#7) Project ForkenSwift electric car: battery pack hot swap!

[MrBry329]

i love the grand turismo 2 test music

[andrepatacchini]

c.o.n.g.r.a.t.u.l.a.t.i.o.n.s.­!.!.!

[Infernostar18]

Ok so my question is, why hasnt anyone figured how to rig up a bunch of alternators to the motor to charge the batteries as your driving? Say, you have 6 batteries and it takes one alternator to charge one battery. So what ya do is rig 6 alternators to some sort of pulley attached to the crank. When the motor turns, the alternators turn. The results? An EV with infinate range. One of the problems? Prehaps the alternators not turning fast enough? CHANGE THE PULLEY DRIVE RATIO.

[tuguybear]

I phoned my insurance company.They said they wouldn't insure me if I converted to electric.The creeps.

[KinoFilm21]

Reminds me of playing GT4 )))))

[DingDongDynamo2010]

I like this concept!

[TheDoyleClan]

It's funny how the first video has about 137,000 views and this last one is down to 15,000. But it still shows there's a lot of use that are very interested in the future.

I would like to sincerely thank you and all your EV friends that helped with this project and shared how to do it.

Those of us watching this last video know how important what you have done is at so many levels.

I see you are from Canada. Where abouts?

Thanks again.

[aleon1018]

So easy, even a Canadian can do it.

[ForkenSwiftDotCom]

30 to 35 km at city speeds. See the web site for more speed / distance info: ForkenSwift-dot-com

[diymania]

So how far is it practical to drive with this car ?

[DarkLinkAD]

Did you concider the old corolla, with its heavy iron block weighing in at 2200lbs.

Theres a lot of weight to be saved on this vehicle also.

[ForkenSwiftDotCom]

No - we intentionally chose the cheapest & lightest car we could find (both criteria happen to align frequently with old Metros). FYI, it weighs in at around 1700 lbs in gas engine form.

[4063614]

Do any body know what type of battery and what is the voltage and ah for each battery.

[ForkenSwiftDotCom]

They're Exide GC-5 225Ah 6volt flooded lead acid golf cart batteries.

[spudrust85]

why did you go with 6 volt battery's? Would 12 volt save space and weight?

[sixmagpies]

It is only chaps like you who will, eventually, manage to shame the cynical establishment ('OIL Co', GMC.etc ..and 'their' Government.) into offering appropriate products at a sensible cost ..... a technology which YOU have proven is quite possible as it's already here. Keep fighting the good fight.

"Evil prevails when good men do nothing". Well done sir.

[Blown75]

Great sequence of videos... you truly show it can be done and that as the project progressed more and more safety and acceptance for home builders is happening.. Nice work

[UrbanSavvy]

I must commend you on your ingenuity. Keep up the good work. I'm about to do a similar project with a dunebuggy.

[drumzz2109]

That is simply amazing. Thank you so much for the inspiration to get my project started. Great job. Pehaps a chapter on performance(Speeds, distances, etc). Ever thought about adding some solar panels to help keep that charge? Excellent !!!!

[ForkenSwiftDotCom]

You're welcome! And you're right: need to post some details about performance. It's pretty unimpressive on 48v with a 400A controller - 25 seconds to 50 km/h (30 mph). Solar would be sweet - super expensive, and won't contribute much to the total distance driven, but fun nonetheless.

[DarkLinkAD]

Keep looking out, Solars becoming increasingly inexpensive.

[MikPil]

VERY COOL!

Have you gaged the total distance for driving and road time yet with new batteries? Also, will you ever change out to a bigger motor? Keep us posted

[ForkenSwiftDotCom]

The "new" batteries are really just a set of slightly less dead, used batteries. In warm weather we're getting around 25 km per charge from them. No plans to upgrade the motor - it can handle much more voltage. We *may* up the pack voltage a little.

[DarkLinkAD]

Would you say, a Fork Lift motor would be best electric motor of choice?

Are you using a Long FDR or Short?

[cant7think7clearly]

But why did you get out of the passenger side? Hehehe. ;)

[ForkenSwiftDotCom]

Haha! Because my chauffeur stayed in the car while I swapped batteries! ;-)

[silverbolt90210]

Nice Job. Sergio form Brazil

[spootyrat]

Did you save those big battery connectors from the forklift? (C:

[ForkenSwiftDotCom]

Yup. There was only one big one - we're using it as the emergency disconnect via the clutch pedal.

[Nichen]

Friggin great idea dude!!!

[Nextwave1980]

Very nice! just need to get some quick disconnections on it like a paintball gun and u can cut ur time in half :D awesome job!

[EnigmaNZ1]

The new li-on batteries coming out can be charged from flat to 80% charge in a few minutes, so won't be necessary. Its that last 20% that will take the time, that can be done at home.

[ThumperBunny43]

Very cool! In the future there could be a network of places to swap batteries and rent them and this would greatly increase range. Thanks for the vid.

[MPaulHolmes]

I love how you peeled out at the end! That was awesome. hehe

[mikedrazen]

in the future, al gore type future

you can pull in to battery hot swap instead of jeffy lube, and get batts swapped in 8 minutes, 2person will work on your car, and it's full service, they'll even check your tire pressures

[landongendur]

Love the time lapse swap :)