Any EV Astro or Safari?

[kings-x59]

too true..and the gas to go with it. Not so bad right now, wait till the price spikes again this coming summer.

[sfeaver]

What about just powering the front differential with an electric motor? I know not as easy as that, but the concept seems okay. Have some batteries on board to charge with braking, wouldnt replace the 4.3 but would suppliment it, reducing the gas used. Kinda like a hybrid.

But for what it costs, it takes a long time to save that amount in gas in my opinion. Especially for me who puts about 5000 miles a year on the Astro!

Scott

[Kabey's Van]

I don't know man. I'm all for the development of electric vehicals for regular everyday use, but as far as drag racing goes you just can't beat a good old cracklefest.

[kings-x59]

What about just powering the front differential with an electric motor? I know not as easy as that, but the concept seems okay. Have some batteries on board to charge with braking, wouldnt replace the 4.3 but would suppliment it, reducing the gas used. Kinda like a hybrid.

But for what it costs, it takes a long time to save that amount in gas in my opinion. Especially for me who puts about 5000 miles a year on the Astro!

Scott

I was about to agree then started playing with my calculator.
so for sake of discussion, let's assume your composite gas mileage is 14 mpg.
5000/14 = 357 (round numbers)
357 x 1.89 = $675 per year. (I paid 1.89 for mid grade yesterday)
if the conversion costs $3K: 3000/675 = 4.44 yrs.
at $2 a gallon it's 4.2 years
at $3 a gallon it's 2.67 years.
The break even durations are a little low, you have to pay something for electricity obviously.

with my commute mileage, break even would be roughly 1.7 years.

[Smiliesafari]

Steve, those numbers will change when you add the cost of the conversion. And will be quite different depending on who does the conversion. IE: Do it yourself or competent EV shop. Add in a charger and replacement batteries.

[Cobra]

yeah that 3000 i stated was for 24 6 volt batteries (only really need 12 to get proper voltage) and they only had 1 year warranties not sure on their lifespan. i do about 15000 miles a year so i figure 5 years (guess) sounds about reasonable to pay for the conversion if i did it myself depending on how long the batteries survive

now i wanna add up how much the conversion would actually cost thanks guys.....

[sfeaver]

Keep in mind though, you'll still be burning gas. At least the way I was thinking about would, although having the electric motor doing some of the work would bring up the mileage of the gas motor.

To be electric only would require a ton of batteries, and the range would stink. Having the electric motor charge the batteries on deceleration would allow that engery to be used when accellerating and cruising taking load off of the gas motor. Not sure how much it would help mileage though, doesnt it do about 20% better on the Hybrid Tahoe?

To spend three grand to save 20 percent isnt worth it I dont think. Would be a neat project though!

Scott

---
I was about to agree then started playing with my calculator.
so for sake of discussion, let's assume your composite gas mileage is 14 mpg.
5000/14 = 357 (round numbers)
357 x 1.89 = $675 per year. (I paid 1.89 for mid grade yesterday)
if the conversion costs $3K: 3000/675 = 4.44 yrs.
at $2 a gallon it's 4.2 years
at $3 a gallon it's 2.67 years.
The break even durations are a little low, you have to pay something for electricity obviously.

with my commute mileage, break even would be roughly 1.7 years.
----

[GEJ]

Well here ya go.National Electric Drag Racing Association

http://www.nedra.com/

Not that I agree with this movement,but it is something different and interesting how fast they can go.

[kings-x59]

Steve, those numbers will change when you add the cost of the conversion. And will be quite different depending on who does the conversion. IE: Do it yourself or competent EV shop. Add in a charger and replacement batteries.

very true. I was just basing it on the $3000 number somebody threw out earlier in the thread.
I have no idea what the real costs are.

[Kidhauler]

I had thought about taking the brushless engine out of a forklift and the battery set up as well. then gearing it up to run highway speeds. If the forklift weight is around 6000lbs plus a 5000lbs pallet and it will move those at 7mph in a warehouse for a 8 hour shift then it should be able to run the van or a car like a bat out of hell for a good 4 hours or more. Given that it isn't having to do all the lifting of pallets that it would in the warehouse. All it has to do is drive the engine. If you change the voltage you could get some huge power out of the engine. I was watching Super Cars Exposed the other night and they had a AC Cobra that a girl had converted to electric and it had 1000hp and would run 200miles on a charge. It was insane.

[kings-x59]

man the way this is going, we might need another forum.
If I could get 200 miles on a charge, it'd work for me.
One question I have is are the batteries on EVs like laptop batteries? specifically, if you don't deep cycle them do they crap out in short order?

[GEJ]

I had thought about taking the brushless engine out of a forklift and the battery set up as well. then gearing it up to run highway speeds. If the forklift weight is around 6000lbs plus a 5000lbs pallet and it will move those at 7mph in a warehouse for a 8 hour shift then it should be able to run the van or a car like a bat out of hell for a good 4 hours or more. Given that it isn't having to do all the lifting of pallets that it would in the warehouse. All it has to do is drive the engine. If you change the voltage you could get some huge power out of the engine. I was watching Super Cars Exposed the other night and they had a AC Cobra that a girl had converted to electric and it had 1000hp and would run 200miles on a charge. It was insane.

Yeah KH-the link I posted has a record holder drag car running high 7's and about 150 mph.That was on 60% power. Still I am all about those open exhaust and the noise level.

The thing is if this is about cutting emissions it has been a long known fact the power plants are a major contributor to air pollution.Far beyond our vans.So by going to electric vans to me seems kind of like a dog chasing it's tail. #-o

[astrozam]

[quote="GEJThe thing is if this is about cutting emissions it has been a long known fact the power plants are a major contributor to air pollution.Far beyond our vans.So by going to electric vans to me seems kind of like a dog chasing it's tail. #-o [/quote]

This isn't about cutting emissions, at least not as far as drag racin EV'S, i mean he may run cleaner up the track but he is smokin the shit outta his tires before he runs so where is the worry about clean air there? This is nothing more than a cool vid to watch, and like you eluded to the electricity for the batt's has to come from somewhere and we all know that is from either coal fired plants or nukes ( very little from clean resources wind/solar ) and besides batts are not exactly earth friendly, so this guy can pretend he is doing his part and go back to smokin his bong but in all actuality, it just does not matter.

[astronut74]

I've got an intrest in this as well. for me it's not about being eco friendly. It's about not getting raped at the gas pumps. If I had the capital outright to do the conversion, it would have already been done. I can justify throwing down a chunk of change for a new vehicle, so I can justify throwing down the same money to convert a vehicle that I am truly happy with, to electric. It's the weekly visits to the gas station last summer that had me stressing out. Over $100 to fill up? Every 2 weeks??? That gets pricey, and it'll only get worse as time goes on.

So to go all electric is very justifiable to me, especially since most of my trips are less than 10 miles. And I've also thought it would be cool to throw some solar panels on the roof of the van to help with the charging duties. I've got to do a little more reseach on that though.. And I know solar panels aren't cheap...

[Cobra]

save the planet.. as if i want to convert to save the planet. i just think it would be cool to have a 6.0l awd safari and an elctric stro. maybe one day someone will allow the tech to produce cheap clean energy to be release to the public but i'll be dead by then and if i had kid they would probably be dead by then too. i just want the bragging rights