Electric Car Kit - How to Build Your Own Electric Powered Car at Home

Electric Car Kit - How to Build Your Own Electric Powered Car at
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http://automotiveguides.googlepages....wered_car_at_h

wrote:
> Electric Car Kit - How to Build Your Own Electric Powered Car at
> Home...
> http://automotiveguides.googlepages....wered_car_at_h
>

I bought a book with the idea of building/converting a car to electric.
The book warns that because of hydrogen buildup when charging, do NOT
charge a car in garage. But here in Minnesota I don't want to keep a
car outside in winter, especially one with 120 or 220 volt power cable
running to it :-(

I hope the plug in hybrids or all-electric cars they are talking about
are well designed to avoid the buildup of hydrogen. But then, maybe the
lead acid is the only battery that has that problem?

On Feb 24, 7:02�am, Don Stauffer > wrote:
> wrote:
> > Electric Car Kit - How to Build Your Own Electric Powered Car at
> > Home...
> >http://automotiveguides.googlepages....electric_power...
>
> I bought a book with the idea of building/converting a car to electric.
> � The book warns that because of hydrogen buildup when charging, do NOT
> charge a car in garage. �But here in Minnesota I don't want to keep a
> car outside in winter, especially one with 120 or 220 volt power cable
> running to it :-(
>
> I hope the plug in hybrids or all-electric cars they are talking about
> are well designed to avoid the buildup of hydrogen. �But then, maybe the
> lead acid is the only �battery that has that problem?

Somehow I suspect your book is a little behind the times.
It has been almost 40 years ago now that it was found that alloying
calcium in the lead in a lead-acid battery greatly reduced the
electrolysis of the water, hence the maintainance free battery.
Forklift batterys are often charged in buildings with no problems.
However if I was charging a battery in my garage I would avoid open
flames and sparking devices just to be on the safe side.
Engineman

On Feb 24, 10:02*am, Don Stauffer > wrote:

> I bought a book with the idea of building/converting a car to electric.
> * The book warns that because of hydrogen buildup when charging, do NOT
> charge a car in garage. *But here in Minnesota I don't want to keep a
> car outside in winter, especially one with 120 or 220 volt power cable
> running to it :-(

Beings you had the words "electric", "Minnesota", and "winter" all in
one paragraph, what was your
plan to heat your electric car during the winter? While you were
driving it, that is, not while it's parked in
the garage.
Or did you just plan on putting on another layer of clothes?

Kruse wrote:
> On Feb 24, 10:02 am, Don Stauffer > wrote:
>
>> I bought a book with the idea of building/converting a car to electric.
>> The book warns that because of hydrogen buildup when charging, do NOT
>> charge a car in garage. But here in Minnesota I don't want to keep a
>> car outside in winter, especially one with 120 or 220 volt power cable
>> running to it :-(
>
> Beings you had the words "electric", "Minnesota", and "winter" all in
> one paragraph, what was your
> plan to heat your electric car during the winter? While you were
> driving it, that is, not while it's parked in
> the garage.
> Or did you just plan on putting on another layer of clothes?


If I did a conversion, I'd be stuck. If I did a scratch project I
figured I would run a little blower over engine or batteries. While
they are pretty efficient, I suspect there would be SOME heat.

BTW, the book uses an electric heater, but the range of those LA
conversions is not that great anyway, so I'd planned on not using the
heater. With a closed car, at least I'd avoid the windchill. Since I'd
be using it principally in the daytime, I'd get some solar heating. In
the coldest weather here, we are in arctic highs, so there is usually
sunlight.

Don Stauffer > wrote:
>Kruse wrote:
>> On Feb 24, 10:02 am, Don Stauffer > wrote:
>>
>>> I bought a book with the idea of building/converting a car to electric.
>>> The book warns that because of hydrogen buildup when charging, do NOT
>>> charge a car in garage. But here in Minnesota I don't want to keep a
>>> car outside in winter, especially one with 120 or 220 volt power cable
>>> running to it :-(
>>
>> Beings you had the words "electric", "Minnesota", and "winter" all in
>> one paragraph, what was your
>> plan to heat your electric car during the winter? While you were
>> driving it, that is, not while it's parked in
>> the garage.
>> Or did you just plan on putting on another layer of clothes?
>
>
>If I did a conversion, I'd be stuck. If I did a scratch project I
>figured I would run a little blower over engine or batteries. While
>they are pretty efficient, I suspect there would be SOME heat.

Not much. Back in the 1920s when electric cars were very popular, it wa
not unusual to see electric cars with gasoline heaters in them.

>BTW, the book uses an electric heater, but the range of those LA
>conversions is not that great anyway, so I'd planned on not using the
>heater. With a closed car, at least I'd avoid the windchill. Since I'd
>be using it principally in the daytime, I'd get some solar heating. In
>the coldest weather here, we are in arctic highs, so there is usually
>sunlight.

Yes, the electric heater pulls a hell of a lot of current, and it doesn't
really heat up all that much either. It makes you really appreciate just
how much wasted energy the gasoline engine is producing... a whole lot of
heat comes off of that block. Even on an air-cooled VW the cabin heat
mostly works.
--scott
--
"C'est un Nagra. C'est suisse, et tres, tres precis."

On Feb 25, 10:27*am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

> Not much. *Back in the 1920s when electric cars were very popular, it wa
> not unusual to see electric cars with gasoline heaters in them.

I think they were called South Wind or South Breeze (sp?) heaters. My
mom talks about them every now and then.
I believe the military still uses a version of them.

However, once you know how they work, I'm not sure I would ride in a
car with one of those things.

"Scott Dorsey" > wrote in message
...
> Don Stauffer > wrote:
>>Kruse wrote:
>>> On Feb 24, 10:02 am, Don Stauffer > wrote:
>>>
>>>> I bought a book with the idea of building/converting a car to
>>>> electric.
>>>> The book warns that because of hydrogen buildup when charging,
>>>> do NOT
>>>> charge a car in garage. But here in Minnesota I don't want to
>>>> keep a
>>>> car outside in winter, especially one with 120 or 220 volt power
>>>> cable
>>>> running to it :-(
>>>
>>> Beings you had the words "electric", "Minnesota", and "winter" all
>>> in
>>> one paragraph, what was your
>>> plan to heat your electric car during the winter? While you were
>>> driving it, that is, not while it's parked in
>>> the garage.
>>> Or did you just plan on putting on another layer of clothes?
>>
>>
>>If I did a conversion, I'd be stuck. If I did a scratch project I
>>figured I would run a little blower over engine or batteries. While
>>they are pretty efficient, I suspect there would be SOME heat.
>
> Not much. Back in the 1920s when electric cars were very popular,
> it wa
> not unusual to see electric cars with gasoline heaters in them.
>
>>BTW, the book uses an electric heater, but the range of those LA
>>conversions is not that great anyway, so I'd planned on not using
>>the
>>heater. With a closed car, at least I'd avoid the windchill. Since
>>I'd
>>be using it principally in the daytime, I'd get some solar heating.
>>In
>>the coldest weather here, we are in arctic highs, so there is
>>usually
>>sunlight.
>
> Yes, the electric heater pulls a hell of a lot of current, and it
> doesn't
> really heat up all that much either. It makes you really appreciate
> just
> how much wasted energy the gasoline engine is producing... a whole
> lot of
> heat comes off of that block. Even on an air-cooled VW the cabin
> heat
> mostly works.
> --scott

Early Corvairs had a seperate gasoline fueled heater.

Ed

Kruse wrote:
> On Feb 25, 10:27 am, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:
>
>> Not much. Back in the 1920s when electric cars were very popular, it wa
>> not unusual to see electric cars with gasoline heaters in them.
>
> I think they were called South Wind or South Breeze (sp?) heaters. My
> mom talks about them every now and then.
> I believe the military still uses a version of them.
>
> However, once you know how they work, I'm not sure I would ride in a
> car with one of those things.

My dad put a Southwind heater in his VW beetle, which had a heater but
not a very good one (took a fraction of the cooling air over the
engine). The Southwind worked very well.

On Feb 24, 12:42*am, wrote:
> Electric Car Kit - How to Build Your Own Electric Powered Car at
> Home...http://automotiveguides.googlepages....electric_power...

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