Hello! Log in or Register   |  Help  |  Donate  |  Buy Shirts See all banner ads | Advertise on TheSamba.com  
TheSamba.com
 
EV (electric vehicle) Conversion of a Thing
Page: Previous  1, 2
Forum Index -> Thing/Type 181 Share: Facebook Twitter
Reply to topic
Print View
Quick sort: Show newest posts on top | Show oldest posts on top View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
dagimp
Samba Member


Joined: July 30, 2008
Posts: 282
Location: Philly
dagimp is offline 

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 2:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://www.betterplace.com/

Here you go. What you've just described is being done on a small scale.

As for my Thing. I have a good 10+ years left on my engine (hopefully...). But after that I'd like to do an electric conversion. Hopefully, by then, there'll be some cheaper and higher capacity batteries to use. And when considering cost, electric motors can run for a very long time, are easy to maintain and use cheap parts... how about a lifetime engine, anyone?

Really cool idea, keep us posted!
_________________
Buck

1973 Orange VW Thing, "Otto".
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail Gallery Classifieds Feedback
GeorgeL
Samba Member


Joined: January 16, 2006
Posts: 7346

GeorgeL is offline 

PostPosted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 2:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dagimp wrote:
http://www.betterplace.com/

that site wrote:
By scrambling to erect roadblocks to new market entrants that threaten their hegemony, oligopolies are only doing what comes naturally to an organism under attack by an existential threat.


Holy Thesaurus Batman! Smile

(I also don't think the writer has a firm grip on the meaning of "existential")
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
vwern1
Samba Member


Joined: March 22, 2009
Posts: 3
Location: oregon
vwern1 is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 8:46 am    Post subject: Electric car conversion Reply with quote

I've been reading all the post about converting a thing from gas powered to electric powered. I don't have a thing, but I do have 12 bug, 3 buses, and a bradley gt 2, I have recently started a company called voltwagen epc, (electric peoples car). I have converted a 1974 super beetle to fully electric, using a 120 volt dc motor, a curtis controller, and 10, 12 volt lifeline AGM batteries. You can see it at www.voltwagenepc.com
Wright now gas prices are 3.00 a gallon and it will take some time to pay for the conversion at these prices, however if gas prices go up to 4.00 a gallon or higher, which is possible. It will pay for itself much quicker.
Here in Oregon we are part of a 6 state test to see how elelctric vehicles do in different terrains and different enviroments. The goverment has givin a 1.14 millon dollar grant for installing charging station on the freeway, from Seattle all the way down though Arizona. And the state of Oregon has a nother State grant for a addition 1200 charging station on the highway in rual areas.
The solution is not batteries but ultracapacitors. They are going to be being developed here in Oregon, and they will have a unlimited life cycle ability. And you will be able to pull in to a station and have a bank of capacitors removed and installed in short amount of time.
Electric cars are coming, and gas prices will go up. Its just that simple, Its about innovation, not the inviroment, allthough it will be better for the enviroment.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Classifieds Feedback
Captain Spalding
Samba Member


Joined: February 19, 2005
Posts: 2519
Location: . . . in denial.
Captain Spalding is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 11:06 am    Post subject: Re: Electric car conversion Reply with quote

vwern1 wrote:
The solution is not batteries but ultracapacitors. They are going to be being developed here in Oregon, and they will have a unlimited life cycle ability.

For the end user, the distinction between a capacitor and a battery is largely a matter of semantics. While capacitors don't have the same type of limitations vis a vis prescribed number of charging cycles, they hardly have an unlimited life. There is lots of nastiness in batteries that makes them problematic at the end of their lifespan. I wonder what nastiness resides in a capacitor.

Quote:
And you will be able to pull in to a station and have a bank of capacitors removed and installed in short amount of time.

Yes, this type of system is the only thing that will make electric cars worthwhile for the average Joe. It's complicated though. The battery will have to be standardized. How are you going to get all the manufacturers to play ball? Will a battery that is adequate for a compact car also be sufficient for a van or pickup? When I buy an electric car, am I buying the battery too? Or will I buy the car but lease the battery? If I buy it, no doubt it will be expensive. Exchanging a shiny new-ish propane bottle at the DIY store and receiving a tatty one in return is one thing, but exchanging an expensive newish battery for a degraded battery that some kid has been running in his modded spark-rocket is not a thought that I relish.

If we are headed toward the replaceable power supply paradigm, it's a shame to waste all this money on the installation of charging stations.

Even with the idea of replaceable batteries, you'd still have to get at least 100 miles on a battery to be practical.

Quote:
Electric cars are coming, and gas prices will go up. Its just that simple, Its about innovation, not the inviroment, allthough it will be better for the enviroment.

I'm all for the environment, and I love the idea of the electric car, but I fail to see why tax dollars should subsidize it. A buyer of a $33k Nissan Leaf, for example, could pay only $13k after subsidies. That's a subsidy of $20k per car! Shocked For every 100,000 cars that are sold, the taxpayer is on the hook for $20,000,000. Does the taxpayer really see a benefit of $20k for every electric car sold? This social engineering stuff really chafes.

Quote:
Here in Oregon we are part of a 6 state test to see how elelctric vehicles do in different terrains and different enviroments. The goverment has givin a 1.14 millon dollar grant for installing charging station on the freeway, from Seattle all the way down though Arizona. And the state of Oregon has a nother State grant for a addition 1200 charging station on the highway in rual areas.

Tell me again why taxpayer dollars are funding this? Why aren't the auto and utility companies doing this R&D? In the end, it is they who will benefit.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
GeorgeL
Samba Member


Joined: January 16, 2006
Posts: 7346

GeorgeL is offline 

PostPosted: Sat Nov 27, 2010 1:59 pm    Post subject: Re: Electric car conversion Reply with quote

Captain Spalding wrote:

Tell me again why taxpayer dollars are funding this? Why aren't the auto and utility companies doing this R&D? In the end, it is they who will benefit.


Because this is one of those issues where the interests of industry and of the environmentalists align. Industry gets the public to pay for their infrastructure (even if it is turned to other uses later on!) and the environmentalists get to feel green.

The same thing is happening with the "social engineering lanes" on California freeways. The original purpose was supposedly to promote carpooling, then the purpose morphed to promotion of hybrid vehicles and the writing is now on the wall is that they will become revenue-generating toll lanes to allow the rich folks to whiz past the proles even if they don't have a passenger or a smugmobile.

It's a neat trick to get the enviros to push huge highway construction projects to line the pockets of Granite Construction! Both groups give a few thousand dollars to the politicians involved and reap millions in benefits. It's as American as apple pie!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
Captain Spalding
Samba Member


Joined: February 19, 2005
Posts: 2519
Location: . . . in denial.
Captain Spalding is offline 

PostPosted: Sun Nov 28, 2010 12:31 pm    Post subject: Re: Electric car conversion Reply with quote

GeorgeL wrote:
It's as American as apple pie!

Forgive me if I'm not so willing to accept it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
jingram
Samba Member


Joined: March 22, 2006
Posts: 157
Location: where the streets have no name
jingram is offline 

PostPosted: Tue Mar 08, 2011 9:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Wright now gas prices are 3.00 a gallon and it will take some time to pay for the conversion at these prices, however if gas prices go up to 4.00 a gallon or higher, which is possible. It will pay for itself much quicker.


How's that electric conversion working out for you now?
And how do I get one of your kits??
Better yet, how do we get rid of Muammar Kaddafi (sp?) ???
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Gallery Classifieds Feedback
happyjourneys
Samba Member


Joined: August 21, 2014
Posts: 1
Location: South Carolina
happyjourneys is offline 

PostPosted: Tue Oct 21, 2014 2:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

What was the outcome of this idea? I know OP was years ago, but I am looking to convert my 79 Bus and I'd love some input from someone who has already done it. Thanks! Smile
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Classifieds Feedback
Display posts from previous:   
Reply to topic    Forum Index -> Thing/Type 181 All times are Mountain Standard Time/Pacific Daylight Savings Time
Page: Previous  1, 2
Page 2 of 2

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

About | Help! | Advertise | Donate | Premium Membership | Privacy/Terms of Use | Contact Us | Site Map
Copyright © 1996-2023, Everett Barnes. All Rights Reserved.
Not affiliated with or sponsored by Volkswagen of America | Forum powered by phpBB
Links to eBay or other vendor sites may be affiliate links where the site receives compensation.