I have been looking for a while at the option of converting my 66 beetle to electric
I spoke to Mike from CBB about his conversion at the shootout and I really like the whole idea of being electric
so
Have you ridden in Mikes ?
would you do it?
Why shouldn't I

I mainly use the car for city travel
I believe there is a discount on the registration, and some city councils allow free parking at meters.....
I currently have 1776 with 110 cam and 36 dells

What do you think???????????

Sorry - what does CBB have??

Hi

Mikes cars is very interesting, I heard facts and figures that go in the face of eclectic cars.

From birth to death a Prius has the same carbon footprint as a Hummer. The battery manufacture uses toxic and rare chemicals.

A better idea is the air car from India, uses compressed air to drive a motor, still needs electricity to pump up the tanks but this could be done with greener power stations running when peak demand is off etc.

Steve

there have been people making their cars electric for many years...

they say its NOT too difficult...

cars should be cheaper with all electric too...

Give it a go...

cheers

LEE

I live in a town where there are two converted cars.

Daihatsu I think, very impressive especially the lightning bolt paint job.

His car was featured on TV and is very popular ... mind u it wasnt a vw so no comparison really.

This is the Bug that CBB did.... saw it at VW Warwick last year

the air car motor is a boxer engine too
looks good but a few years off
I wonder would they sell me an engine only???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztFDqcu8oJ4 

Could you post the carbon footprint info here? I'd like to see how that was worked out - seems counter-intuitive that a 4 tonne 4WD has the same carbon footprint as the Prius.

Where do you think the electricity comes from in Australia? It comes from dirty coal fired power stations.

So electric cars are actually coal fired cars.

This paper debated the "hummer is better than a prius" statement;
https://www.rmi.org/images/PDFs/Transportation/T07-01_DustToDust.pdf

Although it might have shown the prius is better, it seems plainly obvious to me that a fuel efficient car like a diesel VW Golf is going to be far far better than the Prius. And the golf doesn't burn coal.

What if I install enough solar panels on my house roof to produce the electricity needed to charge the car!

Then your car will probably take 1 week to charge if it's sunny, or you'll spend more on solar panels then you could ever hope to possibly save on fuel.

What if its not about saving money ?

Well what is it about?

Hi

I guess we all want to make a softer impact on the earth, I think that's where Silver is coming from.

I reckon you buy a late model diesel motor from a Golf etc or now Subaru have a diesel flat 4, fit it up with all the wiz bang stuff from a late model car and your car will be more sensitive than an electric car.

But we all drive old cars, well any pollution that was made in my old cars manufacture is long past, from now on they only get greener.

Steve

Yuo can get much more effiecient batteries these dyas. Look up some of the electric car clubs in australis and pick their brains.

One guy told me once you can get down to as much as 2 batteries with a 15 year warranty on them. Not sure of price. very new technology battery wise.

electric cars more planet friendly?
a/ toxic chemicals and acids in batteries
b/ heavy metals and rare earth meterials (that take a sh*t load of mining and processing to manufactrue and are toxic when dumped)
c/ recharged from coal powered utilities
d/ limited driving range in a country that has 1000's of kms between capitals
Have not seen an electric only vehicle that matches or surpasses what we have (enviromentally or economically) if the so called Greenpowered experts can develop a realist way to capture the suns energy and store it then, maybe the electric car will then make sense, but until then its just BS science fiction at the moment.
Justmy2c

Quote:

Originally posted by DUBB61 electric cars more planet friendly? a/ toxic chemicals and acids in batteries b/ heavy metals and rare earth meterials (that take a sh*t load of mining and processing to manufactrue and are toxic when dumped) c/ recharged from coal powered utilities d/ limited driving range in a country that has 1000's of kms between capitals Have not seen an electric only vehicle that matches or surpasses what we have (enviromentally or economically) if the so called Greenpowered experts can develop a realist way to capture the suns energy and store it then, maybe the electric car will then make sense, but until then its just BS science fiction at the moment. Justmy2c

very cool topic people should have a open mind to all new ways of doing things because new ideas come from others mistakes and experiences!

Did you know that Ferdinand Porsche designed the world's first ever electric hybrid vehicle, the Lohner Porsche, in 1899?

http://www.porsche.com/usa/aboutporsche/porscheandenvironment/hybrid/lohner/ 

Volkswagen AG have not gone down the electric car path, as they consider that the cost, volume and weight of the batteries to be prohibitive, as well as the argument that electrics only move the pollution source from the engine to the coal-burning power station.

Instead, they are releasing ultra-efficient super-modern Bluemotion diesel models such as the Bluemotion version of the Polo, Golf, Passat and so on. The Polo Bluemotion is cheaper, faster, more economical and has a lower carbon footprint than the Toyota Prius. The Polo Bluemotion is the most economical and lowest CO2 5-seat car in the world:

http://www.netcarshow.com/volkswagen/2009-polo_bluemotion_concept/ 

Of course diesel is still a fossil fuel, so VW has long sold models in Europe and the USA that run on bio-diesel, supposedly a 100% renewable fuel. Australia doesn't have a bio-diesel infrastructure, unlike Europe and the USA, and VWGA does not support running Australian-spec diesel VWs on bio-diesel. But they supposedly can, even without modifications, but you will void your Australian warranty. We are a bit behind the rest of the world there.

...but diesel unfortunately does not magically appear in the petrol tank. Distribution is a considerable factor. Although power stations are fueled by dirty coal, the process is very efficient compared to the end to end supply of diesel.

VW experimented with an "Elektro Transporter", yes , an electric bay window, in 1978.

Obviously battery technology wasn't up to it then. Things are different now.

The "Tesla Roaster" makes an electric car look totally viable, even Top Gear could not convince me otherwise, they squeezed 55miles out of it on the track. Their concern was the recharge time, but you can just as easily imagine, swappable batteries.

I reckon it's a great idea - you sound like you are already convinced - so just get on with it.

I've looked at doing this for an Austin Healey Sprite, and found some of the following info which might be useful - but if someone has already done it for a VW, then they would be the first place to start.

All the hardware is now standard items from various places (eg Electro Auto and ZEVA ) so you can bolt the motor ( like this one) onto an adaptor (like the one listed in here), chuck in whatever batteries & controls etc you like and you have an electric car.

Next challenge is registration, but there is a code of practice which offers info.

I'm not exactly sure how you would provide windscreen demisting. Might be some way to tap off heat from the motor and duct it into the heater channels - and it may need some pressure differential to get flow.

yes and no, they also state that the batteries weight in at around 500kg, do you wanna change those??
i say its a good idea, but the batteries need work, or replacing with a hydrogen cell like in the new Honda.
if the batteries werent there the electric beetle would fly, i asked em about the electric beetle at warwick, was told it has 85kw, thats a hell of alot more than the average VW, pity about the battery wieght ruining that power to wieght ratio.
still a cool idea, the thing was sooooooo quiet ,other than the petrol generator charging the batteries non stop when not in use

Another alternative - convert your VW engine to steam power. You could run your water boiler on used cooking oil, and have a zero carbon footprint. It has been done - check out this Club Veedub article from a few years ago:

http://www.clubvw.org.au/ssssssteam_heat.htm 

lots of good info here thanks Volumex for some links I had not seen before
Steam sounds like fun but I want electric

I was in at CBB on Monday discussing this very conversion with Mike.

I was given the once over of both the MX5 and the 74 Bay that he is finishing off at the moment electric powered.

All I am going to say is My bay is next.

After taking a hot lap around the block, I was sold on the effortless pick up, the total silence and smoothness of the beetle.

There are some very valid and interesting points in this post and everyone has their right to a view but for me my car already exist so I am not creating a carbon footprint going electric.

Why am I doing it, cause I can along with the following as pointed out to me by Mike at CBB.

I have no more serviceable items in the engine bay.

No more clutch or clutch cable issue ever again.

No more starter or alternator issues ever again.

No more rusting out of my exhuast ever again.

No more fuel tank or pump issues ever again.

Most of all no more oil leaks to stress out over come rego time.

Cost of running ie charging my batteries will be in the ball park of 2 - 3 cents per klm travelled.

As for emissions, what emissions, if you want to get all technical about the power I will be consuming out of my wall to charge my batteries lets thing about Mikes statement to me today," The amount of emissions that come out of one car just idling at the red traffic light each day on its journey would far out way the small amount of emissions produced by charging the batteries".

there is some info here on Porsche and air cooled VW electric conversions. http://www.electroauto.com/ 


One on an electric type 34 Ghia. Electric Razor
http://www.angelfire.com/ca4/renewables/G1page.html