I wonder if anyone on the list knows James Jarrett of Charlotte NC, owner (formerly? currently?) of a Henney Kilowatt.
The Kilowatt was a commercial Renault Dauphine conversion offered in 1959 and 1960, and possibly even as late as 1962. I've been trying to track down the different versions of the Kilowatt. Some net sources say that the 1959 version had eighteen 2-volt lead cells for a 36 volt system, and the 1960 version switched to twelve 6-volt blocks (probably golf car batteries) for a 72 volt system. Other sources say that the 1959 cars were 72 volts, and the 1960s were 84 volts. The figures usually quoted for top speed and range support the first story, but the numbers for weight support the second. All the photos I've been able to find show batteries of 12 golf car blocks. Of course none of them would still have the factory battery 60+ years later. I've dug up some circumstantial evidence that the real answer might be that the 84 volt version, IF it actually was ever built, was a 1960 "Model B" priced 50% (!) higher than the 1960 "Model A" 72 volt version. (Adjusted for inflation, the alleged $5,995 list price of the Kilowatt B would be over $57,500 today.) At least some Henney Kilowatts used a rather clever 6-step (counting OFF as one step) series-parallel rectactor controller, designed by Victor Wouk and built for Henney by Curtis. Lee Hart has an outstanding writeup of the controller on his website. http://www.sunrise-ev.com/controllers.htm What I can't figure out: 1. Was the same controller used for the 36 volt Kilowatt - IF it even existed? 2. How could that controller have been adapted to an 84 volt version of the Kilowatt - if THAT existed? It seems totally dependent on having a number of battery blocks evenly divisible by both 2 and 4. Twelve works; 14 doesn't. 3. Where would they have put 2 more 6-volt blocks? The Kilowatt is a clean conversion with nicely laid out front and rear battery setups, and 6 blocks seem to fit perfectly in each location. What caught my attention about James's EV Album entry is that he mentions a SEVEN STEP controller in his Henney Kilowatt. http://evalbum.com/431 I suppose it's possible that he accidentally mscounted the steps, or misremembered them when writing up the EV Album entry. But if it really is a seven-step controller, I wonder whether his Kilowatt, even if it's 72 volts now, even if it's officially a 1959, might be one of the no doubt rare 84 volt versions. David Roden, EVDL moderator & general lackey To reach me, don't reply to this message; I won't get it. Use my offlist address here : http://evdl.org/help/index.html#supt = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = Cutting the space budget really restores my faith in humanity. It eliminates dreams, goals, and ideals, and lets us get straight to the business of hate, debauchery, and self-annihilation. -- Johnny Hart = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = _______________________________________________ Address messages to ev@lists.evdl.org No other addresses in TO and CC fields UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/ LIST INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org
