Re: Battery Technology [Was: Re: short range hybrid product idea]

[Henry Deaton <hdeaton@verio.com>]

Hi Chuck,

Hate to disappoint you, but you're not going to get anywhere near 100 miles 
of range with a typical conversion. EV conversions are great for "in-town" 
trips and short commutes, but are pretty marginal for what you're wanting 
to do. If you can't live with a conversion with maybe 40 to 60 miles range, 
my best advice is don't even bother. The conversion will take lots of time 
and money and you won't be happy with the results. You could do a 100 mile 
commute in a fairly normal conversion but only if you can charge at work.

If you have a goal to build a 100 mile EV, don't plan on your first EV 
being the 100 mile one. You'd be better off buying a used EV to learn on, 
or building a first EV with more modest expectations. After you have some 
experience then you'll be better able to design a longer-range EV. Plan on 
making your 2nd EV the 100 mile one. It can be done, but it's not going to 
be easy.

I really only know one conversion that probably has a reliable 100 mile 
range, and that's the "Red Beastie", currently owned by John Wayland. If 
you want a 100 mile EV now, your best bet if you can't get an EV1 Gen2 or a 
Honda EV+ is to build a fairly close copy of the Red Beastie. Even then, 
you won't be getting that 100 mile range unless you know how to drive it 
efficiently.

Henry Deaton
SF, CA

At 01:35 PM 10/31/00, you wrote:


> > EVs use on the order of 300 watt-hours per mile. 10 miles thus needs
> > 3000 watt-hours or 3 KWH of energy. That's about 300 lbs of lead-acid
> > batteries, 200 lbs of nicads, or 150 lbs of nimh batteries.
>
>Wow, how the heck am I going to fit 3000lbs of battery in my 1983 Honda
>Civic conversion... (scratches head). NiCd is too tempermental and has a
>serious memory effect last I heard, and I don't know much about NiMh. What
>can I do to get 100 miles (80% dod) from my conversion without collapsing
>the frame?
>
>-Chuck
>
>
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