This is a good SVO overview for anyone who wants to know the basics of running a car on SVO. I would have to disagree with the idea of shutting down and starting a car on SVO in the summer. After the repairs to The Smart Drive’s SVO vehicle I would STRONGLY suggest you clear your SVO system every time.
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TSD Electric Car
If you are not familiar with The Smart Drive’s electric car, check out the post on The Electric Car Experiment.
For a quick summary, The Smart Drive’s electric vehicle was built in 2001 and competed in two road rallies in the Northeast in 2001 and 2002. Since 2002 it has been used continuously as a commuter vehicle in New Jersey and an every day vehicle at Virginia Tech.
While the car is at its new home, it isn’t quite ready to use. Over the past 8 years the car has traveled about 30k miles on two traction batteries packs. Electric vehicle lead acid traction batteries have a limited charge and discharge cycle lifetime and the current battery pack, installed in 2005, is at the end of it’s life. This means time for some new batteries! This weekend my father and I spent a good deal of time removing the old batteries, cleaning up the battery brackets and installing the new pack. The new batteries are 6 volt deep cycle golf cart batteries with a capacity of 225 amp-hours. The specification and form factor of the cells almost exactly match the T105 batteries from Trojan Battery however rather than costing $125 and up these batteries cost $71.28 and can be purchased off the shelf at Sam’s Club almost anywhere in the US (The Costco I checked didn’t have them). The model is the GC2 and the new set I got for the car were Energizer branded. The batteries used in the old pack we removed were also purchased at Sam’s Club and performed at the same level as an OEM supplied original pack.
Check out the gallery for some pictures from the upgrade. Take a look at #9 then #8 for a before-and-after under the hood!
Here is an interesting article about the efficiency of converting biomass into liquid fuel, vs using it to generate electricity for EVs. http://arstechnica.com/science/news/2009/05/biofuels-can-power-more-miles-if-used-to-charge-batteries.ars
Take a alook at this video about plans for a US “Smart Grid”
This video demos the latest developments from Chrysler in their electric vehicle hybrid R&D. I have to say I agree that a hybrid with secondary gas engine (rather than electric as secondary) is the next step in hybrid evolution.
Also, check out the Chrysler ENVI site for another overview. ENVI Site and More about the ENVI Fleet
Check out this advanced SVO filer setup on youtube. This guy uses two 55 gal drums and six (6) filters! I like the site level idea.
Utah Biodiesel Supply has a bunch of video tutorials on how to make Biodiesel. Also they provide the videos files for download free.
http://www.utahbiodieselsupply.com/tutorialvideos.php
Many people ask “How long do I have to drive on SVO to get a return on my investment (ROI)?”. This is a good question since nobody wants diminishing returns.
This posting has a good overview on ROI for a SVO system and also dives into the hidden costs of SVO. http://www.websitetoolbox.com/tool/post/voconversionbasics/vpost?id=2461566
For those who want an automated system, check out my spreadsheet on SVO ROI Calculator spreadsheet (MS Excel format).
http://thesmartdrive.com/files/SVO_calculator.xls
Will your engine work with SVO? Take a look at this post on the best SVO engines.
I am going to try and make quick posts about things I find on the net. That way I can remember the info and you the reader can check out the info!
These forums look like a really cool source for biodiesel and SVO discussion!
http://biodiesel.infopop.cc/eve/forums
