True Believers Still Trying For The Better Combustion Engine

I recently ran into veteran racing driver, Basil van Rooyen, who has an interesting proposal to perpetuate internal combustion dominance – at least for another twenty years or so. His premise is that electric vehicles still have multiple issues to contend with, along with the obvious expense. Given that internal combustion engines will be around for a while anyway (as simply huge masses of populations will take time to get on the ev wagon for numerous reasons), Basil’s engine design proposes a major departure from four-stroke to two-stroke high efficient motors.

Have a look at http://citsengine.webs.com and let me know what you think, and download the .pdf too (link below).

While I don’t agree with everything he says about the current state of electric vehicle technology, some valid points were raised over his proposal to streamline the future of gas-powered technology and make the design more efficient. The design seems elegant in some regards, yet over-complicated in the combustion chamber areas; I would imagine that machining/refinement could be a difficult task. The addition of the throttle bypass valve will save on down-throttle fuel consumption due to otherwise partial vacuum.

The main point here is that if such a design were to be taken up by the major manufacturers en masse, would it actually set back the evolving pure EV market? A consequence could be that future hybrids are more refined but as I have said in the past, over-complicated cars can be a pain when it comes to servicing. There is a move for EV batteries to be more efficiently re-cycled, along with fast-charging and more lightweight lithiums looming on the horizon. Composite fibers tailored for lightweight yet uni-directionally bonding for strength where it matters also helps to support a robust future in EV motoring and may serve an efficient gas engine too, provided the weight comes down on the engine as well.

If there is a place for yet another internal combustion engine, then it must not be to the detriment of EV delivery. People have been waiting many many years for decent plug-in all electric vehicles and the dawn has already arrived. To sully it with yet another internal combustion engine may be a waste of time, yet there will always be a requirement for some type of internal combustion engine where electric may fail, for example, in heavy vehicles and remote areas.

Download PDF (courtesy of Basil van Rooyen)

–
Electric Car Conversions Made Easy!

Farewell to a Legend

It is a sad day when one has to let go of a beloved Starion. Regrettably, due to financial commitments and just ‘getting on with life,’ I have sold my ICE Starion GSRIII. This was a beautiful car to drive that I had once considered converting to electric. Being an automatic, I was advised against the conversion due to excessive power loss through the hydraulic system. But there’s a plus side and a negative side to automatic or manual in an electric vehicle conversion and I’ll talk about this in a future post.

Some think it is silly to get emotional about a car (and admittedly I thought so too until converted to Staz passion by my beloved late husband and another special person whom I have mentioned on this site). A car is in essence an extension of the driver and the provenance that goes with it can be hurting as much as it is harmonious. Symbiosis or whatever you call it, it did feel great to drive the GRSIII knowing all the hard work and passion that went into restoring it. But nowadays I have been too emotional from time to time to the point of becoming somewhat emotionally unhealthy. I wrestled with myself over the need for spare parts in the future (panels, trim, etc.) but I have enough Starion spares for now and too many mechanical ones I don’t need any more since I converted the other one to electric.

At least the new owners love it and know their cars and I am glad to spread the Starion word with now another owner out there. They also realize the longevity potential of going electric when parts become hard to source. In a world of waste this is a good thing, perhaps saving a well-preserved car body from the hulking rusted relics stashed ready for the local crusher.

Live on, Starion…
http://hornsby-advocate.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/carmel-duryeas-electric-starion/

Safety Last?

When it comes to EVs, some back-yarders may well be up there with the Harold Lloyd types, dangling on a high voltage precipice. What am I on about? You’ll recall my expensive BMS master controller I griped on about some time ago – it handles the high current charging brought into the car via a relay in the box which also houses the comms relay for battery management. The 12v line was built into the same box on a board my mother could have etched (actually, she’s pretty cool at offering board, so sorry Mom) and there were some safety/durability issues we were concerned with. Nakey’s actually got me a separate box for the 12v line, plus a separate relay box for the DC-DC converter for which I cut a hole out the other day in the opposite pillar from the charger. Keeping primary and secondary lines separate, and ensuring absolute safety against grounding the high voltage to the car is paramount.

Charge port relay and BMS housing.

Nissan Gearing up for Competition

The Nissan Nuvu (aka ‘new view’) announced some time ago may finally be arriving in Australia next year to compete against the Mitsubishi MiEV (and possibly Toyota iQ if they sort their red tape with the government) in what is gearing up to be a new spark of electric auto competition. An alternative to the Nissan Cube, this little cutie will be in a price range to match the MiEV and it is expected fleet and government sales will take up a large chunk of first shipments.

The Nissan Nuvu

This design features a pretty windscreen/roof overlay of solar collectors integrated into a conduit that leads to the battery pack…

My Breaker Broke :-(

My Airpax breaker, the main breaker switch, now has a busted switch-arm (I’ll save you the painful images). Just a few test throws under tension, the supposedly strong Bakelite switch arm shattered. The Airpax breaker is expensive, and we’ll have to see if it’s still under warranty as I paid for this some time ago. Considering the breaker is there for safety, it’s a pretty serious failure.

I suspect the cable linked to it and the pivot bend may not have been aligned on quite the same axis and hence some side-ways pulling met with plastic stress thus causing the break. Anyway, another delay. One would assume that such a switch should be strong enough to handle a quick throw.

Blinkin' good

BMS LEDs Now A’flashin’

When I first received the BMS modules, I noticed that Ross Blade hadn’t included charge status LEDs. I bought a bunch and soldered some on but my error at the time was to solder them on the wrong way around, i.e. instead of shutting off when the battery reached peak-defined charge, they stayed on while discharging. The polarity on the modules was not indicated; I had guessed the correct positive end, though Nathan was convinced otherwise at the time (men are always right, right?) so I soldered them the other way.

Fine? Well no, but in a sense, yes…

Echo and the Funny Men

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).

My the Year Has Flown Faster than a Tesla

This year has been a real learning curve for all of us; what we wanted to complete in under three months has blown out somewhat, primarily due to supply issues (we won’t say any names here but a regular name pops up for *anything* that goes wrong (even if he’s not to blame -hah-hah)).

Here’s my engine bay now; and the rest of the BMS conformal coating will be completed soon.

Engine bay showing a tasty assortment of Xmas nuts and bolts.

The long pack of batteries will be clamped down in the middle using a 3mm shaft to stop the brace from bowing. The 3mm threaded shaft fits snugly between the Thunderskys. The relay/fuse box is now installed; next, the minor accessories relay box to do.

Busy Little Elves

We’ve been pretty busy this year, while securing plenty of interest from others wanting to convert their cars. Both Nathan and Linda have put in some hard hours with the business and advice, individual car specs, experimentation by all of us and just paperwork can be time consuming. Consequently it makes us all busy.