tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328Sat, 17 Mar 2012 15:10:35 +0000http://www.evbeetle.com/noreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)Blogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-6748608824657255906Wed, 24 Feb 2010 06:15:00 +00002010-02-23T22:15:13.971-08:00Despite my best intentions, I have had trouble finding time to keep this blog updated while trying to make progress on the car, write some posts for Wired's Autopia blog, keep my day job, and not neglect my family. In the meantime, here is an an index of my Wired.com posts, which should get you up to date.  You can also check out the many photos of my project in this flickr set, many of which http://www.evbeetle.com/2010/02/link-to-latest-on-my-conversion.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-4881561343952862268Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:04:00 +00002009-12-30T23:08:42.465-08:00I recently made another post on the Autopia blog at Wired.com, and mentioned the car the electrified '94 Golf Kyle Dansie loaned me for a little more than a month.  I give a summary of my experience with the car in the Wired post, but didn't have room to include an interesting experience trying to push the range of the car one night: On a very cold early December night I tried to make it back http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/12/living-with-electric-car.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-1460175385714791136Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:14:00 +00002009-12-11T13:16:00.767-08:00The last major item I need to find for my conversion is a battery charger.  Amazingly, I'm staying within my budget so far (detailed in my wired post), but I'll probably go over if I pay for a new charger. Russco and Quick Charge make some decent chargers that are relatively affordable compared to nice but more expensive Zivans and Manzanitas.  But if I buy new, I'm still looking at at least http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/12/diy-ev-battery-charger.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-2231066528546786357Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:21:00 +00002009-12-02T12:21:42.350-08:00When I first started serious research into EV conversions I was surprised to learn that most converters don't bother with regenerative braking.  I think the simple reason is just economics.  There are other ways, but to do it well it requires an AC motor and controller, both of which are much more expensive than the DC conversions. I'm currently not planning to implement regenerative braking in http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/12/regenerative-braking-with-alternator.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-7332621661555663473Wed, 02 Dec 2009 18:58:00 +00002009-12-02T12:22:10.881-08:00Just before Thanksgiving week I went down to the shop of the Electric Car Company of Utah. Spencer and I were hoping to get the motor mounted up in a few hours. I picked up the adapter plate and shaft coupler from Brian Berrett (Wilderness EV) at the same time that we picked up the batteries.  I also bought (traded batteries for) a flywheel and pressure plate from Brian as well. Spencer and I http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/12/motor-mounting-problems.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-5570311972948712465Fri, 20 Nov 2009 07:45:00 +00002009-12-02T12:24:06.787-08:00I've been putting out feelers lately for battery options, and I've gotten a few decent leads. But here comes a great one has developed this week. The building where my brother works is rotating some batteries in their data center's uninterruptible power source (UPS). The batteries are a few years old, but are getting rotated out simply because of their age. They have been treated well, http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/11/found-some-cheap-batteries-33-universal.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-5616694917844284119Tue, 17 Nov 2009 22:00:00 +00002009-11-17T14:00:50.157-08:00My first drive to work in an EV was uneventful -- in a good way. The only thing that takes a little getting used was shifting later than you would in a gas powered car. I had no problems keeping up with traffic on a 55 mph highway. The drive was a bit cold because I avoided using the heater to conserve power, but it turns out I had plenty of charge left when I got to work. I could definitely http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/11/first-drive-to-work-in-ev-vw-golf.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-4263343851449774099Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:02:00 +00002009-11-16T22:02:18.169-08:00I mentioned in my last post that I am going without a car until I can finish my EV Beetle conversion.  Kyle Dansie of Zero Emission Vehicles of Utah noticed the post, and thought he could help out. Turns out his nicely converted 1994 Volkswagon Golf is not being driven much lately by either him and his conversion partner Michael Mielke. Dansie offered me the car to drive for a month with the http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/11/i-have-loaner-ev.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-8357669340373966453Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:08:00 +00002009-12-02T12:23:50.309-08:00There have been a few interesting developments this week.  A big one that I've neglected to write about is that I sold my car.  The deal I made when embarking on this project is that my only budget would be whatever money I could get out of my '97 Mazda 626.  Soon after committing to the project, the timing belt broke on the car leading to $900 in repairs.  It has a junk-yard door on the http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/11/motor-developments.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-537574994335288095Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:03:00 +00002009-12-02T12:23:11.481-08:00Plan A for my motor has fallen through.  The good guys at Electric Car Company of Utah have some TransWarp 9 motors that they want to sell at good prices.  I was planning to use one for my conversion but it looks unworkable. The Warp 9, made by NetGain, is a very popular motor for ev conversions, with a great reputation.  the TransWarp is identical to the Warp except that it has a splined drive http://www.evbeetle.com/2009/11/motor-problems.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8583107347686338328.post-5917895628910776637Tue, 10 Nov 2009 06:02:00 +00002009-11-09T23:10:16.424-08:00I'm building an electric car out of a '67 VW Beetle, and blogging about it roughly once a week on the Autopia blog at Wired.com. There is so much more that goes in to the conversion that I decided to start my own personal blog to track developments in more detail and in a less formal, more timely way. To get up to speed, check out my first two posts for Wired's Autopia blog:http://www.wired.comhttp://www.evbeetle.com/2009/11/documenting-ev-conversion.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Matt Redd)5