Back to Back Issues Page
Charge On!, Issue #013: Electric Car Motors and LiFePO4 Batteries
November 10, 2011
Hi,!

Welcome to Freezing Fall!

Is it getting cold where you live?

Hopefully all the preparations to winterize your electric cars have been made already, because I think it's going to be a cold one this year.

In that article, I talked with Richard Lane from REV Consulting in Ontario about the fine art of keeping your EV running with its usual pep in the cold. Whether you've got a conversion, an NEV (neighborhood electric vehicle), or an OEM (like a new Nissan Leaf) - you might find some of his recommendations helpful.

For all my EV conversion friends

I've been talking to some interesting people lately.

Brian Seymour from HPEVS makes this awesome AC-50 electric motor for conversions. It pairs with a controller from Curtis, the 1238, which Brian programs for you...and the result is an AC conversion that runs nicely on 120 volts and costs a lot less than we're used to seeing an AC drive system cost.

You can read my interview with Brian here.

I talked to Jack Rickard about his cute little Porsche replica conversions, using that same AC-50 motor and LiFePO4 batteries.

Oh, and I also talked to Mike Collier from Lithium Storage about LiFePO4 (and other lithium ion) electric car batteries.

And for the non-converters...

The car-and-driver crowd has been whining about "range anxiety" associated with driving the new Nissan Leaf so much that I thought I'd investigate. Geez.

Then I talked to my Uncle Chuck about his new Nissan Leaf. No, not Chuck Norris. (He's Chuck Swackhammer, co-chair down in Reno's Electric Auto Association of Northern Nevada.) He's got a long commute that ends up a mountain, so I thought, what a perfect test for range anxiety! Right? And no, he doesn't get range anxiety. How about that.

He's got new solar panels on his roof that he charges the Leaf with, too. Cool!

There are new articles at Electric Cars are for Girls about the Ford Focus Electric and the Ford Transit Connect Electric as well.

Ooh, and I just chatted with Rick Woodbury, President of Commuter Cars in Spokane, about the Tango Electric Car.

For those who trick their golf carts...

I always love to hear from people who are figuring out how to drive electric using what they have and making it work. Randy Wade from Speedylink talks about how to get more speed out of your electric golf cart motor with a simple, inexpensive little device.

Neat alternative to reprogramming the controller or putting in a new drive system.

Conversion shops

Here's a recent interview with Dave Altschuler at Duke's Garage in CO. They've been doing the AC-50/LiFePO4/Porsche replica packages for people, starting at 55k.

Socialize me, please

If you read an article on Electric Cars are for Girls and you find it helpful or you think others should read it - I could really use your help.

Google has been promoting the scammers and the spammers to the top of the electric car search results lately...

...because I haven't been social enough. Sorry about that. Like a lot of us, I'd rather be DOING something useful than TALKING about it.

So if you'd rather the EV newbies read Electric Cars are for Girls rather than "pay 40 dollars for this manual to show you how to run your car on water" wishful thinking garbage? You can DO something about it.

All you have to do is take me to the party.

  • "Like" me on Facebook. All my pages have buttons.
  • Visit Electric Cars are for Girls Facebook page and say hi.
  • Tweet your favorite page.
  • Follow me on Twitter - @electriccargirl.
  • Link to a page you enjoy from your website.

Whatever! Rescue me from my social awkwardness! Thank you; )

And you'll be doing the incoming EV freshman class a great service, too - at least I like to think so!

And finally...

EV University is officially closed. I'm very sad about it, and sorry that we couldn't make it happen, but liability and other issues got the best of us and we had to let it go.

RIP, EVU.
Best regards,
Lynne Mason Electric Cars are for Girls

Back to Back Issues Page