1 Year of electric operation

Well, its been one year since I first converted my midget to electric. I put 4,000 miles on it this year. I use it as a daily commuter. I've had no problems with it, except the typical "my clutch doesn't quite disengage" (Low clutch fluid), and "my brakes feel a little soft" low brake fluid. I know a few people before thought this wasn't a good idea but this car drives just like a normal midget except for the cool engine sound. I have over a 100 mile range on a single charge, and found myself charging it every 3 days or so when I got past 50 miles. I did convert to tube shocks all around, and I think they are too stiff. Hopefully as they get older they will mellow out. Since I do have to think about range, I've found out just how far 100 miles in one day of driving is. For me it's more than I ever drive in a midget. I used to drive more when I was younger and it was my only car, but now I stay away from long highway dives, and use my other car. I did sell my '74 Midget, which I owned since 1977. It was a mixed feeling of "my baby", and "now I don't have to worry about that real main leak anymore". The person who bought it was perfect, and I'm sure he'll enjoy it. If you'd like to take a look at what goes into converting a midget to electric check out my site. It hasn't changed much since last spring so if you've been there before then don't expect much more. Now that it is getting colder I'll probably find the time to add more information. I practically drove all summer with the top down. It was very dry in Colorado this year.

That's awesome! 100 miles isn't bad. Lemme know if you ever want to sell it.

Very cool!! I wish I had the ability to do something like that.

Kurt.

Congratulations, and get to work on that web site!!!! Inquiring minds want to hear about and see how the battery pack is configured, what motor you're using, and general details about the car.....

Looks like electric is getting ready to take a big leap. Enjoyed the links

mightymidget said:

Looks like electric is getting ready to take a big leap. Enjoyed the links

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I wish that was true, but unfortunately the acceptance has been slow. I understand why. The cost is still too high, and the technology too new. Either the cost will have to come down, or we'll have to be patient until more people try this out. As more people have good experiences, the word will get out, and more people will be willing to risk an electric car.

It's my understanding that unless you use solar cells or wind to charge them they are of no benefit to the enviroment. They are being pushed but fueling the power plant that charges them with coal or nuclear does not seem to make sense.

Kurt.

@Kurt:
I understand the comment about coal, but I think nuclear is different. The only issue with nuclear is the issue of safety, and barring a few high profile problems, like in Japan, it is overall quite safe. Even in France the majority of electricity comes from Nuclear plants.
It is clean with no pollution and is limitless/renewable energy that does not require foreign sources.
To me nuclear power plants with emphasis on safety and electric cars to drive is the combination that is available to us now that will eliminate dependence on oil.
Just my 2 cents.

@Frank:
very cool, I'm going to check out your site!

Fred

The way electricity works is it's generated whether you use it or not. There is not a monitor at the power plant where someone says... "Whups... Frank plugged in his MG, pour on more coal." The amount of energy Frank's charger draws in a given time period is likely considerably less than say a dryer or air conditioner.

Furthermore, as Frank lives in Colorado, it is likely that a considerable portion of his night time energy is being generated by wind. So if he charges at night, he has a wind powered car!

Now, if everyone on in Frank's neighborhood were to build an electric car, electric cars could become environmentally destructive. If enough people plugged in their electric cars at once, it could knock the grid into the "next level." Once a grid reaches a certain level of power draw, they start firing up more generators. Then a great deal of overhead is generated and that is wasteful and deleterious to the environment.

The thing about power generation and electric cars is that they are a work in progress. If the Model T where the pinnacle of auto design, we would all be riding trains and horses right now. But you gotta start somewhere.

Well I don't want to get into a big debate but IMHO nuclear should be avoided if possible. France is running on nuclear power and there neighbor Germany is scared to death of it and in the process of shutting down all their nuclear power plants. France stores its nuclear waste in big concrete chambers above ground so that the people can see it piling up. The only nuclear waste we are doing anything about is at the Hanover site on the Columbia because we had to since it was leaking into the river. The cost of the cleanup is immense. Above projection's. Before there was ever an nuclear power plant built this country's government, in the 50's, agreed to accept all nuclear waste. If the taxpayer could'nt be stuck for the bill on the waste I don't believe a nuclear power plant would have ever been built. Remember this stuff remains a deadly poison for 10 of thousands of years. Much of the waste is being stored on the site of the reactors and your tax dollars are paying the utility company for storing it so, yes, the utility's think nuclear is a gold mine.
The energy policy we had in the 70's under Carter is what this country needs without the restriction's that have been put in place since.

Time for me to shut up and get back on topic.
Frank your car is coool!!

To me the brilliant thing about an electric car isn't what fuels the power plant down the road -- it's the simple mechanics, cheap charging, silent cruising, no idling, low-down torque, and quiet running. The same thing that made the Detroit Electric popular a hundred years ago.

If you don't drive fast or far (and most Spridgeteers don't) it seems like the perfect donor car for an electric conversion, actually. If you only look at how "green" it is, or what powers the juice that runs down the wires to the batteries, you are entirely missing the point. IMHO.

And....What is the point?

An enjoyable driving experience, of course!
Some people like the mechanical howl and rasping bark of an IC engine at speed...I like the serenity of silently wafting through a mountain road, just the sound of the wind, the birds and the trees, and the whine of the gearbox.

That's one of the reasons that closed electric cars make no sense to me. An electric Midget is darn close to Nirvana.

bthompson said:

An enjoyable driving experience, of course!
Some people like the mechanical howl and rasping bark of an IC engine at speed...I like the serenity of silently wafting through a mountain road, just the sound of the wind, the birds and the trees, and the whine of the gearbox.

That's one of the reasons that closed electric cars make no sense to me. An electric Midget is darn close to Nirvana.

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Humph..well put.

Sorry, but I have to correct a number of things, and then I'll get back on topic.

1. The amount of fuel burned by power plants is indeed controlled to match the electrical demand. Electricity is not wasted if not used. If there is no demand, it's just not generated.

2. Nuclear waste is stored on-site at power plants, not shipped to any single location. The huge majority of the waste at Hanford (>99%) came from weapons production, not power production.

3. You can't discuss advantages and disadvantages of any technology without considering the alternatives. 50% of electricity in the US is generated by coal, and coal creates huge amounts of highly toxic waste. (For the same amount of electricity, coal generation creates 13,000 pounds and nuclear one pound of waste.) Storage and disposal of that waste is not regulated, even though it contains huge amounts of toxic substances. Coal also produces twice the CO2 emissions per BTU as natural gas and, ironically, releases radioactive radon.

4. I was also initially skeptical about the amount of fossil fuel needed to power an electric car, and wondered if it was any better than just burning gasoline. I've been convinced by people who know about this that the overall efficiency of electric cars is much better than that of gasoline fueled cars. Part of the benefit is that electric motors are much more efficient than gasoline ones and that the production of power-plant fuels is less energy intensive than that of gasoline. Coal and natural gas don't need to e refined.

I like to see people experimenting with electric cars. I've thought of it myself, but the way electricity is priced here in LA prevents it. We have a strongly graduated cost scale, which encourages conservation, but means that I'd be charging the car with our most expensive electricity. Conversely, if I put up solar panels and sold my excess to the power company, there would be a decreasing savings, the more I generated. To encourage things like electric car use, this kind of problem will have to be addressed.

My car is powered by Honey boo boo.

:lol:

DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM!!!!!!
BillM

Well, you can render lard into biodiesel. :wink:

JodyFKerr said:

Well, you can render lard into biodiesel. :wink:

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What about stupidity? :laugh: