Comments for Electric Car Conversion Blog By Gavin Shoebridge

Comment on One Step Forward; One Step Back by Philip

Philip — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 21:17:15 +0000

Hey Gavin,

why don’t you put on a suit and pay them a visit to suggest your plans?
There must be a budget somewhere to convert a 560.000 investment loss into something useful.
Team up with a university and put some students to work, or try to tap some local research funds.

best regards
Philip

Comment on One Step Forward; One Step Back by gavin

gavin — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:06:55 +0000

Sadly they haven’t and I don’t think they will. You’re right though, with their fast recharge times and the self-discharge thing not a problem in this instance ultra capacitors would be ideal. Good thinking.

Comment on One Step Forward; One Step Back by Scott

Scott — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 06:09:00 +0000

Ultracapacitor Buses would be ideal for this route.

http://www.technologyreview.com/energy/23754/

Did NZ-Bus ever get back to you?

Comment on Mitsubishi Electric Car Drives 1300 Miles on a Single Charge by dolphin888

dolphin888 — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:23:29 +0000

Maybe but other things to consider.
Power in batteries are proportional to voltage square. We don’t know how dangerously high voltage level were used. Even human can push a car, so chances are 1hp is more than enough. So car has very low acceleration and probably 5-20mph speed limit.

Secondly, charging limits. Even with low range, charging time is expected to be 6-12hours.

Other factor include battery cost and safety.

There’s risk factor for recalls also. Things like cars require taking it slow.

Finally there’s some pressure from oil interest. All of them are probably customers in one form or other.

Comment on I Was a Born-Again Seven Day Vegan by Lenka

Lenka — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 09:16:10 +0000

do they actually offer any special meals for vegans in restaurants?