[ref http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Re-Converting-51-Chevy-adding-solar-panels-tp4679889p4680021.html Re: Converting '51 Chevy ... ]
I also say: do not bank on the amount of pack charge you would get from solar panels on your EV (your EV will be just too inefficient, heavy and power hungry). The PVs are fine for the RV and especially on your home's roof (lots of sq footage). I do not recommend putting a PV on your Chevy except to keep the 12V auxiliary battery charged. I had 12V PVs mounted on my EV= not worth it. I did it to support the PV industry, but all it did was make the EV-ignorant public think the small PV powered the whole EV (a lot of time wasted with each person telling them the truth and once they understood, they were disappointed you could not get something for nothing). >However, I'm still not over the prospect of range!!!< I want you to know your range fears are a show-stopper. You need to work that issue out through your mind/head before you proceed with putting any money into your EV project. Way back years ago (1990's), I took a year, for me to work out those details, ride and drive other driver's EVs, and experience recharging EVs. Today, you have so many opportunities to learn and experience that for yourself, that was just not available for me back then. You can rent an EV for a week to get the feel of EV driving and public charging. Both are important experiences. Hertz talks a mean game of offering EV rentals: https://www.hertz.com/rentacar/productservice/index.jsp?targetPage=greentravelercollection.jsp but you may find their one and only Leaf EV is not available in your area. You should use their page to find out. But there have to be production EV dealerships near you that will let you take a test drive. Perhaps you can get them to allow you to plug it in at a public EVSE so you can experience public charging. In your vocation, you might of had to sometimes drive your ice way out into the boonies to gather the forest/tree data that you needed. You would know by the mileage on the map how far and how remote you would be, to know if you needed to bring a couple of extra cans of fuel, plus your 12V car phone charger with your cell phone. So, worst case, you knew you could drive as far as you could back to civilization, and even if you ran out of fuel, you would still be close enough to reach a cell tower to get help. That type of 'thinking it though' is what you also need to do to know if the EV will fit your driving needs. Having a truck, you have the advantage of easily carrying along some fuel and a generator (genset). But most likely, you are going to find out fast that you will not need them, and with experience, you will leave them stowed-away in the RV. Gensets are usually over-rated, so take 60% of their wattage rating to get close to what they can really put out for hours at a time. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Sportsman-2-000-Watt-Gasoline-Powered-Portable-Generator-801309/206522861?cm_mmc=Shopping%7cTHD%7cG%7c0%7cG-BASE-PLA-D28I-Generators%7c&gclid=CNzotN3MwcoCFQovHwod280O_A&gclsrc=aw.ds That cheap genset would provide L1 charging which would take many hours, but it would be your backup plan, until you know what your range is. A heavier, larger genset that would provide faster L2 charging is possible, but now you are lugging around even more dead weight that you most likely will not need to use. For myself, I knew what my range needs were before I put my money down to have a converter make my Blazer EV (I used the ice trip odometer to know), and I gently explored what my EV could do. It matched up pretty much what I figured. This is where having an accurate e-meter in the dash is important. Many years ago, I drove my 50mi range EV as far as I could (to a healthy discharge level) to purposely strand myself, so I could see how hard it was to get back, and how much it would cost. At the time AAA auto insurance had an unlimited tow plan, but I had already used my monthly allowance, so I had to pay that time. It took an hour+ for the tow truck to get there, and the tow cost ~$100 (double that for today's money). The worst part of it was not the time lost nor the cost (I now had the data/experience I wanted to prove that it is not a show-stopper). It turned out the tow driver decided to over-share his personal problems about his chemically-addicted girlfriend which wasn't what I really wanted to hear, and I was not in a position to tick him off by asking him to stop (shut-up). I got back fine, thanked him for his help, and put my baby (EV) on a nightly L1 charge. In the beginning in addition to having my EV, I also had an ice mini van. I found that I drove it so little, that ice maintenance began to be a pain. So, I sold it. I hope you begin to understand that you just need EV experience, so you can know in your own mind what will work for you, and what won't. What-if guessing and hand-wringing mind-games of worrying yourself to death are not fruitful, and only leave you confused. You need to get out and drive Electric a lot to know, which witch is which, and what is Watt. For EVLN EV-newswire posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/Re-Converting-51-Chevy-adding-solar-panels-tp4679889p4680030.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Read EVAngel's EV News at http://evdl.org/evln/ Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
