Electric Vehicle Manufacturers

Many people awaited the day when a company would come forth and produce nothing but electric cars. Alas, we have had Tesla step forth and become a manufacturer of high-end EVs. They sure have made a splash. As of late EV sales figures have begun to drop, as Tesla and other EV manufacturers runs out of the early adopters. BMW, GM, Nissan and Kia (well, almost) all make EVs alongside Tesla, but none of them make very impressive vehicles, in fact, most are only emissions compliance vehicles. What most of us don't see is that there are several start-ups that are secretly working behind the scenes to get their share of the EV market.

 One such company, Jet Technologies, is creating an aerodynamically different car than any that has ever been produced and is supposed to be all electric (I was enlisted to come up with a power train and battery system for it, but backed out due to the owner not offering me any money, instead I got a verbal promise of equity compensation...no thanks/fuck off). I digress.

The point is that there are people working from garages and perhaps some well funded folks in warehouses are building electric vehicles because they know that oil is a dying resource and electric vehicles are the future-however far that future keeps getting pushed back.

The problem is that most of these yet-to-emerge companies are coming out or planning on coming out too soon, maybe like Coda. I foresee EVs gaining huge market share in 5-10 years, which means that if you want to create an EV right now, you'd be best to spend the next 5 years on EV R&D, unlike Adam from Jet Tech, who spent 4 years designing the air flow around and through the car, only to end up scrambling to come up with EV tech moments before launching your company. You can't just jump into building EVs.

You've got to know at least one part of the EV well, like the batteries and then you can focus on how cool the car looks. If I were to start an EV company, I would first read and digest every book I could get my hands on that had anything to do with chemistry and batteries. I would also set up a test vehicle like a VW bug or Chevy S-10 and find a couple of the latest chemistries to scrutinize. Why focus first on a conversion? Well, automotive design hasn't changed all that much ever since the Super Beetle came out and you really need to have experience trying buying, installing, wiring, managing and loading batteries if you want to sell EVs. GM is well positioned to spend a fortune like they did creating the EV1; engineers were to tasked to pull out all the stops and create the best thing they could. Unless you've got unlimited funding like GM, you're better off ignoring the small and easy stuff until you're an electrochemical expert.

Say you're gonna go for it anyway. Do you know how many other people/companies are planning on making an EV? Few people could possibly know the true number unless they were monitoring people's internet traffic...catch that NSA? Yes, the NSA would be a great source for such info, but most of us won't get that sort of access, so you're left to speculate.

Angie's List Sucks-It's a scam!

I went to search Angie's List for contractors in my area and I entered Framing contractor into the search box, I should have been scared off since Angie's site reported that there were over 700 contractors in my city (Crestline, CA). I knew right off the bat that this number was inaccurate, since the tow on Crestline only has less than 10,000 people, 700 of them aren't contractors-even 70 is too high. Try like 3 or 4 and I'd be okay that figure. I thought that framers from surrounding areas were claiming Crestline as a town in their service area, which makes sense since some businesses do serve the area that aren't actually located there. So I thought it was the contractors who were lying. I signed up for a single month because it was $3.75 or so and I figured that it wasn't too much to risk. Then I entered the same terms in the search box after signing into my fresh one-month prepaid account and I got no results for "framing contractors" and after changing to "general contractors" I only got two results, neither of which had any useful reviews. Furthermore, the website is very hard to navigate as it's cluttered with all kins of useless text. Angie's List is a rip off. Granted, I bet that I would have found more contractors if I lived in a more populated area, though I only signed up because the initial results that showed so many contractors. Don't waste your $3.75. You'd be better off donating that money to the Boys and Girls Club or renting a lane at a bowling alley. I should asked Googled "Angie's List sucks" prior to spending a dime to see what popped up. Sure there are haters out there who defame good businesses, but there are plenty of quality anti-Angie's List reviews out there. Now, off to the a real source of info on local contractors.

Electric VW Trike with Soliton Jr. and 36 CALB 40Ah cells

I was concerned prior to starting my trike build that I didn't have enough metal-working experience to build a trike, but I realized that I was wrong and that it just took knowing where to go for the information that I needed.

I read and digested the material on chopperhandbook.com, which gave the the background for motorcycle frame building that I would need to build a really cool trike. People post all kinds of crap online about what steel to get and many will brag about using DOM over ERW, but the fact of the matter is that geometry is more important than anything else. This means that you can use relatively thin-wall, small diameter pipe if you get enough of it and arrange it in triangular configurations.

For my pipe, I used both ERW and DOM, having only spent $130 on DOM 1.5" .120" wall pipe and receiving some pre-bent ERW as a part of a trade. I was able to make use of the bends in the ERW, cutting off small sections with the bends and creatively using them to get the look that I was aiming for.

For my welding, I have a used, Harbor Freight mig welder (never buy one, instead get a used, better quality one, as the HF welder will fail you unless you are super-super careful not to overload it) and a higher quality, remanufactured MIG welder that I bought from Industrial Metal Supply in Southern California for less that the price of a new HF junk MIG. The difference in quality is tremendous, as the used welder will shut down automatically to prevent you from killing it, whereas the HF will let you weld away until you melt something. I have Youtube Vids showing my welders in action. I ended up taking the HF welder apart and turning it into a battery-powered welder, using some of my old Thunder-Sky 40Ah cells that are left over from my Honda Interceptor. The battery MIG welder works much better than any AC unit I've used, but it still uses the HF torch and wire feed.


For creating a fish mouth on the tubing, I downloaded and printed and pattern off of a _______ and used my angle grinder and some gumption to obtain the fish mouths I needed. Note that you will use so many cutoff wheels that it's better to get a drill press and a hole saw for fish-mouthing tubing.

I use only simple, affordable tools. I have no tool that cost much over $100.

The front of the trike is from my Honda Interceptor and the rear is from a 71' Super Beetle. Note that some Beetle transaxles have smaller flywheels, so if you're doing a mix and match like I did (tried putting a 74' flywheel into a 71 transaxle case), you will need to either have a machine shop take off the teeth from the larger flywheel (74') or trade.buy one from a used parts dealer. For me, the cost of machining $70 was greater than the cost of a used flywheel $50, so guess what I did.

Folks on the net keep saying that I should't use a transaxle, just go direct drive, but they don't know what the hell they're taking about. Some situations call for a direct drive and some require a transaxle. My situation will involve using my trike as a truck, so I will be towing trailers and I will be carrying very heavy loads uphills, so gearing will make a huge difference and enable higher top speeds that would direct drive. If I went direct drive, my top speed would be under 60 mph, 4 gears will get me near 100mph with just me on it, especially if I make the trike aerodynamic (I plan to). In the VW Beetle I converted previously, I got that thing up over 75mph with the same parts and this trike weighs much less, so you can tell that it will translate to higher top speed.

The Soliton Jr. is the best controller for this type of project. There is no available equivalent. I am underutilizing it, for now, but in the future I will add another motor and increase the voltage to near 300 volts. Dual motor trike with almost 200HP, here I come! The Soliton makes for a simple and clean install and you also have to factor in to its cost the included precharge and contractor, as well as its configurability...you won't get that from a Kelly (a Kelly controller gives enough configuration to make you think your pack is safe, but my Kelly almost caused me to kill my pack).

CALB are the best option for price, availability, power output and manufacturing quality (cell matching). I brought all cells down to about 95% DOD and not one of them went out of sync from their initial top balance. I only charged them to 3.5 volts, controlled by the JLD404 Intelligent Ah meter, which interfaced with the Elcon PFC1500's BMS input to turn the charger off.

Elcon PFC1500, along with their other chargers, can be programmed by the factory for the specific pack you're using and can accommodate your not using a typical BMS. Actually, the JLD404 Intelligent Ah is a crude BMS, it doesn't monitor the individual cells as some people will tell you that you should do. BMSs can kill battery packs, asI found out the hard way. Your pack will need some maintenance with this crude system, but it brings you closer to your EV, doesn't get your greasy and costs way less than the problematic BMSs that I've used. If you use a BMS, I would go with GBS and their EMS (same thing as BMS, just an energy management system instead of battery management system).

Advanced DC motors can be found new or used for a good price. I got my L91-4003 from KTA Services. I am affiliated with them (having set up affiliate marketing with Wistar), but am not biased toward them. Sometimes you can get a better deal elsewhere and I am all for you being able to afford your project. KTA only stocks high quality parts, just like Evolve Electrics and some other suppliers. Th L91-4003 is a small motor, but can take well over the rated 72 horsepower. It weighs 85 lbs and is manageable by one person, though with the motor adapter plate (Canadian EV has the best quality/value motor adapters) it was heavy,so I created a go kart-based method of installing the motor. I used the rear end of a go kart, and welded two square tubes to the frame, going up diagonally to create an "X" shape, in which the motor was cradled and forward of that "X" shape was a vertical tube welded to the frame with a "V" shaped angled steel piece to hold the other end. Now to remove or infall the motor, I just set the motor/adapter assembly on the cradle and move it into or out of place. I broke off part of its "X" piece for some reason, possibly to make it better, but I got side tracked and never finished that yet.

The seat is a Corbin aftermarket seat from a BMW K1100.

EV Parts Suppliers Losing Business

For at least a few decades the DIY crowd has been purchasing parts to build their own electric vehicles. The reason we build our own EVs are the demand for EVs and lack of supply from manufacturers. This is changing now as more electric cars are being manufactured and the vehicles produced are being met with great consumer acceptance.

The availability of EVs that are ready -to drive-after signing your life away to a loan - is leading to a reduction in sales for the mom and pop type shops that have sold to the hobbyists for much long time. Though it may not cause all of these businesses to fail, some surely will.

Some EV component suppliers have lost around 50% of their recent peak sales and are hanging on by a thread . How will their weakened state affect this industry? Well, as the I read on a forum post from a Chief engineer of Soliton motor controllers {I'm paraphrasing} -the way to make a small fortune (in this EV market) is to spend a large fortune developing a controller that will be copied and sold (at far lower prices) by China and we will lose significant portions of our business to them. Fortunately, this is not the case for motors and the reputation for Chinese-made motor controllers is not that great. Buy American made whenever possible and you'll get a much better product.

There has been a great emergence of new competition to the existing suppliers of electric vehicle parts, such as : Emotorwerks who is known for creating an amazing open source electric vehicle battery charger for a small portion of the price of their competitors. Since they are making a profit off of this, it makes me wonder why the other companies charge so much; Jack Rickard's EVTV site and store- he's known for product testing and his show that delivers a wide range of info on DIY EV conversions through articles and videos; there are others out there, but maybe they're not worth mentioning. The older ma & pa EV parts sellers aren't very competitive due to their lack of providing the other half of what people need in order to build an EV, which is know-how, as well as not creating/finding innovative products that either didn't exist before (open source charger/controller) or were hard to find elsewhere (JLD404 Ah meter).

Electric vehicles are definitely here to stay, but the shops of yesterday can no longer rely on their reputation from years past. Staying competitive means developing and finding new products that solve problems for customers and providing written and recorded media that demonstrate how to build and modify EVs and even talks about the general EV industry itself, which includes talking about manufactured EVs.

Past, Present and Future Rechargeable Battery Technology

     We are indebted to Alessandro Volta, for making the first electrochemical cell. His zinc and copper battery with a salt water electrolyte and paved the way for much of the portable power that we rely upon extensively throughout our lives. Not long after his inventing of the battery came the world's first electric vehicle.

     The lead acid battery has been around since 1859 and makes up a large portion of battery sales today. The weight of the battery is its biggest drawback, but they can produce a lot of power for their weight and cost. Lead acid batteries have been used in stationary power, as starter batteries for internal combustion engines and as traction batteries in electric vehicles.

     In the early 1900's Nickel-Iron batteries were used in vehicles and in stationary power systems. This type of cell produces low voltage, is quite heavy and is still used today in solar backup systems and in some other applications where weight and low charge/discharge rates are acceptable. One of the greatest aspects of this type of battery is its lifespan, which is up to 30-50 years.

    Nickel-Cadmium cells were first developed in the early 1900's. With higher energy-density than lead acid batteries, they were favored in certain applications and have found their way into hand-held electronics, power tools, electric vehicles, starting circuits and standby power.

Nickel-Metal Hydride cells came into being in the late 60's and interest in them began developing in the 70's. Being very similar to NiCad batteries, they made their way into use in portable applications, ranging from satellites to electric vehicles to portable music players. They still prove valuable in some of these applications.

Lithium Iron Phosphate cells have enabled an explosive growth in electric vehicles (and other applications) since their development in 1996, owing to their safety and higher energy-density compared to other chemistries. Problems with LiFePO4 cells include balancing, over charging and over discharging cells; there is a lack of proper products to help keep the batteries healthy. However, some LiFePO4 cells are very high quality and require virtually no management outside of the charger's programming (to stop charging at the right voltage) and low voltage cutoff circuits that often are built into the products using the cells.

Lithium Ion cells were first developed in the 70's and paved the way for many similar Lithium-based cells to come into existence. Li Ion cells are prone to thermal runaway, which, as can be seen on Youtube, can be fun or problematic. Despite the problems with thermal runaway, the cells have transformed radio controlled toy markets, electric vehicle markets and mobile communications.

Lithium-Sulfur batteries are a recent development (probably post-2007) and are not yet ready for consumers. They are a likely successor of Lithium Ion and Iron Phosphate cells due to their higher energy-density and lower cost. These cells depart in the way they are constructed in the type of electrolyte used, which is solid instead of the usual liquid. We may see these cells hitting the market in 3-5 years, which will enable yet another boom in electric vehicle production.


Refillable batteries are an awesome new development and great departure from typical electrochemical cell constructions. Instead of recharging batteries like we do now, researchers at MIT are developing a way to change out depleted electrodes and electrolyte in a liquid form. Though many electrolytes used in typical cells is liquid, the electrodes themselves are solid and not easily replaced, which is why we recharge them. This new cell type could lead to a major transformation of the way we use batteries. Gas stations could be retrofitted to hold tanks full of the charged slurry necessary to replace the slurry in a consumer's depleted battery slurry tank.

In short, batteries are getting lighter, easier and more capable to filling the needs of an increasingly more mobile world.


     

International Electric Motorcycle Club- EMC^2

     I decided to write this little piece to inform the world that I am officially launching an international motorcycle club, which aims to promote the adoption of alternative energies by enhancing the sense of community and support for EV riders. From this humble beginning, I'd like to see this organization grow exponentially, hence its name (a close spin off of Einstein's E=MC^2) EMCsquared or Electric Motorcycle Club Squared.

     The main goals are:
1. Recruit members- get in on this EV action
2. Organize all electric road trip to Sturgis, SD
3. Bring back a privatized version of California's old "cash for clunkers program", which lost funding and is desperately needed to help control air quality.


The ultimate goal is to ride and have fun in the most environmentally friendly ways possible.
There was some thought about referring to it as an electric motorcycle gang, but I'm not so sure we'll be causing that kind of racket.
Check out the website at:
http://www.emcsquares.com/  -the website is still underway... I get busy with other things .

Update11/16/13:
I have decided to build a trike instead of pulling a battery trailer, as I already have many of the parts and I wondered how I the smaller motor in my motorcycle would fare on such long periods- the damn thing can only do 8 horsepower continuously, which will be exceeded on steep hills and when wind kicks up. It also goes toward my goal of a "no excuses electric vehicle".

I have the transaxle and rear chassis of a 71 VW Beetle and will be mating them to the front of my Honda Interceptor.

Electric Vehicle Public Charging Problems

     I was really excited to get my electric conversion on the road and, like many others, I built a car with very limited range. It's not that I need more range but that I would like to be able to charge at public stations just in case I need to. Presently, I get between 11 and 20 miles per charge in my converted VW Beetle, which is enough for my regular errand-running routine. Sometimes, however, I get an itch to drive my EV to places that I just can't reach unless I have access to an outlet. This led me to go on a search for plugs in Riverside, CA outside of my typical radius. I went to several websites that list EV charging stations and noted the addresses; I also remember seeing EV charge station signage near freeway exits in certain downtown areas, so I f thought I might just find some signs by driving around (I had to drive my Chevy Sonic for this drive, as I knew I was not guaranteed a charge).

     On my journey, I visited 3 locations I noted from different websites (afdc.energy.gov , City of Riverside , among others), which would have been useful to me. The first station I went to visit only had an approximate location instead of an address and this turned out to be a wild goose chase, as I found nothing after circling the area several times. The second was also nowhere to be found, even thought there was a real address, there just wasn't a public charging station anywhere a driver could be expected to find. The third place I visited claimed to have level one and level two charging, so I thought I would find a charging "station", but the elusive station was never found. The only hint of charging ability was 2 electrical outlets near parking spaces with absolutely no signage indicating that the spaces were for EVs.

     I took pictures (my daughter ca along to help) of the outlets I found so that I could inquire with the parking structure owner or manager as to whether I would be cited for stealing electricity were I to plug in. Finding someone to answer those questions seems impossible, as I just got shuffled from person to person, nobody even knowing that vehicles could be powered fro electricity. I really do think they (parking patrol, security, parking structure manager) would cite me for plugging in, so until I see a sign saying that it's reserved for EVs, I won't even try.

     My real world experience shows that public charging, even in a big city like Riverside (which makes many claims about being an "innovative city" and falls short here), is not reliable. I have found places to charge, however, at my local community college (Riverside Community College) and I did get permission from facilities maintenance to plug in my electric motorcycle while I was attending classes there. Another time, I ran out of battery power conveniently near Riverside Carburetor and Electric, whose owner let me charge for a bit (but was hesitant, worrying slightly I would run up his bill) and whose mechanics were having some fun checking out my electric car-they'd never seen one before. I only charged for 30 minutes, which got me a bit further down the road, but was not how I planned on spending my day.

note  *plugging in a level 1 charger for a couple hours won't cause any noticeable increase in electricity usage, we're talking pennies*

     Before you buy an EV or convert your vehicle, make sure you get something with enough range or make sure that your city as the charging structure it claims or you'll be in between a rock and a hard place. Make sure you know the difference between EV charging levels 1,2 and 3 and which you need. Though I found level one charging, at the expense of begging, level two was nowhere to be found in my area. The case could be incorrect information, and the elusive chargers may be out there somewhere. The people listing these chargers obviously don't need them (or have no way of verifying chargers), so they probably don't understand how important it is to those who do drive EVs. Even if the chargers do exist, there are at least 50 electric vehicles per charger, so good luck getting there before the Chevy Volts and Nissan Leaves (Leafs, I know).


tags: EV charging stations in Riverside CA, EV charging levels, electric vehicle charging station