The Electric VX

[Ldub]

That would be one solution to the intake gasket & oil consumption problems.

[Chopper]

Ummmmmm....no. Thank you, but just no. I'm trying to be kind(Where's a good Spazz when you need one??) No. Did I say no, No. You paid for it, chop it up how ever you like... or just buy a Prius, and pass the poor ol' VX on. It deserves better.

[TEN36VX]

I would consider it if you could keep the TOD or 4WD, and double the range... at least.

Electric cars need to figure out the battery technology AimPoint uses for their scopes.

[Joe_Black]

The thought is admirable, but the execution will be major. If you pay someone else to do it you've got deeper pockets than most ever will. Doing it yourself would be a major undertaking, but the options are "sky's the limit". Unfortunately the current state of battery technology will leave you with a heavy vehicle, thanks to the full frame chassis, that would be lucky to go much further than 40 miles of normal driving. You could retain TOD in the sense that you can ditch the entire driveline and an individual drive motor at each wheel, with traction control making sure the most power went to the ones with the most traction. Again, "sky's the limit" if you've got the corresponding budget.

Make magazine recently had a great article on folk doing garage conversions of older, economical vehicles to full electric. It's more of a primer but outlines a lot of common misconceptions and addresses pros and cons. Check it out here: http://www.make-digital.com/make-loo...avenue%22+make (make sure to click one page previous in the link as the article starts on page 61 and the link takes you to page 62)


About 14 years ago, when I used to drive my '88 Trooper all over the place for work, the sudden shift in my personal fuel useage went up as I transitioned from sports cars to the Trooper. Even at that time with relatively lower-priced fuel I was always aware of the curse from petroleum and longed for a return to the electric and bio-fueled vehicle technology of the early 1900's. My mind turned to a scaled down version of common railway propulsion: diesel-electric. The heavy-equipment genius LeTourneau used this same idea for most of his designs, essentially using a diesel engine or turbine to power a generator which in turn powered electric motors to provide propulsion or operate implements (he wasn't a big fan of hydraulics). With plentiful and inexpensive APU (auxiliary power unit) turbines, basically a jet engine not much larger than a bread box, the same idea could be applied to passenger vehicles. Turbines aren't particulary choosy about their fuel, as long as it's clean. Plus they burn their fuel very efficiently, leaving very little in the way of emissions.

Of course, ideas are cheap and implementation something altogether different.

In any case, just my $.02! Our IronMan is now being driven just in-town by my wife and we recently pruchased a new VW Jetta TDI for my daily travels and any long cruises we take. Best mileage so far has been 48MPG and diesel has lately been almost $.20 less than regular, plus the car is really nice to drive. And when we're done moving to the new digs we can finally get all the biodiesel stuff going which will lower our fuel costs even further, especially since we get a big property tax break for the crops grown to produce the fuel. By that time the VX diesel conversion will have taken place as well, leaving us with plenty of torque and horsepower and no battery-limited range concerns.

[tysamigo]

Joe ,

The newest technology (described in my earlier post) is a nano battery technology that essentially puts a "power pack" weighing about 800lbs in your vehicle. When all is said in done (with the removal of the motor and other non essential parts), the vehicle will be LIGHTER than its original design. Weight will have to be added and distributed properly to keep the correct center of gravity. The vehicles with the technology that I've previously talked about has the technology to drive an SUV for 150 miles on a charge that takes approx 4-6hrs from home or 15 minutes from a rapid charging station in which the station is primarily designed for fleets of vehicles. Most likely with this scenario, the charge time for driving moderately for about 150 miles would be 4-6 hrs. Also with this same type of technology the vehicles (including the SUV) has 100% torque immediately and not directly proportional to RPM's/power required as by the TOD.

Yes I understand it will be a costly project if done today, however I'm thinking that SOON (say within 1-2 years), the technology will be available in which this could be done for less than 10k to almost any SUV and still have more than 240 equivalent HP and all the power you need for everyday driving.

I'm still waiting to hear back from the 2 major companies with this nano substrate battery technology. It appears one is VERY interested in a business model that a partner and I have created that would essentially modify vehicles for the general public. Of course SUVs could not be done at this time and it would only be for smaller cars, but it could and would grow and the technology does.

[circmand]

Interesting post but I have 2 questions. First when you are modifying an existing car whose suspension and such is set up for an uneven weight distribution how will you evenly distribute the weight without having to redo the entire suspension? Second if the charge is good for 150 miles is that not in actuality a 75 mile round trip based on the availability of a recharge?

[tysamigo]

Good questions. When I asked the manuf. of the SUVs about the trans. they said it is very similar and with a few thousand $$ the adaptation can be made. I'll have my friend Ben (a guru mechanic) explain shortly as he asked the same question. He understands their answer, as I'm not a technician nor am I mechanically inclined, I don't fully understand the answer myself but the solution does exist for a few thousand.

The actual driving distance before a charge is needed is accurately and approximately 110-120 miles (150 under "ideal conditions). During these tests where this performance was achieved, they were carrying 4 passengers.

[circmand]

I am not a mechanical Guru either so I hope I understand his answer. I am just good at playing devils advocate.


Is it paranoia if they are really out to get you?