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  1. #8
    Member Since
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    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.
    Last edited by Joe_Black : 07/24/2007 at 06:22 PM
    Over 20 years of Isuzu enjoyment...

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