December 2008

The Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association (LVEVA) will meet on the third Saturday of each month during 2008 and 2009. Meetings will be held at the Clark County Library on 1401 E. Flamingo Road from 10:15 AM to 12:15 PM. Members will be displaying their own electric cars and answering questions before and after the meeting.

Calendar

December 6   Boulder City Christmas Parade

December 20  Monthly Meeting

2009

January 17 Monthly Meeting

February 21 Monthly Meeting

March 21 Monthly Meeting

LVEVA Board of Directors:

Richard Furniss, President
Lloyd Reece, Vice President
Bill Kuehl, Secretary/Treasurer
Al Sawyer, Jan Himber , Al D’Inzillo, Stan Hanel

Newsletter Editors and Contributors:

Richard Furniss, Lloyd Reece, Bill Kuehl, Al Sawyer, P.E.,
Jan Himber, Brent Singleton, Kent Singleton, Stan Hanel

WATTS HAPPENING
is published monthly by the
Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association,
a chapter of the Electric Auto Association

Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association web site
http://www.lveva.org
Electric Auto Association web site
http://www.eaaev.org

Electric Auto Association
Membership Renewals
323 Los Altos Drive
Aptos, CA 95003-5248

Current EVents contact:  

At http://www.eaaev.org/eaaboard.html

Ron Freund
Chairman, CE Publication

 
Address Correspondence to:
LVEVA
2816 W. El Campo Grande Avenu
No. Las Vegas, NV 89031

Call for Information:
Richard Furniss (702) 453-6196

Jan Himber for Al Sawyer (702) 642-4000
Bill Kuehl (702) 636-0304Stan Hanel (702) 405-0506                   

Contents:

   -- LVEVA Participates in Santa’s Electric Night Parade in Boulder City

   -- “Spirit of DC” Plug-In Toyota Prius Hybrid visits Las Vegas on November 24th

   -- Bill Kuehl’s “Saga of An EV Wannabe” (Part 6)

   -- Tesla Motors Production Vehicles Rolling Off Assembly Line

   -- Project Better Place Hopes to Make Silicon Valley an Electric Car Capital

   -- Bonneville Salt Flats 2008 Alternative Fuel Vehicle Racing Highlights

   -- EV Battery Recharging, Maintenance and Management Systems

   -- LVEVA Board of Directors Elections on December 20th

   -- LVEVA DVD Reference Library

   -- EV Repairs and Service

   -- EV Conversion and Fabrication Support

   -- EVs and EV Parts for Sale

LVEVA Participates in Santa’s Electric Night Parade in Boulder City

Boulder City staged its annual Santa’s Electric Night Parade on Saturday evening, December 6th, from 4:30 PM to 6 PM. According to Boulder City’s Events web page, “Santa will arrive in Boulder City with a spectacular parade! All entries are lit and include lots of enthusiastic participants. This hometown event is a great way to start your holiday festivities.” For more information, visit the Boulder City web site at: http://www.bcnv.org

The parade was filmed live and broadcast on Cox Cable Channel 96 (COX96). Local celebrity Steve Schorr was a parade commentator during the 2-hour broadcast alongside the mayor pro-tem of Boulder City, Mike Paccini. Good coverage of the LVEVA exhibit was given by the commentators, including the mention of the group’s monthly meetings at the Flamingo public library on the third Saturday of each month and the web site at: http://www.lveva.org

Rebroadcasts of Santa’s Electric Night Parade 2008 on COX96 are scheduled to be replayed over another ten days during the month of December, including Christmas Eve and twice on Christmas day.

The LVEVA exhibit occupied position #36 in a parade that included over 60 exhibits. LVEVA members participating included Bill Kuehl and Amanda Calliban driving a 2004 Toyota Prius hybrid gasoline/electric car, John Bullis driving an electric yellow dune buggy, Lloyd Reece and Bob McNamara driving Lloyd’s 1981 Lectra Centauri electric car, Al Sawyer driving a 2005 Toyota Prius hybrid gasoline/electric car, Pat Aschenbach’s family with Pat driving his 1995 GMC Electric Pickup truck conversion, and Dan Trujillo driving his 1981 Lectra Motors Centauri electric car. For the last ten years, LVEVA members have enjoyed decorating their cars with Christmas lights and props during this annual EVent as well as spreading the message about alternative electric transportation options. It was fun to join in the festivities and brighten a special December night!

“Spirit of DC” Plug-In Toyota Prius Hybrid visits Las Vegas on November 24th

"EV Jerry" Asher brought the "Spirit of DC" Plug-In Toyota Prius to visit the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association (LVEVA) on Monday, November 24th as part of his campaign to promote Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles All Around America (PHEV3A) at: http://www.phev3a.com

Jerry is also the inter-chapter relations coordinator for the Electric Auto Association, the national parent organization for the local chapter of the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association (LVEVA) at: http://www.eaaev.org

Local LVEVA members who greeted Jerry's arrival included Vice-President Lloyd Reece; Secretary/Treasurer Bill Kuehl and his wife, Amanda; Board of Directors member Stan Hanel and his wife, Marianne; Michelle Robinson; Jon Hallquist; and Bill Yule.

The Electric Auto Association has joined with the California Cars (CALCars) initiative and Plug-in Partners non-profit organization to promote the adoption of Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles at: http://www.eaa-phev.org

The original conversion of this stock Toyota Prius Hybrid EV to a Plug-In Hybrid EV (PHEV) was performed through the cooperation of the Washington, DC chapter of the EAA (EVADC) in April 2008. Christened as the “Spirit of DC”, it was then commissioned as an educational vehicle to be shown to as many participating EAA chapters as possible throughout the U.S. over the next eight months: http://www.spiritofdc.org

This cross-country journey began at the National Mall in Washington, D.C. with a plan to visit 40 EAA chapters before Jerry would arrive home in Bisbee, Arizona in time for the Thanksgiving holiday. The LVEVA was the 39th EAA chapter that he visited along the way.

Upon his arrival, Jerry gave a comprehensive overview of the conversion technology used in the Spirit of DC, including the lead-acid battery pack module installation from Plug-In Supply in Santa Rosa, California at: http://www.pluginsupply.com

A hydraulic lift assembly for the 300 lb. bank of batteries allowed the whole module to be lifted up so that the spare "donut" tire could be accessed. 

The extra lead-acid battery pack can be recharged externally at night from the Prius owner’s household 110 VAC source in a home garage. An extension cable just needs to be connected to an external port located on the rear bumper of the Plug-In Hybrid Electric Prius. By not employing the gasoline engine to recharge the lead-acid pack, the “electric-only” range of the Nickel-Metal Hydride battery pack is extended from one mile to about 10 miles. This enables the PHEV owner to conserve gasoline, potentially reaching ranges exceeding 100 miles per gallon after a gasoline tank fill-up during in-town driving by exchanging electricity for gasoline. Adding more advanced batteries, such as Nickel-Metal Hydride or Lithium Iron Phosphate battery packs instead of the lead-acid pack would increase the “electric-only” range from one mile to 20 or 30 miles, and consume even less gasoline during in-town driving.

Jerry also demonstrated additional open source CAN-View software menus on the Prius touch screen display panel that added enhanced instrumentation to the vehicle. The Computer Area Network (CAN) standard communication protocol is widely used in the automotive electronics industry. The CAN bus board is located on the rear of the battery pack module and communicates information about the extra battery pack module through a computer under the seat of the car to the front dashboard LCD display/touch screen.

The open source CAN-View software was written by members of the the Silicon Valley EAA chapter of the Electric Auto Association. More information, including how to access downloadable versions of the CAN-View software, is available from these EAA web pages at: 

http://www.eaa-phev.org/wiki/Main_Page

http://www.eaa-phev.org/wiki/CAN-View

The Official CAN-View Website is http://www.hybridinterfaces.ca

After answering questions and handing out informational brochures, Jerry joined with LVEVA members to christen the Spirit of DC with the LVEVA logo. It was transferred to the body of the Toyota Prius, next to the logos of some of the 38 other EAA chapter locations that Jerry had visited during his amazing journey.

After the christening, the group convened to the nearby Texas Station casino for a tasty buffet and lively conversation about the emerging new world of electric vehicles. Jerry spent the night at the guest house of LiFeBATT USA before leaving the next day for his home state of Arizona. LiFeBATT USA distributes Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) battery modules that are manufactured in Taiwan using some of the same resources that provide LiFePO4 cells to Plug-In Supply. Jerry was hosted by LVEVA member Michelle Robinson, who is also the Chief Operating Officer for the LiFeBATT USA distributor at: http://www.lifebatt.com

The LVEVA members who attended the EVent were grateful to Jerry for all his good work in spreading the word about alternative transportation possibilities. We all wish him a happy holiday season and a well-deserved rest! 

The Saga of an EV Wannabe (Part 6)

By Bill Kuehl, LVEVA Secretary/Treasurer

Editor’s Note (Synopsis): This month continues the sixth of a nine-part series of practical EV conversion and driving tips written by LVEVA Secretary/Treasurer Bill Kuehl, who is also a co-founder and former president of the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association. The series recounts some of his thirty years of experiences as part of a small group of pioneers who believed they could convert gasoline vehicles into roadworthy electric battery-powered vehicles. This series of articles was originally published in the LVEVA “Watts Happening” monthly newsletters during 2003. With the recent rise of gasoline prices during the last few months, Bill’s story of his lifelong commitment to enabling EV conversions continues to hold many insights and helpful hints for the “do-it-yourself” EV builder. Bill Kuehl has converted over 200 gasoline vehicles to electric vehicles during the last forty years. He also holds records for ¼-mile electric vehicle drag racing and electric vehicle endurance racing.

During the first three installments of this series, Bill talked about the OPEC oil crisis that restricted the foreign supply of oil and petroleum during October 1973 as being the motivation for his interest in building electric vehicles. The cost of gasoline jumped from 33 cents per gallon to over $1.50 per gallon during a period of just a few months. Bill’s first attempts to make a full-size electric car for commuting to his work site that would cover a round trip of 16 miles resulted in a successful conversion of a 1974 Ford Pinto on a shoestring budget. This successful commuting solution worked for 3 ½ years until Bill’s work site was relocated, forcing him to redesign a vehicle that would have a round trip range of 32 miles. The second part of the series profiled a 1973 Honda Civic conversion that allowed him a range of over 60 miles on a single battery charge as well as allowing him to set an endurance record at a road rally sponsored by the Electric Auto Association that achieved 100.8 miles on a single charge of his lead-acid battery pack. 

During the third through fifth part of the series, Bill talked about his acquisition of an Electric Pickup Truck, an electric Datsun 310 conversion, as well as spare motors and controllers that were built by Lectra Motors in Las Vegas. He continued to participate in annual EAA rallies in Sunnyvale, California where he met like-minded EV enthusiasts from California and Arizona who bought many of the parts and the Datsun 310. Bill also detailed his successful EV conversion of a 1985 Pontiac Fiero, his electric auto cross racing experiences with the Sports Car Club of America that included fellow LVEVA members Jan Himber and Al Sawyer at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, and a Clean Air Road Rally held in Los Angeles.

Bill Kuehl’s saga of EV conversion, experimentation and discovery continues…

In May of 1994, I started on an EV conversion project for Bill Yule. During late 1993, he had bought a new 1994 Hyundai Excel from Ben Stepman Hyundai in Henderson, Nevada. He had taken it to a local Vocational Technology (Votech) Trade School for the students to perform a “gas-to-electric” conversion on it. They had done some work on it but by the end of the school year in May, they had not yet finished it. Bill Yule got in contact with me and we went to the school to pick up the car. He had already purchased all the parts to do the conversion along with the batteries. The students had put in the electric motor, the adaptor plate, the clutch and the bottom motor support.

When we got out to the school to pick up the car, we found the garage door had jumped its track, was jammed and would not raise up. Bill picked up his parts that included 18 six-volt Trojan T-145 batteries. He left the car there because the building maintenance crew had to be contacted to fix the door before the car could be pulled out. A couple days later they got the car out. I picked up the car and towed it to my place.

The next weekend, I checked out all that was done on the car by the students at the Votech school. Bill Yule wanted 18 six-volt golf cart batteries in the car for a 108-volt drive system. The plan was to put six batteries in front under the hood, and 12 in the back end of the car. I first started designing where the six batteries in front were to be placed.

The first problem I ran into was that the Advanced DC 8-inch electric motor was installed with two of the motor terminals sticking up to the top. In order for the batteries to be mounted over the motor and not have the terminals stick into the bottom of the batteries, the motor had to be removed and turned on the adapter plate so that the motor terminals were positioned on the side and bottom of the motor. Upon removing the electric motor from the transaxle housing, a second problem was found. The throw-out bearing retainer was not put on the throw-out bearing. The throw-out bearing was just put on the input shaft housing and there was no clearance between the throw-out bearing and the clutch pressure plate. The throw-out bearing would turn constantly whenever the motor would run, causing premature failure of the throw-out bearing in a short period of time. I installed a bearing retainer correctly on the throw-out fork and on the throw-out bearing.

I disassembled the clutch pressure plate, disc plate and flywheel from the motor. I removed the retaining bolts from the adapter plate and turned the motor to position the terminals on the side and bottom. I then replaced the retaining bolts through the adapter plate into the motor and torqued them down. I replaced the bolts on the flywheel to hold them onto the hub of the motor and torqued those bolts down. I also replaced the disc plate and pressure plate on the flywheel. I installed the bolts finger tight, centered the disc plate and torqued the bolts around the pressure plate. The motor assembly was then reinstalled onto the transaxle housing. Rubber mounts also had to be installed between the motor clamp and frame. Battery racks were built to fit three batteries across the front where the radiator was. Three other battery racks were built over the motor.

Now came another problem in the back end of the car where the Votech students had cut out the trunk floor and welded in a support framework in order to have a solid floor to support 11 batteries. The twelfth battery would have to be set on the trunk floor behind the rear wheel well. This was not an acceptable setup.

I cut out all of the support framework that was located in the back of the car. I then designed a battery rack that would hold all 12 batteries in place under the floorboard. The upright connections were made and welded onto the bottom rack. I then raised up the rack into the trunk area and welded it into place. The bottom of the battery rack was 12 inches below the floor, which would allow a covering to be made to lay over the top of the batteries and allow use of the trunk space for storage.

Battery placement is important to connect the battery terminals with cables and not have cables going over the tops of the filler caps, keeping the lengths of the interconnecting cable from the positive terminal on one battery to the negative terminal on the next battery as short as practical. Six-volt golf cart batteries have posts at opposite corners which allow placement of the batteries in a pack to be arranged so that the cables that go from the positive terminal post on the first battery go to the negative post on the second battery without crossing over the tops of the tops of the batteries.

Before the batteries are placed in the car, the Albright model SW-200B main contactor was installed in the rear of the vehicle, under the floor and in front of the rear battery pack. A General Electric model TDQ-200 circuit breaker was installed in the front on the firewall that had two sets of contacts. A Deltec model MKB-500-50 shunt was installed near the circuit breaker. A Westberg model 2C6-39X panel amp-meter (0-500 amps scale) was installed on the dashboard. A Westberg model 2C5-228X panel voltmeter (50-150 volts scale) was also installed in the dashboard. A Curtis model 1221B motor speed controller was installed on the front left inside fender. A Russco heater unit was installed in the front of the vehicle under the battery rack and next to the firewall. Heater hoses were connected to the car’s heater core, along with an interconnecting hose to the water reservoir. Wires for the 12-volt pump were hooked up to the car’s heater switch through a P&B model DPDT-12 relay. This 12-volt relay was configured with a “Double Pole Double Throw” set of contacts so that the wires for the 108-volt heater element could also be brought to the second set of contacts. Both sets of relay contacts were enabled by the heater dashboard switch that, when closed, would allow the coil on the front end of the DPDT relay to be energized from a Sevcon model 622-11014 DC-to-DC converter. The DC-to-DC converter could step down the 108-volt DC battery pack source to output a regulated 12-volt DC source that could interface with many of the standard electrical systems on the existing car, including the 12-volt relay.

The next phase of the EV conversion project was to build the interconnect cables for the 108-volt propulsion battery pack using 2/0 welding cable and connector lugs. In the front of the vehicle, six batteries were to be interconnected to the Curtis motor speed controller. Three of the batteries had been mounted across the top of the motor and three more batteries were mounted ahead of them, just behind the radiator. Starting with the first battery located at the end of the three mounted over the electric motor and nearest the motor speed controller, I connected that battery’s negative terminal to a Littlefuse model L252-500-KTA safety fuse rated at 500 amps. The other side of the fuse was then connected to one side of a pair of contacts on the General Electric circuit breaker. Then a cable was connected from the other side of that set of contacts on the circuit breaker to the Deltec shunt. A cable was then attached from the second terminal of the shunt to the “B-“ terminal on the Curtis motor speed controller.

Battery interconnection cables were installed on the first three batteries located over the motor, from the number 1 battery positive post to the 2nd battery negative post, and then from the 2nd battery positive post to the 3rd battery negative post. A cable was installed from the 3rd battery positive post to the fourth battery negative post that began the string of three batteries just behind the radiator. Additional interconnect cables were installed from the fourth battery positive post to the fifth battery negative post and from the fifth battery positive post to the sixth battery negative post.

The twelve batteries in the rear of the car were then interconnected with the front batteries. A long length of cable was built to run from the sixth battery positive post, under the car, to the back of the car where it was connected to the seventh battery negative post. The remaining batteries in the back of the car were interconnected in a “daisychain” pattern from the positive posts to the negative posts until the last 12th battery negative post. The 12th battery positive post was then connected to the Albright model SW-200B main contactor. Another long length of cable was installed to connect from the second terminal on the main contactor, under the car, to one side of a second set of contacts on the circuit breaker. The other side of this set of contacts on the circuit breaker was connected to the “B+” terminal on the Curtis motor speed controller. Another cable was connected from the “B+” terminal on the Curtis motor speed controller to the “A1” armature terminal on the Advanced DC electric motor. A cable was installed from the “A2” armature terminal on the motor to the “S1” stator terminal on the motor. A cable was also installed from the “S2” stator terminal of the motor to the “M-“ terminal on the Curtis motor speed controller. 

This completed all the 2/0 cable connections for the 108-volt propulsion system. The system was intentionally isolated from the chassis and body of the Hyundai so as not to induce power-draining ground loops or cause potential electrical shocks to anyone who might lean on the body of the vehicle while accidentally touching a battery post or active electrical terminal in the system. Keeping the electric power drive system isolated from the chassis and body of the vehicle is one of the most important safety and design considerations when implementing an EV conversion project.

Bill Yule had also requested that an air conditioning system be built into his Hyundai conversion to cope with the hot Las Vegas Valley summers that often exceed 110 degrees Farenheit. Using the existing air conditioning system of the car, a one-horsepower permanent magnet electric motor was added to the system to drive the air conditioning compressor. The air conditioning compressor and permanent magnet motor were mounted on the front, right-side inner fender. The fluid hoses had to be rebuilt and routed around the batteries to the condenser and to the evaporator connections on the car. Then the system had to be evacuated and filled with R-134A Freon.

A second P&G model DPDT-12 relay was installed and wires connected to a 12-volt “air conditioning” switch on the front dashboard panel that could activate the relay coil from the 12-volt DC-to-DC converter. The permanent magnet motor for the air compressor pump was powered by the 108-volt propulsion battery pack where one of the pump wires was connected through the relay contacts that could be turned on from the front panel switch to cool the vehicle interior, even when the Hyundai Excel was not moving.

To retain the existing vacuum-advanced braking system of the Hyundai Excel, a Gast model MOA-V111-JH vacuum pump and a Square-D model 9016/GVG-IT differential vacuum switch were installed in the front of the vehicle under the hood to supply vacuum to the power brakes. This created a closed loop system where the differential vacuum switch would sense that the vacuum was diminishing, then enable the vacuum pump to automatically switch on and keep the vacuum stabilized at all times before the user pushed on the brake pedal to slow down the car. This pump system was also energized and powered through the 108-volt battery pack.

A K&W BC-20 was used for the 108-volt battery pack charger. Heavy-duty rated coil springs were made to fit on the rear end of the Hyundai Excel to support the extra weight of the batteries. Now the car was ready to run!

Editor’s note: End of Part Six. “The Saga of an EV Wannabe (Part Seven)” will continue in the January 2009 issue of the LVEVA “Watts Happening” newsletter, and will chronicle more of Bill Kuehl’s pioneering EV conversion projects and racing adventures. Happy Motoring!

Tesla Motors Production Vehicles Rolling Off Assembly Line

Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk has endured a long and rocky road in the development of the first production battery-powered electric sports car for the 21st century. Taking the first prototypes of the Tesla Roadster into full production mode has meant several costly re-designs and manufacturing infrastructure realignments. After investing 10’s of million dollars of his own money into this effort, the Tesla Motors Board of Directors recently raised another $40 million of investment capital to help with its expansion.

In 2008, the company had produced and delivered 55 Tesla Roadsters to its customers from January through the end of October, but still had existing customer deposits for a backlog of 1,200 vehicles that will be priced at $109,000 each. The $40 million cash infusion is more than the company needs to increase production at this time but, coupled with its existing $9 million in cash reserves, gives Tesla the extra cushion of cash flow it needs to weather the difficult financial environment expected during 2009. The company hopes to trim shipping costs after the 100th vehicle is shipped to complete its first run of production. All vehicles have come to California by air shipment as soon as they come off the Lotus production line in the UK. After number 100, the company expects to begin transporting its vehicles by ship to take advantage of lower rates and making money on each car it sells. Projected delivery schedules show the company processing twelve cars a week to customers starting in November 2008 ramping up to 30 cars a week by Spring 2009.

The company’s showroom at 300 El Camino Real in Menlo Park, California is now revealing exciting signs of activity, as seen in the accompanying pictures taken by LVEVA member Stan Hanel in mid-November 2008. Over 17 Tesla Roadsters were being prepped by salesmen and technicians at the showroom for delivery to local Bay Area customers.

Tesla Motors has already begun planning the design and production of its next product offering, the Model S electric sports car, proposed at a price tag of $60,000 with a projected release date sometime in 2011. Estimated research and development costs for this new product line are estimated at about $60 million.

For more information about Tesla Motors and its vehicles, as well as the availability of promotional items with the Tesla Motors logo, visit the company web site at: http://www.teslamotors.com

The Menlo Park showroom location and contact information is at:

300 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Tel: (650) 413-6250

Bonneville Salt Flats 2008 Alternative Fuel Vehicle Racing Highlights

by Brent Singleton, Kent Singleton, and Stan Hanel

The Bonneville Salt Flats Are Going Green!

Brent and Kent Singleton are members of the LVEVA and current organizers of the Utah EV Coalition, a sister chapter of the LVEVA under the umbrella of the Electric Auto Association. They are also the Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) event coordinators for the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Wendover, Utah during the organization’s annual World of Speed racing events at: http://www.saltflats.com

This year’s competition extended from September 18th through 21st during 2008.  The world famous dry lake salt bed once again became a proving ground for the establishment of new international land speed records for alternative-fueled vehicles. Brent Singleton continued his work as an intern at the Utah Clean Cities Coalition (UCCC) and, under their auspices, helped organize field trips for nine busloads of schoolchildren during World of Speed.

The Bonneville Salt Flats have a long history as a proving ground for automobile and motorcycle performance. For over 60 years, enthusiasts have tested and tuned their vehicles on this salt bed to set new speed, durability and endurance records. Ab Jenkins and his “Mormon Meteor” first brought international attention to Bonneville by setting world endurance speed records on the salt bed between 1932 to 1956. Along the way, Jenkins and other international record holders have also re-invented many petroleum-based products and applications. The Bonneville Salt Flats are located in Wendover, Utah, right in the backyard of the Utah Clean Cities Coalition (UCCC) headquarters in Salt Lake City. Wendover, Utah also borders eastern Nevada by adjoining the town of West Wendover, Nevada on its border

“Bonneville can do for alternative fuels what it has accomplished for petroleum-based products,” says Brent Singleton, intern for the UCCC at:  http://www.utahcleancities.org/contact.htm. 

"The Bonneville Salt Flats is encouraging the growth of alternative fuels testing and performance enhancements in the same way that petroleum-powered vehicles have been improved and performance-tested over the last 60 years by allowing the backyard builder to demonstrate on the same level as world famous engineers.”

Bonneville Salt Flats events are staged by amateur organizations like the Southern California Timing Association (SCTA), the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association (USFRA) and BUB Racing. The raceway and competition events are not owned or sponsored by the petroleum industry. Possibly because of these amateur origins, the Bonneville racing spirit promotes international cooperation and teamwork among competitors who are dedicated to enhancing the greater good of the competitions and conservation of the Bonneville Salt Flats racing surface to help save it for future generations.

According to Brent, "The Bonneville Salt Flats provides an opportunity where pioneering alternative fuel motor sports can assist the development of new, efficient and environmentally-friendly automotive and motorcycle technologies.” These innovations will be remembered like no place on earth. Bonneville is unique because competitors on the salt don’t behave like competitors in other racing competitions. The first one to congratulate a new record holder is usually the guy or gal they beat. Everyone learns from each other and helps each other to do even better in their next competition. The spirit at Bonneville is conducive for the greater good. If the UCCC and AFV racing events can help harness this passion at Bonneville, the guys and gals at Bonneville won’t have to wait for a corporate-level decision before they do something innovative. It doesn’t matter how fast or efficient you are, you just need to show up and learn from others. Have you seen the movie the World’s Fastest Indian staring Anthony Hopkins? It is a family movie based on the life of Bonneville Salt Flats record holder H. Bert Munro. The movie is not a documentary but does a good job of depicting the camaraderie and competitive racing spirit at Bonneville."

Brent, himself, has been recognized for his own pioneering electric vehicle racing efforts with the National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) and the Junior Dragsters organization, both affiliates of the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA). His electric dragster, Electric Jaws Jr., has competed in racing exhibitions against petroleum-powered dragsters in eighth-mile drag strip competitions. He was also recognized in Car & Driver Magazine during 2005 for being the first plug-in hybrid, tribrid and quadbrid vehicle at Bonneville (Google “Quadbrid” for more information) or contact Brent to learn about his plans to bring back the hybrid Bonneville Salt Flats record to the USA. 

Brent and Kent’s alternative fuel vehicle efforts have included an outreach to Bonneville world record holders for support. Team Vesco holds a world record time of 458 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats with its Turbinator landspeed wheel-driven vehicle. The team uses a diesel-powered helicopter turbine engine to establish its records, but is now dedicating its racing efforts to flexible fuels and recently made Brent an honorary team member. Terry Nish calls Brent an All American Boy. Tom Burkland has offered his services in support of Brent's alternative fuel vehicle projects along with past USFRA president, Gary Allen. These world record holders all live in Utah and, while they happen to be the world's fastest petroleum-powered vehicle racers, they are also encouraging Brent and Kent Singleton to help make Bonneville Green.

Alternative Fuel Vehicle (AFV) technologies include steam, electric, hydrogen-electric, HHO, biodiesel, ethanol, air, propane, CNG and various combinations. This led to the definition of Brent’s terminology like the word quadbrid. He’s actually building a 5-brid as we speak.  Hybrid combinations that use multiple sources of energy and flexible fuels can make a car more sustainable, efficient and durable. To learn more about what alternative fuels would make most sense in each Clean Cities Coalition area, please contact Brent. He will be happy to mentor a demonstration at the Bonneville Salt Flats. During the past two years, he has been active in organizing field trips for school children within his UCCC area, bringing busloads of students together to experience Bonneville Salt Flats Alternative Fuels Racing Events first hand, during World of Speed competitions sponsored by UCCC. There were 9 school buses on the salt September 2008

AFV highlights of the year at Bonneville Salt Flats included a return visit by The Ohio State University’s “Buckeye Bullet 2” at: http://www.buckeyebullet.com/vehicle.htm

The Ohio State University is an active participant in Bonneville Salt Flats racing, where its student engineering projects have set new Electric Vehicle international land speed records. In 2004, an undergraduate student engineering team from the Center for Automotive Research raced the “Buckeye Bullet” streamliner to a new national land speed record of 315 miles per hour, becoming the first electric vehicle to officially exceed the 300 mph benchmark. The Buckeye Bullet employed a 900-volt rechargeable battery system to drive a 400-horsepower electric traction motor. This new record exceeded the team’s 2003 record from the previous year of 257 miles per hour. The 315 mph mark was set by averaging two sequential time trials over a 5-mile track with only a short recharge time in between runs: http://www.roadtobonneville.com/media.html

The Buckeye Bullet was driven by Roger Schroer, who is a manager of driver training at TRC, Inc., one of the world.s largest independent automotive testing facilities located in Marysville, Ohio: http://www.trcpg.com

During August 2007, the team introduced its new “Buckeye Bullet 2” streamliner during the International Speed Week competitions at Bonneville:

http://www.buckeyebullet.blogspot.com

The Buckeye Bullet 2 (BB2) is a completely new design with more length and aerodynamic properties to accommodate a fuel cell system that now drives its powerful electric traction motor in place of the 900-volt battery pack used in the original Buckeye Bullet. The goal of this multiyear project is to exceed the 315 mph record of the Buckeye Bullet 1 and to insure the safety of the fuel cell propulsion system. ’’While fuel-cell vehicles have been in production for some time, they were never imagined to reach speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour,’’ said OSU adviser Giorgio Rizzoni. On its second and final run of Speed Week 2007, the BB2 reached 201 mph with its electric motor running at 9,500 rpm in second gear. Roger Schroer was once again the driver (pictured above in helmet mask preparing to enter the cockpit). A cockpit video of his 201-mph run is available at: http://buckeyebullet2.blogspot.com/2007/08/see-what-roger-sees.html

During Speed Week 2008, the Buckeye Bullet 2 improved on its record-setting performance at the Bonneville Salt Flats by reaching a speed exceeding 286 mph on a 5-mile performance track. However, during a follow-up visit to the Bonneville during FIA 2008 in October, the racing team experienced several technical and mechanical setbacks with the BB2 custom electric motor and gas delivery systems.

The Ohio State University Engineering race team sponsors and supporting hydrogen fuel cell research efforts have included the Ford Motor Company, Roush Racing and Ballard Power Systems. During Speed Week 2007, an experimental Ford Fusion 999, equipped with a fuel cell driven by two tanks of compressed hydrogen and helium-oxygen (heliox), showed that membrane fuel cell technology could drive a 770-horsepower AC electric motor to average 207 mph on the Bonneville test track over two 5-mile runs. The fuel cell was provided by Ballard Power Systems at: http://www.ballard.com

The Ohio State University’s engineering department provided design experience from the Buckeye Bullets 1 and 2, as well as land speed racing knowledge to advise Ford research engineers. Roush Racing provided vehicle fabrication and racing design expertise for the Ford Fusion 999 platform that was raced during Speed Week 2007 and also exceeded 200 mph.

A 10-minute YouTube video by Autoblog Green profiles the design of the Ford Fusion 999 and interviews three of Ford’s design engineers about the project at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rACx-YJXEgg

 A fuel cell can be twice as efficient as an internal combustion engine by converting fuel directly into electrical energy without combustion and is a clean power source that emits water (H20) at its exhaust drip pipe instead of CO2. However, because of this chemical reaction, there are also many problems to overcome before a hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicle can be put into mass production for the average U.S. consumer to purchase and drive reliably. Some progress in research and development has been made by Japanese, European and U.S. automotive developers, particularly the Honda FCX Clarity that is now available for limited leasing by selected consumers in the Los Angeles, California area. Some of the technical obstacles to fuel cell technology adoption include the following:

1. Historically, fuel cells have not worked well below the freezing temperature of water.

2. Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell technology currently uses a stack of membrane “sandwiches”, where each cell “sandwich” is rated at only 1.0 to 2.0 volts. To achieve the high voltage and current necessary to drive an electric vehicle can require a stack of 100 or more cells.

3. As part of the chemistry mix that converts hydrogen and oxygen gases through each PEM cell into electricity and H20, each membrane “sandwich” employs an internal coating of either platinum or palladium at the anode of the cell to act as a catalyst for the conversion process. At this stage, the catalyst causes the hydrogen atoms to split into positive hydrogen ions (protons) and negatively charged electrons. Platinum and palladium are rare, expensive materials and the world supply of these materials is limited. This lack of supply may not allow for easy scaling to mass production for EV fuel cell systems until a cheaper, more readily available catalyst is found.

4. The current U.S. gasoline station distribution infrastructure may not be easily converted into hydrogen distribution stations. A hydrogen dispensing station is more expensive to build and maintain. The storage tank in a fuel cell EV must also be more durable than traditional gas tanks in today’s gasoline vehicles and will be more costly to produce. For example, the hydrogen tank in the prototype Ford Fusion 999 is made of aluminum wrapped in a carbon fiber shell.

However, incremental progress by the automotive industry combined with government funding and academic research has produced solutions to many of these problems that can potentially be implemented within the next fifteen years. 

Meanwhile, battery-powered electric vehicle technology continues to show more near term potential for adoption into both hybrid gasoline/electric and electric-only vehicles within the next five years. This technology is readily available to homebrew garage mechanics as well as automotive industry engineers.

Thanks to the efforts of the USFRA AFV organizers, everyone can participate at Bonneville. Each year, the USFRA establishes a unique introductory 130 mph course during World of Speed. Details of this open competition can be found at: http://www.saltflats.com/I30%20Club.html

Even Electrathon vehicles can participate. Electrathon America was formed as a racing organization during the 1990s to promote the construction of low-cost electric vehicles, particularly among students and hobbyists: http://www.electrathonamerica.org

A 44-page handbook of construction rules and regulations is available as a free download in “.pdf” file format from this site: http://www.electrathonamerica.org/handbooks/handbook_07_08.pdf

Many of the specifications in the handbook outline standard safety requirements for design and construction of the Electrathon vehicles, emphasizing the necessary protection needed for racers during extreme cases of vehicle rollover while traveling at speeds in excess of 50 mph. These requirements include details of rollbar, brakes, padding and cockpit design that include the relative location of the driver’s helmet within the racing platform. These requirements and guidelines were very helpful during the rigorous technical inspection performed by USFRA officials prior to the Bonneville Electrathon event.

Electrathon vehicles are limited to carrying 67 pounds of sealed lead acid (SLA) batteries in their power pack to equalize and standardize the competition. During traditional Electrathon races, competitors normally strive for range, seeing who can travel the fastest and farthest on a race track over one hour by using a minimum of electrical energy. Electric motors are often scaled down to 2 horsepower or below. Because of their energy-efficient and aerodynamic designs, Electrathon vehicle power trains often consume less than one kilowatt/hour of total electricity for the entire race.

There are three sanctioned racing divisions within the Electrathon America organization- “High School”, “College” and “Open” divisions.

Most of the initial volunteer organizational work to establish Electrathon America was begun in California and enjoyed widespread success during the late 1990s. However, several different educational efforts then spun off from the Electrathon America-sanctioned “High School” and “College” divisions, forming separate splinter groups that created their own specific construction rules and racing circuits to promote the needs of their local educational regions. While many regional efforts were successful in educating the next generation of EV designers, “Open” division racing by hobbyists and non-educational competitors declined as the number of national Electrathon America-sanctioned events diminished.

Electrathon America recently relocated its organizational headquarters to Oregon. The national group is hoping to revive interest in low-cost, efficient EV racing for the general public as alternative fuel transportation once again regains popularity to offset rising gasoline prices and U.S. reliance on imported crude oil.

During World of Speed, the USFRA allowed Electrathon racers to compete over a one-mile track and showcase their fastest vehicle designs for speed and performance instead of range. The Electrathon vehicles were still limited to 67 pounds of sealed lead acid batteries. However, the World of Speed competition encouraged upgrades to motor horsepower and to higher electrical current draw from the batteries through the motor speed controller to see just how fast these vehicles could travel. 

During World of Speed 2008, Electrathon competitors returned to compete at the Bonneville Salt Flats for the second time in two years to set new battery-powered land speed records on straightaway race tracks. For the first time in this racing organization’s history, Electrathon vehicles surpassed 100 mph on the 130 mph, one-mile race course.

Shannon Cloud drove Dave Cloud’s Electrathon vehicle five times, with speeds ranging from 103 mph to 110.258 mph, establishing a new landspeed record for Electrathon vehicles by the Cloud Electric Racing team. C. Michael Lewis from Portland, Maine made 10 runs and broke 100 mph with his Electrathon vehicle from Team ElectroLite. Shane Harris and Daniel Diaz of Washington State had competed in the very first Electrathon landspeed race at Bonneville Salt Flats during World of Speed 2007, finishing a close second to Kirk Swaney, who set a record time of 89.4 mph after five runs with his T-555 vehicle. Shane and Daniel returned to World of Speed 2008 with their new, rebuilt T-106 Electrathon vehicle to increase their record time to 93 mph. 

Local Utah Farmington Junior High School technology teacher Brent Blackburn brought his green, student-made Electrathon. He started this school project over two years before and had many students working on it over that time. The vehicle sits low to the ground and features an F-16 fighter jet canopy as its body. Brent Blackburn said Farmington High School junior Will Morris also helped with the vehicle in preparation for the World of Speed event and drove it during "World of Speed" trial runs because his junior high school students didn't have the driver's licenses required by race organizers. Their goal for the week was to get their green machine up to 50 mph, short of the 88 mph record for a battery-powered vehicle established in 2007. However, driver Will Morris was initially only able to get the vehicle up to a comfortable cruising speed of 37 mph. With repeated attempts, the team eventually reached top speeds exceeding 50 mph.

Pictures of these competitors’ electric vehicles can be seen at Bruce Sherry’s web site at: 

http://brucesherrydesigns.com/blo008/09/26/hello-world#comments

David Dymaxion also posted pictures of the T106 Electrathon vehicle on his web site at:

http://explodingdinosaurs.com/saltflats/2008/electrathon/index.html

Shane Harris hails from Walla Walla, Washington where he is a realtor by day but an artist, sculptor, teacher, bicycle frame designer, and Electrathon builder during much of his spare time. During World of Speed 2007, his green and black T-105 Electrathon racer finished a close second to Kirk Swaney’s record-setting run with a best time of 86 mph using a 48-volt pack of Odyssey™ batteries from Batteries Plus in Kennewick, Washington, that weighed just 58 lbs.  This battery pack drove an 8-hp (continuous) Etek™ motor with the aid of an Alltrax™ motor speed controller. The total weight of the vehicle is 120 lbs. This unique racing platform was designed and constructed as an integrated monocoque-body, using composite materials consisting of a Kevlar bi-weave with aluminum/steel reinforcement. A Lexan windshield was built into the vehicle. Supplemental parts were purchased from Napa Auto Parts in Walla Walla, Washington.

Shane’s approach to Electrathon racing originated from his interest in designing and building human-powered transportation, including recumbent bicycles and hand-powered bicycles for paraplegics. He taught as a volunteer in a local high school’s Industrial Arts class in Ukiah, Oregon where his students learned how to create their own custom bicycle designs. When his students visited Portland International Raceway during a human-powered racing competition, their events were scheduled at the same time as local Electrathon racing competitions.  Shane saw the opportunity of the Electrathon program to integrate what his class was learning in mechanical engineering/aerodynamic design and take it to a higher level by including electrical and electronics design into the vehicle platform.

As a bicycle racer, himself, Shane had personally tested his own bicycle designs during land speed racing competitions with the International Human Powered Vehicle Association (IHPVA) that stages annual human-powered races near the town of Battle Mountain, Nevada:

http://www.ihpva.org/IHPVA/ihpvarules.html

The races are usually held on a stretch of Highway 305 that is blocked off for the event. It is located 14 miles south of Battle Mountain, Nevada, near Highway 80. The location of Battle Mountain is 219 miles northeast of Reno, Nevada and 310 miles west of Salt Lake City, Utah.

Racers with human-powered designs are now exceeding 80-mph land speed records.

Shane cited the inspiration for his approach to aerodynamic design from conversations he enjoyed with Georgi Georgiev, a world-renowned sculptor from Bulgaria who has established a lifetime of achievement designing and building human-powered transportation platforms. His vehicles include the VARNA human-powered bicycle that first broke the 80-mph record barrier in 2001. Mr. Georgiev was one of the first inductees into the HPVA’s Hall of Fame during the same year. His web site is: http://www.varnahandcycles.com

Shane Harris personally launched an Electrathon racing program as part of his students’ high school Industrial Arts class in Ukiah, Oregon during the late 1990s with an emphasis on aerodynamic design and manufacturing using Kevlar composite materials. With industry support, as well as his own sculpting and fabrication skills, Shane taught his students how to build molds to create Kevlar composite canopies for the Electrathon racers as well as streamline their designs. When Shane and his family moved to Walla Walla, Washington, he brought one of the Electrathon vehicles with him in order to continue to help coach new student designers in that town’s high schools, as well.

Daniel Diaz was one of these students and is now attending Walla Walla Community College. Shane presented ownership of the original green and black T-105 Electrathon vehicle to Daniel to be used as an educational platform for his future studies in EV design. Both team members returned to the World of Speed 2008 with the new, rebuilt T-106 platform. 

During the novelty racing events, the Ice Cream Soda “No Fuel” electric bar stool race team once again visited the salt flats, including all the members of the Spencer family—Robb, Debra and son, Kaden.  According to USFRA rules, a motorized bar stool must be built around a real bar stool and is limited to one 12-volt battery as its power source driving an electric motor on wheels that have a maximum height of 10 inches. There are two classes of competition-- the “Lakester” class and the “Streamliner” class. More details of the specifications for these classes can be found at: http://www.saltflats.com/barstool.html

Robb has been setting records since 2003 and improved on his world record this year by reaching speeds exceeding 51 mph over a 2/10-mile race course. The team established a new two-run average of 49.972 mph during World of Speed 2008.

David Dymaxion posted pictures and a video of this record-setting run at:

http://explodingdinosaurs.com/saltflats/2008/barstool/index.html

Brent Singleton has been collaborating with the Spencers for the last two years to improve the barstool’s racing performance. He dug into his own pocket to finance some engineering modification “tricks” and also enlisted help from Dennis Berube to rebuild the series-wound electric starter motor on the bar stool to increase its speed and torque. Dennis Berube has set many EV world records for electric dragsters, including bracket racing competitions against NHRA gasoline-powered dragsters at: www.currenteliminator.net 

During this year's World of Speed 2008, the USFRA also initiated a “pilot” endurance course by re-enacting a circular distance course run by the original Mormon Meteor, first staged in 1932 by Ab Jenkins. The Singletons plan to enlarge this event to a grander scale during World of Speed 2009 for Electrathon vehicles and other AFV categories. A circular endurance course instead of a straightaway speed race course will provide a new opportunity where everyone can participate in a world class sanctioning competition to prove that their vehicles are efficient and durable on an international stage. Brent and Kent are hoping to encourage new innovations in the use of batteries and other power sources for electric vehicles, as well as 100 + mph carburetors for clean burning internal combustion engine technologies such as biodiesel and compressed natural gas (CNG).

EV Battery Recharging, Maintenance and Management Systems 

by Stan Hanel and Richard Furniss

For today’s full-size electric vehicles, a rechargeable electrochemical battery is the simplest and most cost-effective source of power that an EV owner can employ to achieve highway speeds over 60 mph and a commuting range of 40 to 100 miles. Many EV gas-to-electric conversions will employ twenty 6-volt deep-cycle golf cart batteries that are connected electrically in series to create a 120-volt electrical source with the capability of delivering 650 amps. This system is powerful enough to drive a full-size car or truck with a large electric motor.

Good battery maintenance and a consistent recharging procedure are crucial to insure repeated optimum performance from each battery cell after every charge cycle. A consistent recharging procedure can also help each battery cell continue to provide the maximum number of charge cycles that meet its design specifications and the EV system’s operating requirements.

This article describes the basic electrochemistry of rechargeable lead-acid (PbA) batteries as well as a sampling of some of the ways that EV owners choose to recharge and monitor battery performance.  This article will also try to look ahead at some possible “smart battery” recharging techniques that will become available in the near future for lead-acid battery technology as well as the more promising Nickel Metal Hydride (NiMH) and Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery chemistries.

For this article, we will focus on lead-acid batteries that use a liquid electrolyte, both for simplicity and because these types of batteries are still the least expensive and most widely used in the electric vehicle industry at this time.

In a standard “wet” rechargeable lead-acid car starter battery, two types of lead plates act electrochemically with an electrolyte solution of diluted sulfuric acid (H2SO4). The positive plate of the battery consists of lead peroxide (PbO2) and the negative plate is usually sponge lead (Pb).

In heavy duty rechargeable golf cart batteries, sponge lead is not used. Both positive and negative plates have the same chemical differences as a standard car starter battery but are constructed of a much denser, corrugated lead material.

When a lead-acid battery is discharged, the electrolyte (H2SO4) divides into H2 and SO4. The H2 will combine with some of the oxygen that is formed on the positive plate to produce water (H2O), and thereby reduces the amount of acid in the electrolyte. The sulfate (SO4) combines with the lead (Pb) of both plates, forming lead sulfate (PbSO4). The chemical equation for the discharge reaction is: 

PbO2 + Pb + 2H2SO4  à 2PbSO4 + 2H2O

As a lead-acid battery is recharged by an external power source in the reverse direction, the electrochemical action described in the discharge scenario is also reversed. The lead sulfate (PbSO4) is driven out of the plates and back into the electrolyte (H2SO4). The return of acid to the electrolyte will reduce the sulfate in the plates and increase the specific gravity of the electrolyte solution. Ideally, this process continues until all the lead sulfate is driven off the plates and reformed as sulfuric acid back into the electrolyte. The equation for this reaction is:

2PbSO4 + 2H2O  à  PbO2 + Pb + 2H2SO4

As a lead-acid battery recharge cycle nears completion, hydrogen (H2) gas is liberated at the negative plate and oxygen (O2) gas is liberated at the positive plate. This action occurs since the charging current is usually greater than the current necessary to reduce the remaining amount of lead sulfate on the plates. The excess current ionizes the water (H2O) in the electrolyte. This outgassing of H2 is valuable to a lead-sulfuric acid battery’s electrochemistry in that it also stirs up the electrolyte, helping to re-dilute and mix the solution. Since hydrogen can be flammable, it is necessary to provide adequate ventilation to the battery whenever a recharging cycle is in progress. Also, no cigarette smoking, electric sparks, or open flames should be allowed near a recharging battery pack.

Frequent driving of the electric vehicle after each charge cycle can also help maintain the dilution and specific gravity of the liquid electrolyte over time because the movement of the electric vehicle allows for the constant stirring of the electrolyte solution in all the batteries of the pack at the same time.

The decrease in specific gravity after discharge is proportional to the amount of ampere-hours discharged from the battery. Ampere-hours measure the battery’s dischargeable current capacity over time. Specific gravity of the electrolyte declines uniformly as amp-hours are consumed. However, when recharging a battery, the rise in specific gravity and volts/cell is not uniform, or proportional, to the amount of current (measured in amp-hours) that is applied. While a battery discharges in a uniform way, reversing the chemical transformation results in a recharge curve that is “wavy”, subject to varying levels of increase while a constant amount of ampere-hours are being steadily applied from an external source.

A hydrometer is a standard measuring device used to determine the relative specific gravity of the lead-acid battery electrolyte before, during, and after a battery’s charge cycle. Specific gravity is the ratio of the weight of a certain amount of a given substance compared to the weight of the same amount of water. The specific gravity of pure water is 1.0. Any substance that floats has a specific gravity less than 1.0 and any substance that sinks has a specific gravity greater than 1.0. The active ingredient of sulfuric acid in the diluted electrolyte is heavier than water, usually reading about 1.2 to 1.3 when the full amount of sulfuric acid is correctly diluted in the solution. By using the hydrometer and comparing the specific gravity readings of each cell to the acceptable levels provide by the battery manufacturer, the EV owner can gauge the relative state of the battery pack’s electrolyte content before, during and after charging.

The hydrometer is a glass syringe with a float inside and a suction bulb on top. The loat is usally a sealed hollow glass tube that is weighted at the bottom so that it can travel smoothly up and down the syringe as liquids are sampled. Calibrated scale markings are printed on the outside of the hydrometer. These scale markings correspond to the relative specific gravity of the sampled liquid as it displaces the float. Draw enough liquid into the sysring to allow the float to rise to its highest point but not too much of a sample that the liquid flows into the suction bulb. Clean the insides of the hydrometer regularly (preferably after each use) with distilled water to flush out any remaining residue from previous battery samples.

Regularly battery maintenance is important to make sure that each battery in the EV battery pack will provide the maximum life and performance available from the manufacturer. Since the average roadworthy EV usually employs a 96- to 120-volt system, the resulting battery pack may consist of sixteen to twenty 6-volt, rechargeable golf cart batteries. In addition to checking specific gravity levels, all cables, terminals, and battery trays should also be checked to make sure they are free of corrosion. Metal surfaces can be cleaned with a wire brush to scrub off and break away any corrosive oxide material formations. It is also good practice to make sure that any “outgassed” sulfuric acid deposits on the battery cases are washed off on a regular basis. A garden hose, fresh water and sponge can normally be used to clean the battery cases in this manner.

Battery recharging power sources have evolve to a high level over the last century but many EV owners still have been forced, out of necessity, to resort to simpler but ingenious methods to recharge their battery packs in a pinch.

The fastest way to recharge a pack of batteries that have been wired together in series to produce 120 Volts DC is to charge them with an even bigger pack of batteries wired together for 132 Volts DC (or higher). This “dump charging” system has been used during EV race competitions and also be used by EV owners as a backup storage system in the their home garage because it can quickly recharge an entire lead-acid battery pack to over 60% capacity in 20 to 30 minutes. However, because of the quickness of the current transfer under high voltage conditions, heavy duty cables are needed to handle the high current flow between the two battery packs. Regulators and in-line circuit breakers can help cope with the sudden initial surge of current when the two packs are first connected to each other.

A more simple system for recharging a 96-volt, 120-volt, or even a 144-volt lead-acid battery pack is to use a standard household 120-volt AC, 60-cycle, 20-amp electrical power source from a wall outlet. The household AC power source is connected through a full-wave DC rectifier and a heavy-duty incandescent bulb to the battery pack to provide current flow regulation so as not to trip the 20-amp circuit breaker associated with the household wall outlet.

A full-wave bridge rectifier consists of four diodes that convert alternation current (AC) into a pulsing DC current that can be used to charge a 96-volt, 120volt, or even a 144-volt system. AC current coming out of a household wall socket is nominally 118 VAC (using a “root-mean-square” or RMS average voltage of the AC cycle). However, each AC cycle peaks at about 165 VAC and, when rectified, can provide a pulsing DC voltage that is high enough to charge larger DC voltage packs. Diodes are semiconductor devices that allow electrical current to pass in one direction but block its flow when it tries to travel in the opposite direction. Bride rectifier modules that encase four diodes in a small 1-inch square package with a mounting hole in the center and four quick disconnect lugs on the top of the package are readily available at most electronics supply stores, including Radio Shack. Make sure that the power rating for the rectifier meets or exceeds 400 volts at 35 amps so that it isn’t affected by transient voltage spikes when first plugged into the AC source. The bridge rectifier device will have markings showing the two input lugs where the AC lines are connected and the two output lugs wher the pulsing DC power comes out to be wired to the Positive (+) and Negative (-) terminals of the battery pack.

A heavy-duty incandescent light bulb can be added in series to one of the two output lines from the bridge rectifier to act as a crrent regulator that dissipates excess voltage and current that the battery doesn’t need during various stages of its recharge cycle. A 120-volt incandescent bulb used this way will charge the battery pack at 0.83 amps per 100 watts of the bulb’s power rating. This lamp regulator can be fine-tuned by wiring more lamps in parallel or series with each other. By wiring the lamp filaments in parallel, like parallel resistors, overall resistance of the filaments in the parallel lamps will decrease but, at the same time, the amount of current available flowing through to the battery from multiple paths will increase. Wiring more lamps in series will increase the overall amount of filament resistance but decrease the amount of current available to the batteries. For higher charging currents above 1 to 2 amps, two 12-volt headlight lamps wired together in parallel for 24-volts will allow about 5 amps to charge a 96-volt system. The headlight high- and low-beam filaments can also be wired in parallel to allow about 8 amps of charge current to pass through the two headlight lamps to a battery pack.

A multi-meter operating in DC volts should be clipped onto either side of the battery terminals of the entire battery pack to monitor the gradual increase of voltage to the overall pack or moved around to the individual battery terminals in the pack to monitor the recharge progress of each individual battery. As the voltage on the entire pack starts to reach peak charge, the lamps may need to be disconnected manually or through a bypass switch in order to allow all of the source current to flow directly to the battery and “top off” the charge cycle. Different lengths of coiled extension cords can also help fine tune the charger output supply voltage, to keep from popping the house circuit breaker, by varying overall resistance in the circuit between the bridge rectifier output and the battery load.

The term “Bad Boy Charger” was credited to NEDRA racer John Wayland for describing this kind of simple charger that can be quickly put together out of necessity. However, these “jury-rigged chargers” are intended for use when a standard charger is not available and should be used with caution, making sure there is a good household circuit breaker in-line with the charging circuit. CAUTION: If you touch a battery post or an electric car body that has a ground fault during the charge cycle, YOU WILL receive a nasty or lethal shock from the Bad Boy Charger!  An additional safety requirement that should be included in a Bad Boy Charger design is an in-line fuse wired in series from one of the output leads of the bridge rectifier going to the battery load. The fuse will open the circuit in the case of a large transient power surge. Most EV designs isolate the traction battery pack from the EV chassis frame for this reason. Most standard EV battery pack chargers are isolated from the wall socket AC power source internally by using a transformer or switching power supply with special safety circuitry that can “crowbar” to shut down the charging circuit during extreme transient power conditions that might occur during the battery pack recharge cycle, including accidental short circuit conditions.

Other variations of the Bad Boy Charger homebrew charger design created by early EV pioneers include:

Liquid-Cooled Bad Boy Charger: a 240 VAC system with 40-amp bridge rectifier and an extension-cord series “resistor” wound into a metal bucket filled with water.

Crazy Boy Charger (not recommended because of risk of burns or electrocution!): A bridge rectifier that is cooled in two nested metal buckets filled with water. The water will also set the charging circuit voltage in place of the coiled extension-cord “resistor” wire. An AC neutral line is connected to the outside of the larger bucket. Put a brick inside the larger bucket and set the smaller bucket on top of the brick. Connect the AC hot wires to the AC connection points on the bridge rectifier. Connect the DC outputs of the bridge rectifier to the battery to be charged and drop the bridge rectifier into the smaller, inner bucket. Fill both buckets with water and plug in. The surface area of the buckets and the space between them determines the charging current (like a capacitor). Impedance starts high when the buckets are full and naturally tapers down as the water boils away. When the water level drops low enough so that it no longer touches the inner bucket, the neutral line is disconnected from the circuit and automatically shuts off.

Super Bad Boy: 1 diode on each hot leg of a 240 VAC circuit connected to the positive terminal of the battery pack, with neutral wire connected to the other end of the battery pack. “Likely to melt the insulation off the neutral wire”.

Bad Boy with Table Manners: An inductor is added to the basic circuit to impede transient AC current spikes. Inductors are also called “chokes” because of this dynamic AC impedance capability.

Third World Charger: An isolation transformer plus bridge rectifier that may also include an ammeter and voltmeter with a simple timer shutoff.

Variac Charger: The two AC input lugs on a bridge rectifier are fed from a Variable AC transformer that can control and “tune” the output circuit voltage.

Ugly Box Charger: Uses a bridge rectifier and many oil-filled, 45-mfd capacitors to convert AC volts to DC volts. It can vary the amount of charge to the battery pack by switching out a combination of capacitor banks by using relays or other control systems.

EV owners not willing to experiment with the Tesla school of charger design might desire to buy a safer, off-the-shelf product from the many commercial companies available. Traditionally, isolated transformer chargers like the Lestronic Battery Charger from Lester Electric in Lincoln, Nebraska have been used to charge commercial and private electric vehicles for many decades. The basic design includes AC input ports that can receive 120 VAC or 220 VAC from a household wall socket. This house current is routed inside the charger’s aluminum case through a relay that can be energized by a timer circuit before being routed to the primary of a large transformer. The earth ground of the AC cord is tied to the aluminum chassis of the charger. The secondary of the large step-down transformer is split into three separate windings. Two of the windings are interconnected to a heat sink assembly with rectifying diodes and an ammeter with fuse. A large capacitor is wired across the third winding of the secondary to provide Power Factor Correction (PFC), a means of matching input and output power so that none of it is lost or dropped by loads that are “out of phase” with the input AC voltage and current cycles. The primary and secondary windings of any transformer are basically two inductors separated by an air gap. To make both sides of the transformer compatible for the input and output AC power transfer, sets of windings may need to be tuned to correct any AC impedance problems inherent in the design of the transformer coils.

As an isolated transformer charger is plugged in, current draw from the discharged battery pack is initially high and the ammeter on the charger will show almost full scale. As the battery pack charges, its current draw will decrease until the ammeter reads almost zero. 

Newer charging systems employ much lighter, solid-state switching power supplies to provide current to a battery pack through the use of more efficient semiconductor power transistors and other electronic devices.

Within the National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) community, Rich Rudman has supported high-performance EV recharging efforts by forming Manzanita Micro, a company that produces efficient charging systems, regulators and Battery Management Systems (BMS) for EV dragsters at: http://www.manzanitamicro.com

Manzanita Micro’s Power Factor Corrected (PFC) series of EV chargers were designed for backyard mechanics and garage EV builders who may only have access to household circuits of 120 VAC at 20 Amps, 240 VAC at 20 amps, or 240 VAC at 50 amps. Rich, with partner Joe Smalley, introduced the PFC-20 and PFC-50 as the company’s first charger products for the racing community during the 1990s.

LVEVA Board of Directors Elections on December 20th

Registered members of the LVEVA nominated candidates for three rotating Board of Directors positions that have become open this year during the monthly Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association meeting on Saturday, November 15^th. There are seven elected members on the LVEVA Board of Directors who commit to serve three-year terms as advisors to the local Las Vegas chapter. Elections for the positions on the Board of Directors are staggered each year so that at least two terms expire each December to allow for a new vote.

The three terms currently served by Al Sawyer, Stan Hanel and Al D’Inzillo will expire at the end of 2008.  Stan Hanel has chosen not to seek re-election and pulled his name from the pool of potential nominees. Each candidate who was nominated during the November 15th meeting was required to be seconded by at least one other registered and fully-paid member of the LVEVA.

The nominees are:

Al Sawyer, P.E. former President and Director of Research at Lectra Motors car company

Al D’Inzillo, co-founder of LVEVA and owner of a converted 1972 FIAT Spyder electric car

Dan Klein, Licensed Electrician and General Contractor, Owner of GM Electric Pickup Truck

Dan Trujillo, owner of a Lectra Motors Centauri electric car

Jon Hallquist, Manager of Las Vegas office of Grassroots EV, selling EV parts and conversion services

All nominated candidates for the three positions will be voted on by LVEVA members during a secret ballot at the next LVEVA monthly meeting on December 20th. As before, only registered and fully paid members of the LVEVA will be eligible to vote in the December election. The candidates with the most votes will become the new members of the LVEVA Board of Directors. This new Board of Directors will then meet after the LVEVA monthly meeting on January 17th to appoint officers and discuss proposed agendas for 2009.

Please attend the LVEVA monthly meeting on December 20th to help us determine the future direction of the LVEVA and its leadership. Thank you for your continued support of the Las Vegas Electric Vehicle Association.

LVEVA DVD Reference Library

The LVEVA maintains a growing library of DVD reference videos that are available to its members that can be borrowed for one month at a time. Bill Kuehl, LVEVA Secretary/Treasurer is also the LVEVA video librarian. He can be contacted to pick up and return these videos at each monthly chapter meeting. The current list of videos that are available for a one month rental are:

1. “Who Killed the Elecric Car” Documentary

2. Plug in Partners National Campaign (2006)

3. EAA Silicon Valley CalCars PHEV Technology Overview (2005)

4. Boulder City Christmas Parade Highlights (2006)

5. Convert Your Pickup to Electric (DIY Video by GrassrootsEV)

   Note: This video can be copied to viewer’s hard disk to keep!

6. Tom Gage of AC Propulsion speaks at EAA Silicon Valley (2005)

7. Monster Garage EV conversion (Jesse James)

   and John Wayland White Zombie Videos (2006)

8. Electric Avenue by George Gladic Fox Valley EAA Chapter 2006.

9. Bruce Katz of Polyplus Battery Company speaks at EAASV (2005)

EV Repairs and Service

Western Petroleum Station

2051 E. Sahara (corner of Eastern Avenue and Sahara)

Las Vegas, NV 89104

Contact: Jim Johnson

Telephone: (702) 457-2675

Web site: http://storefront.dexonline.com/jims-texaco

EV Conversion and Fabrication Support

Rock Monster Motorsports

5225 S. Valley View Blvd.

Las Vegas, NV 89118

Web site: http://www.rockmonstermotorsports.com

Tel: (702) 255-2700

Fax: (702) 255-2710

Contact: John

Precision EV Components Machining Support

Real Products, LLC

3433 Neeham Road #2

North Las Vegas, NV 89030

Contact: Eric Tschabold

Tel: (702) 644-1165

Email: energyz@cox.net

EV Parts and Kits for Sale:

GrassrootsEV.com

Las Vegas Office

Address: 5225 S. Valley View Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89118

“Electric Vehicles and Everything for Them”

Contact: Jon Hallquist

Tel: (702) 277-7544

Email: jon@grassrootsev.com

Web site: http://www.grassrootsev.com

OKA NEV ZEV Parts and Kits for Sale: www.okaauto.com

OKA NEV ZEV KIT cars in stock now for immediate delivery prices start at $5,000 FOB Las Vegas.  We also have 4844 ALLTRAX Controllers(48V 400 A DC for Series motor) in stock (more than we need) $550 list, $375.00 NET.

Contact: Miro Kefurt

OKA AUTO USA : www.okaauto.com

Distributor: MIROX Corporation

5015 W. Sahara Ave. #125-130

Las Vegas, Nevada 89146

USA

Tel: (702) 683-8292

E-mail: okaauto@aol.com

The Free Energy Store

Sales and Installation of Alternative Energy Solutions

300 West Utah Avenue, Suite 101

Las Vegas, NV 89102

Tel: (702) 320-0770

Fax: (702) 320-0270

Web site: http://www.freeenergystore.com

Contact: Russ Lord

Email: russ@freeenergystore.com

EV-Charge America

Sales and Installation of Coulomb Technologies “Smartlet” EV Charging Stations

300 West Utah Avenue, Suite 101

Las Vegas, NV 89102

Contact: Tom Haynie

Email: tom@freeenergystore.com

For Sale: Chrome "Electric" Emblems for EV's

Mike Chancey - Posted 06/25/00

Location: Kansas City, Missouri

Checked: 07/13/03

Chrome "Electric" car emblems, just like the OEM factory lettering. Okay, so you own a beautiful electric vehicle, but does the world know? Show them with these profession quality "ELECTRIC" emblems. Fabricated from weather resistant thermoplastic, these signs feature a bright chrome like finish on the letter faces with a subtle matte black background. They mount easily with the self adhesive HighTack backing. Simply peel off the protective cover, and press the sign into place. Each sign is approximately 1.25" in height and 7" in length. Only $6.00 each or four for $20.00, plus $1.75 shipping and handling per order. Discounts for larger orders available. Send check or money order to:

Mike Chancey, 1700 East 80th Street, Kansas City, MO 64131, or order online.

EVs For Sale:

Electrans 3-wheel Futurista ETV

Range of 55 miles

Top speed of 45 mph. 

Department of Transportation (DOT) approval to license this vehicle through the DMV

List price is $13,995

Contact: ElecTrans

Address: 5450 South Cameron #101, Las Vegas, NV 89118

Tel: (702) 889-2146

Web site: www.futurista.biz

For Sale: Electric 1985 Pontiac “Fiero” --Record-Holding Race Car

This 1985 Pontiac “Fiero” Conversion currently holds four National Electric Drag Racing Association (NEDRA) Class Records.

1. Class MC/F (Modified Conversion 97-120 volts)

2. Class MC/E (Modified Conversion 121-144 volts)

3. Class MC/D (Modified Conversion 145-168 volts)

4. Class MC/C (Modified Conversion 169-192 volts)

The 1985 Pontiac Fiero has been converted with:

1. A new Netgain Warp-9 Electric DC Motor coupled to a 5-speed manual transmission.

2. A DCP T-REX 1000 Water-cooled Controller with an Input Voltage Range of 96 to 336 Volts

and Motor Current Rating at 1000 Amps.

3. The Battery System is at 192 Volts. The battery pack consists of sixteen 12-volt sealed ODYSSEY PC-680 batteries with the capability of increasing battery pack capacity and voltages to compete in the NEDRA MC/B Class (Modified Conversion 193-240 volts) or to a maximum capacity of 336-volts to compete in the MC/A Class (Modified Conversion 241 volts and higher).

4. Tires are B.F. Goodrich G-Force T/A Drag Radials P215/60 R14 that connect the Electric Motor torque to the road for “no slip” acceleration.

5. Battery Charger is a 120- to 240-volt Variable Transformer with a heavy-duty full bridge rectifier. Additional cables and connectors are installed for Dump Charging from a DC battery pack.

Asking Price: $10,000 or Best Offer.  Contact: William Kuehl     Telephone: 702-636-0304

Address: 4504 W. Alexander Road, North Las Vegas, Nevada 89032