, and my trunk and backsit was PACKed FULL. Last year traving back to NY from Orlando cost me $110. and guess what, i had much less weight going back to NY. Anyway, I figure I Need an EV to travel to and from Work, (10.3 miles oneway.) I figure, while i’m reading your artical about conversions I could pick up a few tips. My only real problem in converting my car is that i will need a custom made adapter for the EV motor before installing. Hell I wish I could pay some one to convert it for me. I’m not car Savvy in any form. This is wishful thinking. Maybe some day. I hope you have many more EV builts in your future, Jerry. -CD Malcolm – Owner/ CEO CPU Basics
Hi!
I realy loved the ogre-story :-) though my own car does not have this monster inside (Golf-III-Citystromer, Volkswagen EV built 1995)
I took it as an inspiration to have something similar in the Loremo-Forum at www.loremo.com/forum which is a forum of a very light german car that is hopefully also build as an EV the next years.
If you want to read the german version, look here:
http://www.loremo.com/forum/forum_entry.php?id=16188
Keep up the great work!
I hope to see Eve finished soon :-)
Regards – 4of4
Have you published plans for building Eve, if so where can they be purchased?
I like the Ogre story, very fun to read.
It’s not Ogre til it’s Ogre… oh wait, is that a sledge hammer I see coming at me?! Hahahaha.
Chris
Thanks, Chris.
(ogre til it’s ogre? groannn….)
ogre till its ogre.
1969 called, they want that joke back