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Forum Index : EV's : $5,000 EV Conversions
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Jaffasoft Senior Member  Joined: 03/11/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 102 |
Hi Folks, I was wandering through YouTube as you do and came across this video and wandered where is the Australian equivalent of this EV converting for $5,000? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00IUTSRPqe4 If it's that cost this early in the game then will it come down even further. $5,000 is a good price that justifies the investment plus it's close on affordable for me at the moment. Though if it was $4,000 i race out and do one. |
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| VK4AYQ Guru  Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Jaffa I still believe a electric car is only practical for a town car shopping trolley. $5000 dollars buys 3,300 liters petrol, in my car a v6 commodore that translates to 33,300 Klm around three years driving for me, with no distance limitation for trips. My friend has a VW he has converted, the conversion cost $4500 for parts and $12000 for batteries and another $1200 for engineering for registration. It will do a 60 KLM round trip at 70 % battery capacity and doesn't cost for recharge as it is solar charger system off the house system with 10 extra panels cost $5000 My car costs $0.15 per klm energy cost. servicing over 3 years $500.00aprox 1.5 cents per klm Total running cost 16.5 cents per KL His car costs $0.36 per klm battery replacement cost over 3 years replace two failed batteries $600 Replace one speed controller $1100 Service electric motor $400 Total $2100 0.06 per klm Total running cost 42 cents per KLM Things may improve in the future but it is a wide gap to bridge to break even. Thats not counting the charge inverter and the extra solar panels. He is a solar and electricity greeny and the cost was a secondary issue but for most there needs to be a cost effective solution to transport not a more expensive and limited application. As for efficiency I am experimenting with another commodore I have and fitting a turbo charged 1,8 liter ISUZU diesel Inter-cooled with HHO injection and a NG / car gas. preliminary testing results in the original car has yielded 32 KL per liter, that is without any enhancement by turbo and HHO injection. it also runs well on vegetable oil and enhanced fat. This works out 7.5 cents per KLM. Food for thought. Admittedly it will not have the power of the 3.8 ltr supercharged motor in my car but if I have the choice of walking or riding even a fiat 500 is better than walking, not as reliable but better. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| Jaffasoft Senior Member Joined: 03/11/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 102 |
Mmmm.. good insight into the research of it. At the moment I'm enjoying riding around on an ebike that cost around $1400 fully set up and I'm dong all the running around that i do. Using the Van for things i have to pick up or ppl. The Van uses roughly $60 to fill the tank at $1.46c here tonight and i will get about 300-340 kays around town but it's horribly inefficient. Not sure if this thing has stopped breathing oxygen. The bike costs 15c to charge up and goes 45k range at 41k an hr. I've done close on 700 kay so far so far but getting a little cold and raining sometimes for riding. I'm doing most of my travels around town something like a Ute converted would be good. Maybe it could be a matter of trying to strike an ex folk lift motor or something that's been in a factory fire or something and gather bits on the cheap for a little plug around town. If lots of people do it and do it in the name of going green for our planet and bite the bullet then the prices will come down considerably and keep coming down. But unfortunately greed stops people from doing that. Stopping petrol cars has got to be the single biggest thing that we can collectively all do. How quick would the batteries run down if it was connected to 12 regular car batteries and or even 24. Maybe my first will have to just be a hack. |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Jaffasoft most battery packs I have looked at are expensive or to heavy for long distance, my friends car does 60 KLM on 15.5 KW approx 4 klm per KW, the Volkswagen is full of batteries so is only a two seater in reality, with a deck over the batteries in the back seat area over the batteries, that is the shopping storage area. On a charge by mains cost it is approx 5 cents per klm but that is not the answer as it is still using fossil fuel in reality. The lipo batteries are lighter and more efficient than Lead acid but cost a fortune. $12000, I believe this has come a bit better with the higher dollar but still a fortune considering a vehicle usage of approx 3 years and another 3 years on the solar house supply A lead acid pack would cost less 12 x 100 AH deep cycle batteries at $300 each $3,600 but would weigh twice as much so reduced payload and range. A good quality set of deep cycle batteries should do 4 years on traction and another 3 on house supply with a 50% discharge maximum. 6 KW or 24 Klm range without enhancement. Shopping trolley. I think your electric bike is the ideal town get around as long as it doesn't rain and not to many groceries. I would try one but the road at my place is narrow and populated with large B double gravel trucks traveling at terminal velocity 100 k just the thing to end up underneath. A car battery stores total 600 watts and 300 usable, so using 12 would give you a useful storage of 3,600 watts or in distance about 14 KLM. A van with a solar array on the roof would help a bit roof area 3 x 2 meters possible addition 900 watts per hour in the sun. A shopping trip with 4 hours parking in good sunlight could extend your range to nearly double, still a shopping trolley but a bit better. 24 batteries would double this and double the weight and double the cost. One day we may have to be satisfied with this sort of propulsion or walk. For the moment we do the best we can with what we got. Your van is costing 18 cents a KLM still less than half a battery powered vehicle. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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| Jaffasoft Senior Member Joined: 03/11/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 102 |
Thank you very much for the knowledgeable insight into my variables. Thank you very much! Well it's great food for thought. I picked up 19 car batteries the other day from the tip and plan on experimenting with reconditioning them i tested dozens and took home the ones over 12v. One pack of four 12v motor bike batteries we're very good at over 15 volt. Nine of them we're all the same nice little 12Volt plastic cased all red and running good and strong. s I've been running two 1.5 and 1 Wat $7 LED globes directly off of the batteries in the shed that i live in for a month now. The 19 batteries cost me $50 in total. I'm actually thinking of going off the grid with these 19 $50 batteries as i often get by without a fridge and don't use a freezer. Though i think i could run a freezer a hell of a lot more efficient upright using it as a fridge if i needed a fridge. Getting a bit off track but i have got a $600 Ute out there that's doing nothing and i talked to the bloke today i bought it off and he said he's got someone that wants to buy a motor out of one of them. I might just challenge myself to see if i can make one of theses things. It's a Trident and has a very handy little spot a foot wide and the span of the wide of the vehicle that would make for a great battery compartment. |
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| Jaffasoft Senior Member Joined: 03/11/2010 Location: AustraliaPosts: 102 |
I don't recommend getting on an E-bike and hurling along up the Highway or whatever road with those big B-Doubles whistling past. Not bad out here in Country town. It's actually quiet blissfully getting around on one since you don't pedal and you don't get puffed you tend to take in and enjoy the ride more. Quite beautiful. |
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| VK4AYQ Guru Joined: 02/12/2009 Location: AustraliaPosts: 2539 |
Hi Jaffasoft Thats the way to go do it on the cheap with salvaged bits but don't expect to much. The hardest thing is to get an electric motor at a reasonable price as most electric fork lifts are small and motors 10 hp or less, but keep looking one will turn up eventually, probably on the day you haven't got the money to pay for it. Murphies Law. I too live in the bush but unfortunately there are three quarries up the road from my place and a concrete batcher plant so heaps of trucks come and go all day. All the best Bob Foolin Around |
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