# Electric Vehicles...



## JeepHammer (Oct 10, 2008)

Some people have some pretty strange ideas about electric vehicles...

'Gorilla'
Doran Electric Vehicles.EVs










These are ELECTRIC ATVs,
With some solar panels, there are 100% NO GASOLINE units.

I have one similar to these right now, and I love it for working around the 'Farm'.
Virtually no maintinance other than checking battery 'Water' levels and cleaning connections about once a year.

This also plugs into my inverters for 'Back Up' power, making my batteries work for their keep!

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GOLF CARTS/ELECTRIC 'JOB SITE' TRUCKS...

Again, 100% electric, VERY handy, and with solar panels mounted for the 'Roof',
Self recharging!

Again, Mine works as extra batteries for my inverters when I need extra power.


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Who are you calling strange?








It's a '75 Honda CB with the axle from a golf cart welded to the swing arm.
I could get about 40 mph at 60 volts. I never tested the distance. 
I just used it to run around town and charged it up a night. 
Total cost was very low. The golf cart and Honda were salvaged.
Most of the wiring came from the golf cart. I just paid for the batteries.


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## bunkerbob (Sep 29, 2009)

Pretty nifty, but, I bet it set you back in bungie cord costs though.


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## JeepHammer (Oct 10, 2008)

WOW!
That's COOL!
Way to go!

My S-10 was 'Salvage', cost me $50.
The motor/wiring came from a Cushman 'Job Truck' that was electric powered, and the entire vehcile, motor and all cost $65.

With some welding and fitting, golf cart (deep cycle 6 volt batteries) were my power source,
And I charged it off of two 100 watt solar panels without a charge controller at first,
Then later I added a $75 charge controller.

Batteries were 'Used' from a golf course that was dropping it's carts, so the cost was hauling them off so the golf course could dodge the EPA responsibility for disposal...

I've got about $1,300 in the entire vehicle as near as I can tell,
And I've been driving it for about 8 years or so with ZERO gasoline costs.

The only drawbacks are no power steering and no air conditioning.
Vacuum for power brakes is via a small electric air compressor,
And the meager heat is via the operating resistor wires.

My biggest single cost was an adapter from motor to rear axle for driving the vehicle...
The second time around we simply used a belt drive and mounted the drive motor on top the axle, off to one side.
Works good, but the belt needs changed about every two years.

The only draw back is the low ground clearance.
With the batteries mounted under the bed, it has some pretty low ground clearance, about 7", so you don't want to try jumping curbs with it!

I'm working on a frame specifically built for batteries/drive motor on a 4 wheeler with suspension.
The 4 wheeler I have now does NOT have suspension,
So I'm running under inflated 'High Flotation' tires on it to keep the kidney beating to a minimum...
And those high flotation tires aren't cheap,
Plus the puncture pretty easily...

I'd rather use some more rugged tires that are cheaper (Ironically),
And have a suspension!
Suspension won't bang the batteries around as much, so I'm anticipating a much longer battery life.

Remember, since you have those batteries on there,
It's VERY EASY to use an inverter for 'Plug In' tools when you are working!

You can add a cord to old cordless tools that the batteries have quit in and run them directly off the batteries,
or you can use an inverter and run 110 volt tools off the batteries... Your choice!


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## nj_m715 (Oct 31, 2008)

Wow! It sounds like you have a much more user friendly version. It was a good learning experiance I would use a two wheel frame and pulse width controller if I build version 2. It was alot of fun and I got hands on with an EV so I feel good about the prodject


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## JeepHammer (Oct 10, 2008)

I haven't got into the AC motor versions yet,
I kept things simple with stright DC with 'Junk Yard' parts so far...
I'm busy building an 'Off Grid' homestead/farm, and I just haven't got into 'Hairball' controllers and pulsed AC motors yet, they are A LOT more efficient and have much greater range because of it.
Regenerative braking would be good too, right now all I have is friction/heat losses... I WISH I could make power braking, but when the Prius and like cars become available to 'Tinkerers' I'll start messing with it.

The cheapest Prius I can find is about $15,000, and that is a LONG way from the 'Free' price range I'm looking for get get started!
I KNOW I'm going to burn things up, make HUGE mistakes, and have to put out fires before I get things right 
It's just the way I do things!

I can't really afford the $15 grand to start burning things up right now!

Right now, the 25 mile range of the S-10 gets me to the hardware store and back on a daily basis, but I have to charge for a second trip, and I can stop for lunch on the way, so it's working, but not what I'd call a real 'Traver'...

The golf cart turned ATV works pretty good, but needs a suspension to work correctly for my future purposes.

All I can say is, don't let your batteries sit around, make them work for a living!
My batteries have more than paid for themselves by running around the farm, back and forth to the lumberyard/hardware store...
The old truck looks like something from a junk yard they let dogs live in, but as long as it moves under it's own power, 
I'm using it!


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