FTFA: Of all the cars he could have picked to convert, why did Leitschuh choose the mongrel offspring of a Chevrolet Caprice and a pickup truck?

Malibu. Not Caprice. Newborn Laotian orphans know that. Malibu.

The radio only play "Low Ri-Der is a little High-er"

timujin: Cool stuff. Be sure to check the links, he's getting all his electrical power from solar arrays and a wind turbine.

Quoted to preempt the "electric is all coal anyway" WHARRGARBL

Jon Snow: Quoted to preempt the "electric is all coal anyway" WHARRGARBL

What about teh nuke-you-lar?

Cost of vehicle (upgrade): $30,000
Fuel savings: ~$2.75 per gallon, depending on location, fluctuations

The cost of building this car is the same as putting 10,900 gallons of fuel into a vehicle, not counting expenses such as maintenance, insurance, replacement cost, etc. One could drive a vehicle that gets 25mpg 270,000 miles and still not spend $30,000 on fuel. Analysis: Don't buy this (or any hybrid) car just because it'll "save" you money on gas. Drive the one you have.

The previous does not consider the environmental impact, which is significant if they can mass-produce a true zero-emissions vehicle. Kudos to this guy for figuring a way to make it work on his own, then fueling it with his own electron farm.

/runs and hides, that'll probably touch off a flamewar.

130 miles on a charge?

That might get me 1/3 of the way to my parents' home.

No thanks.

the_be_sharps: The cost of building this car is the same as putting 10,900 gallons of fuel into a vehicle, not counting expenses such as maintenance, insurance, replacement cost, etc. One could drive a vehicle that gets 25mpg 270,000 miles and still not spend $30,000 on fuel. Analysis: Don't buy this (or any hybrid) car just because it'll "save" you money on gas. Drive the one you have.

Wouldn't a new car cost 20-30 thousand and have the same or similar insurance and maintenance costs? But this one is way cheaper to drive around

the_be_sharps: Cost of vehicle (upgrade): $30,000
Fuel savings: ~$2.75 per gallon, depending on location, fluctuations

The cost of building this car is the same as putting 10,900 gallons of fuel into a vehicle, not counting expenses such as maintenance, insurance, replacement cost, etc. One could drive a vehicle that gets 25mpg 270,000 miles and still not spend $30,000 on fuel. Analysis: Don't buy this (or any hybrid) car just because it'll "save" you money on gas. Drive the one you have.

The previous does not consider the environmental impact, which is significant if they can mass-produce a true zero-emissions vehicle. Kudos to this guy for figuring a way to make it work on his own, then fueling it with his own electron farm.

/runs and hides, that'll probably touch off a flamewar.

The guy built a very inefficient electric vehicle. I'd consider this project similar to any other auto hobbyist who restores or modifies their car to go faster - it's a matter of doing it just because he can, not for any financial payback.

It's a pretty unique ride, and pretty cool to see the engineering involved.

If he wanted to go further, faster and for cheaper, he'd use a lighter mule - like a VW Golf.

A penny a mile? I think they're lying.

In fact... 130 miles on one charge, and a charge takes 10 hours. I think a 10 hour period spent charging 46 lithium batteries is more than $1.30 in electricity.

Or this way: He says it store 33 kilowatt-hours. The average cost of electricity is about .12 per kw-h, so it takes $4 to charge (assuming 100% efficiency). Probably closer to $8-$10 dollars.

That's $8 for 130 miles, or about 6 cents per mile. A car that gets 30 miles to the gallon, with $3.00 per gallon, costs 10 cents per mile. So, it's a significant but not miraculous savings. As the_be_sharps pointed out, probably not worth the investment, if you're purely concerned with the economic aspect.

Wow, I'll just run down to my GM dealer and get one. I can't? Well, suck it, subby.

El Camino's rock. had a friend turn one into an offroad monster. roll cage and everything. the only vestige of an el camino was the body.

the_be_sharps: What about teh nuke-you-lar?

I'm for 4h gen nukes, but they require massive gubmint welfare and are pretty water intensive when water is going to be in short supply. It's not a silver bullet, but damned if it can't make up part of the silver buckshot.

Ranchero please.

FTA:

$30,000, which included the cost of the car and a transmission rebuild. The lion's share of the bill went to the 46 lithium-ferrite phosphate batteries that cost him $18,000.

That is NOT win!

El Caminos are the ugliest vehicles ever made. There, I said it. They are only cool in trailer parks and might actually be what god is aiming for when he wipes them out with tornadoes.

Check the fauxhawk he's rockin, lol

HoratioGates: El Caminos are the ugliest vehicles ever made. There, I said it. They are only cool in trailer parks

Did you actually mean that, or did you mean to say that they're only cool if you're from a trailer park? If the latter, how do you know?

Toonol: A penny a mile? I think they're lying.

In fact... 130 miles on one charge, and a charge takes 10 hours. I think a 10 hour period spent charging 46 lithium batteries is more than $1.30 in electricity.

Or this way: He says it store 33 kilowatt-hours. The average cost of electricity is about .12 per kw-h, so it takes $4 to charge (assuming 100% efficiency). Probably closer to $8-$10 dollars.

That's $8 for 130 miles, or about 6 cents per mile. A car that gets 30 miles to the gallon, with $3.00 per gallon, costs 10 cents per mile. So, it's a significant but not miraculous savings. As the_be_sharps pointed out, probably not worth the investment, if you're purely concerned with the economic aspect.

*points and laughs

TommyymmoT: 130 miles on one charge, and a charge takes 10 hours?

Completely useless to me, as I commute between Albany and NYC quite a few times a month, and it's 140 miles each way.

It would turn a 5 hour round trip into a probable 26 hour trip, involving lodging expenses.

ROAD TRIP!
Not likely.
A 130 mile range is pretty useless, even for local travel, and the back of a tow truck is going to become this car's natural habitat.

Then don't get one. But probably 90 percent of two-car households could have an EV as their second car without problem, taking their gas car on road trips. And that would be a huge step for reducing gas consumption.

Toonol: A penny a mile? I think they're lying.

In fact... 130 miles on one charge, and a charge takes 10 hours. I think a 10 hour period spent charging 46 lithium batteries is more than $1.30 in electricity.

Or this way: He says it store 33 kilowatt-hours. The average cost of electricity is about .12 per kw-h, so it takes $4 to charge (assuming 100% efficiency). Probably closer to $8-$10 dollars.

That's $8 for 130 miles, or about 6 cents per mile. A car that gets 30 miles to the gallon, with $3.00 per gallon, costs 10 cents per mile. So, it's a significant but not miraculous savings. As the_be_sharps pointed out, probably not worth the investment, if you're purely concerned with the economic aspect.

He has his own wind turbine and solar array I would think when he's not charging his car he's selling power back to the grid

TommyymmoT: Electric El Camino

Good band name.

It reminded me of Electric Aunt Jemima.

Link (new window)

TommyymmoT: Completely useless to me, as I commute between Albany and NYC quite a few times a month, and it's 140 miles each way.

JFC, why not Amtrak it? Or at least drive to Poo-kipsy and take the commuter line in?

My buddy in Troy has to go down to Manhattan a few times a month and he just Amtraks it and grabs a hotel room. Less frustrating and he just expenses it out.

Not too bad, but after a year of steady everyday driving, tell me how far it goes on a single charge. Also, how much it costs to keep that battery up and running.

...I'm just saying.

1st car I ever bought was a '69 El Camino (Used. 1980)
Drove it for 6 years, sold it to a buddy that drove it for 7 more.
/Would buy again. (The '69 model)

Link to his project page. (new window)

He used a smaller motor to drive the power steering and brake booster. It looks like he tossed out a V-6 with a variable-venturi carb (he should be given a medal for that).

The Camino is a good choice, decent aerodynamics, not too heavy, lots of space for batteries.

King Something: HOW ABOUT NO

That's not an El Camino.

T-Luv: Wouldn't a new car cost 20-30 thousand and have the same or similar insurance and maintenance costs? But this one is way cheaper to drive around

Doubtful. I'd expect just about any gasoline automobile made in the past 15 years to run 250,000+ miles with proper maintenance and respectful driving. My Cadillac Seville is a '95 and just hit 127k today. I've driven 63k in the 3 years that I've owned it. If you expect the battery systems and engines in an EV to last that long, I've got a nice bridge to sell you. Also consider the vast amounts of cheap new and used parts that can be used to repair a conventional vehicle. The break-even on fuel savings still means astronomical (no pun intended) driving distances to justify the initial cost.

And I'll amend my post to say, "It doesn't make sense to spend that kind of money ANY new or used vehicle (hybrid or not), just because you'll "save money" on gas. It is particularly a bad idea (COUGHCOUGH CASHFORCLUNKERS) to go buy (and most likely finance) a new car that will lose in the neighborhood of 60% of its value over the next 5 years. Yes, even at zero percent interest (if you qualify) it's still a really bad idea.

Fluff Girl: FTFA: Of all the cars he could have picked to convert, why did Leitschuh choose the mongrel offspring of a Chevrolet Caprice and a pickup truck?

Malibu. Not Caprice. Newborn Laotian orphans know that. Malibu.

Well, if you're going to go around correcting people at least get it right. The Malibu was only a trim line for the Chevelle. The original El Camino was derived from a Brookwood, but subsequently from the Chevelle, which was renamed the Malibu long after after El Camino was in existence.

/loves me some 72's
//wish GM wouldn't have canceled the Holden Ute here in the US

El Caminos are simply awesome, and this guy is awesome for converting one to electricity.
Fark needs two things:
1) an awesome tag
2) the haters to suck it

It's the parking garage attendant from Ferris Bueller's Day Off !

Top speed of 85 MPH? Sounds like my old '85 LeBaron

I'm not sure if this has been pointed out but a Prius will hit about 99 mph... not a ferrari for sure but it beats 85 lol

TommyymmoT: HoratioGates: El Caminos are the ugliest vehicles ever made. There, I said it. They are only cool in trailer parks and might actually be what god is aiming for when he wipes them out with tornadoes.

Bravo, I'm stealing that line.

Seriously, an El Camino is little more than a station wagon convertible.
If you want a pickup, get a pickup.
There are some very seriously nice ones out there.

Agreement.

TommyymmoT: I don't have a problem with what I'm currently doing.
You know this area. I live in Niskayuna, so I would have to take a bus to the Albany train station that is actually across the Hudson, in Rensselaer.

Niskayuna? Then you are my sworn enemy, for I am from Guilderland! Hahaha. There will be blood in the Suburban Council tonight! (Sorry, I get a little fired up at the start of the school year. And really the sworn enemy of Guilderland should be Florinland.

I'm holding out for an atomic powered vehicle - cause I really like that nuke-car smell.

Unimpressed

I don't get the transmission deal. He says that he took out the clutch so now he does clutchless shifts. I thought electric cars needed a total of one gear. I don't know much about electric cars as it might be apparent. I do know how to do a clutchless shift though which is cool since most people in America are clueless about how to drive a manual transmission car at all.

selrah: Unimpressed

its gonna be great when the batteries start to provide less power after 3 years or so, like they do...i'm gonna guess he'll be able to travel 80 miles on the charge by that time, prolly top out at 70 mph

the batteries on the market today just aren't up for that kind of day to day usage...wait a couple years for the stuff MIT is developing to hit the market for high loads

Good Behavior Day: Link to his project page. (new window)

He used a smaller motor to drive the power steering and brake booster. It looks like he tossed out a V-6 with a variable-venturi carb (he should be given a medal for that).

The Camino is a good choice, decent aerodynamics, not too heavy, lots of space for batteries.

Good find

SeamusFerrell: I thought electric cars needed a total of one gear.

Not necessarily.

There are two reasons why EVs need fewer gears than ICE vehicles:

First, electric motors can revv significantly higher than ICEs. Most gasoline cars redline at 6,000ish rpms - most EVs can go well north of 10k.

Second, electric motors have almost 100% of torque available for almost the entire revv range, whereas ICEs only have usable torque for a specific range, and maximum torque for a narrow "power band."

Combine these two, and you get a Tesla Roadster (for instance) that has 100% torque from 0-13,000 rpm, and most every ICE car that gets 90%+ torque from, say, 4,000-6,000 rpm. That means you need six gears in a gasoline car to get similar results as you get from the single-gear Tesla.

But that doesn't mean that every EV therefore only has a single gear. The prototype Tesla, for instance, didn't revv as high, and had two gears. The production model has a single gear because they had trouble getting the transmission to work, but they had to tweak the motor to go with the 1-speed.

A better way to state would be that EVs usually have the OPTION of going single gear, and if you have the option you should take it, since transmission are complicated and break a lot.