The Start
I was following the development of the Tesla Roadster electric sports car a while back, and found myself digging into the details of the electric drive and battery systems out of interest in those things...
The Tesla is a pure electric sports car with impressive performance that is setting a new reference in automotive capability while simultaneously solving the problem of fossil fuel use and carbon release, when used with renewable energy sources.
It was this combination of high performance and solution to the non-renewable fuel consumption problem that gave me incentive to investigate this as a possible project. I got the bug. I wanted a pure electric vehicle. Forget hybrids, I thought - the gas motor still runs too much.
I discovered that the major EV drive components have been on the market for years. The remaining question then was: is there a battery technology that can handle this demanding application with enough range without being too heavy? The Lithium Ion design used by the Tesla is very effective but requires a lot of effort to make safe and reliable. It came down to Lithium Polymer vs. Lithium Ion Phosphate battery cells.
The decision was made and the details were considered as to what would be needed for a complete EV design. After this research and many discussions with EV experts, the project was defined. Confidence is high enough to make this kind of investment.
Because of the potential and significance of this machine, I thought it appropriate to make this project visible to others. Anyone else interested in a zero carbon four door sedan which happens to be more economical (after initial investment) and efficient than any gas fueled economy car? And, at the same time, nearly twice the performance of original form?
I believe this is our future as the world oil supply is now at the peak of the bell curve. The remaining half will be much harder to obtain so it will get progressively more expensive. When the non-linear future demand curve is overlaid with this problematic supply curve, there is relatively little time left. We better get started...
The goals
- Create a pure electric sports car, by conversion, that can be driven daily to work while having performance levels exceeding it's previous internal combustion design
- 50-60 miles per charge at highway speeds
- Exceed 100 MPH on the quarter mile drag strip
- Complete the conversion by end of August 2008
- Convince my employer to install some charging stations
- Three year goal - 100% carbon and cost free commuting with grid tied solar array to Demonstrate utility and performance with little or no environmental impact
