While my car waits for some final parts, the Echo conversion is progressing well and we hope to have it drivable very soon. There’s an EV show coming up and the Echo will be perfect for it, taking pride of place amongst the smaller vehicles and some funny guys riding funny go-carts etc – yet demonstrating what can be done with the new generation of lithium phosphates. Small cars will be a big feature, with lots of folks contending for the ‘smaller is better’ stakes – hah-hah.
Like the Getz, the Echo is reasonably easy to convert (and a lot easier to work with than the angular confines of my Starion) and if such things were mass-produced as EVs to start with, the price would be a lot lower than a converted car (in fact comparable to a gas equivalent).
Others are also showing interest in getting their small cars converted, so we could have ‘Echoes’ and ‘Yarises’ tooting out of our ears. They’re lightweight, have good easy-access room to work with and have plenty of scope for upgrading motors and/or batteries without too much swap-over headaches.
Also, the existing on board computers are relatively easy to interface with. After a few shrieks of displeasure during experimentation, configuring the interface was fairly straightforward for our expert, JD. As expected, the wiring diagrams in the Echo manual did not match up with what we had – there were less components (such is the pace of integration).
Converting an Echo is not a new thing. While these days we now have better batteries and chargers and so on, others in the past have converted their Echoes using deep cycle lead acids. But the principle is the same and relatively simple. Here’s an example of an earlier conversion, http://www.electric-echo.com/.
ZAP! Oh What a Feeling!
Meanwhile, some folks at Toyota may be finally listening to cries for a full EV town car. Have a look at this funny little bunny.
Not much larger than a 'Smart' car, but a Telly Tubby could drive it.
It’s a curious little thing with roughly 80km range. Given that our Echo conversions are expected to provide over 120km range between charges, Toyota may be downplaying the battery side, perhaps for a niche market and not to out do their hybrid market. C’mon Toyota! You can do better than that! At least the price estimates are getting more realistic (batteries being somewhat of a determiner). Yet we all know that a Prius can be converted to a full EV, if they wanted to do so. This is the conundrum for the traditional auto-maker; they don’t want to cut out their regular sales market, they don’t want to lose customers, they don’t want to grow a new limb too fast and have to sever the gangrenous bulbous rotting limb that still makes them big bux – yeah you get the picture. Yes, the new innovations and concepts are good but sometimes I feel they are also a distraction to ‘put things off’ for a few more years. Specialized EV-makers do not have such problems.
Meanwhile, Back to the Star of Orion…
In the mean time while waiting for parts, I will continue to muck about with other stuff in my Starion that needs work (too boring to blog over) which includes a changeover of the instrument cluster to one in better condition, some trim fixes, paint fixes, darn, just found a small rust spot – cars (sheesh) never ending. Maybe the dash needs an overhaul; perhaps something like…
Jackie Chan playing Pac-Man in the Cannonball Run II Starion.
Yes I know, I do need a good break (Xmas wasn’t long enough!); okay, a short break perhaps, maybe a quick dash up the coast to visit the local hamfest and flea market coming up soon, to see if I can find some more HF/VHF junk 😛 hah-hah; an electric Starion with ham antennas on it? Cewl!
Electric Cars for Everyone 