Posted by Max Dunn
Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:23:10 GMT | 1 comment
I have put over 1,000 miles on my Zapino since we got it last August, and I was wondering if I needed to get a battery management system (BMS) to keep the batteries going as long as possible. So today, after a pretty long ride where the indicator started to dip into the red, I took off the covers and checked the voltage.
The batteries were labelled:
Electier
Danwant Silicone Power Battery
6-DW-38Ah (12V38Ah)
Before charging, the voltage on all 5 batteries was between 12.58V and 12.61V. During charging, it was from 14.5V to 14.9V. Then about 30 minutes after charging was done, they were between 13.52 and 13.54V. This is very close and within specs, so it looks like the batteries are doing fine and don’t need a BMS, at least for now.
Posted in Electric Vehicles
Posted by Max Dunn
Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:33:21 GMT | 6 comments
I was trying to explain to my wife how an air car worked, and with a smile on her face she said “So it farts as it moves forward?” Well maybe that sums it up nicely.
But do air cars really make sense? The information from the manufacturers seem like they are the solution to our energy crisis, and to everything else too [1]. But there are several fundamental problems with air cars.
Read more...
Posted in Electric Vehicles, Global Warming, Peak Oil
Posted by Max Dunn
Fri, 07 Mar 2008 04:18:13 GMT | 1 comment
There is a lot of oil in Canadian oil sands. So it is easy to believe that even when OPEC’s production starts to fall, Canadian oil sands can make up the difference. However, the problem is not the amount of oil – the problem is separating the oil from the sand which is a slow and resource intensive process.
According to the Master’s thesis of Bengt Söderbergh [1], natural gas availability is likely to limit oil sands production in the long term to about 3.6 million barrels per day (mbd).
David Hughes, a geologist with Natural Resources Canada, believes that the peak will never exceed 2.5 mbd due to natural gas, water, diluent and infrastructure constraints. [2]
For comparison, the U.S. uses 22 mbd and worldwide demand is 86 mbd. So it is unlikely the Canadian oil sands will be able to ever provide a significant amount of the world’s oil.
Read more...
Posted in Peak Oil
Posted by Max Dunn
Tue, 04 Mar 2008 04:07:28 GMT | 1 comment
Last weekend, the Saudi Oil Minister, Ali al-Naimi said, “From now there’s a line below which prices won’t fall.” Further, he added that the Saudis have no plans to expand oil production beyond the 12.5 million barrels per day it hopes to have by 2009.
This statement could be the first real admission by the Saudis that they can’t pump as much extra oil as they previously claimed, and a real sign that they have reached, or are close to, peak production.
Posted in Peak Oil
Posted by Max Dunn
Mon, 03 Mar 2008 16:08:56 GMT | 1 comment
Even while we continue to work on and define what Web 2.0 really is, many people have started to ask what is next; what is Web 3.0? Here is the answer: Web 3.0 is when all the Web 2.0 applications can start working together.
Read more...
Posted in Random Thoughts
Posted by Max Dunn
Fri, 29 Feb 2008 21:11:04 GMT | 1 comment
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the scientific body that researches climate change for the United Nations (UN) and released their Fourth Assesment Report (AR4) in 2007. There are numerous experts participating in the IPCC, and a lot of good science is contained in these reports.
However, there is a big problem with the summary that is included with the IPCC report – the Summary For Policymakers (SPM). This summary is not written by the scientists themselves but by unnamed bureaucratic delegates from the participating countries. As such, they tend to oversimplify and bias the actual results contained in the full report.
So I found that the Independent Summary For Policymakers to be more balanced and representative of the actual report than the SPM itself. The ISPM was prepared by qualified experts, but who were not themselves IPCC chapter authors. The ISPM was subject to expert review and the reviewer’s responses are tabulated so there is a clear record to the extent that the reviewers agreed or disagreed with the ISPM.
Read more...
Posted in Global Warming
Posted by Max Dunn
Fri, 29 Feb 2008 04:46:08 GMT | 5 comments
When companies talk about electric vehicles costing pennies per mile in electricity costs to operate, they are being truthful. However, with current battery costs and lifetimes, the battery replacement cost in an electric vehicle will be more than the electricity cost. Let’s look more closely at this.
Read more...
Posted in Electric Vehicles
Posted by Max Dunn
Thu, 28 Feb 2008 19:21:48 GMT | 1 comment
After my stop yesterday by the policeman who thought my electric Zapino scooter was a motorcycle and I shouldn’t be riding in the bike lane, I decided to try to find out more information about what California Motor Vehicle law says about this. I found this interesting “Motorized Bicycle Instruction/Application” from the DMV site that defines a “motorized bicycle” (also commonly known as a “moped”):
- Having two or three wheels
- Fully operative pedals or powered solely by electric power
- Maximum speed of 30 MPH on level ground
- Automatic transmission and a motor with less than 2 gross brake horsepower
The first two requirements are easily met, and for the third, Zap states that it can only go 30 MPH, but the Zapino actually can go a bit faster. Regarding the fourth point it does have an automatic transmission but the 3000 watt Zapino motor puts out about 4 HP, which exceeds the maximum 2 HP allowed for a motorized bicycle.
Based on this, the Zapino is close to being a motorized bicycle, but not quite since it has more power than is allowed. However, since most people want know the conversion between watts and HP, it is not obvious whether the Zapino is a motorized bicycle or not.
Posted in Electric Vehicles
Posted by Max Dunn
Thu, 28 Feb 2008 18:42:50 GMT | 6 comments
A cop just pulled me over on my scooter. I was riding in the bike line – like usual – and there was a bicyclist in the lane so I swerved around him. The cop saw this and said that since I was riding a motorcycle, I shouldn’t be in the bike lane. I explained that the manufacturer stated that it was a moped since it couldn’t go more than 30 MPH and it was all electric and so I should be riding in the bike lane. He said that I was probably going about 35 or 40 MPH (which is probably true) and that I should be riding just outside of the bike lane. However, he seemed a little unsure once I explained that the scooter was electric, so just gave me a warning.
However, this brings up a good question: should electric scooters ride in the bike lane or just outside of it? What is the maximum speed that we should go in the bike lane? In the California Motorcycle Handbook 2007 it says on Page 3:
You may ride a moped in a bicycle lane at a reasonable speed.
So is 30 MPH a “reasonable” speed to ride in the bike lane, or is this too fast?
Posted in Electric Vehicles
Posted by Max Dunn
Fri, 15 Feb 2008 15:27:10 GMT | 1 comment
My friend Will Leinweber just pointed out that on the Rails Conference site this year, there is a picture from last year of my shaggy head! Half of Will is there too on the right, and Wido is partially obscured on the left. What a crack up!
Posted in All About Me
