Reposting a press release ....
San Antonio, TX December 10, 2012 - Improve the Environment, our Economy and our Energy independence in one easy step with the EZ-EV.
A crowd funding campaign has been launched by ZWheelz, LLC at www.IndieGoGo.com/ZWheelz to design an open source Electric Vehicle (EV) called the “EZ-EV”. The design will become available in plans, kits or assembled vehicles. The kits will provide very simple street legal, highway capable transportation that can be assembled in one week. The car can be upgraded, modified and customized easily with different options and bodies or body panels. This will allow people to get into electric vehicles on a budget and enable small businesses to enter the emerging clean tech industry by producing subsystems or complete vehicles.
This all-composite vehicle will be based on the first successful prototype, using the experience gained in the construction of a composite kit airplane and from the aerospace industry. Today's technology brings us advanced composite materials and inexpensive CNC routers and 3D printers which allows a guy-in-a-garage to become an entrepreneur and produce high-quality frames and body components. Local manufacturing will reduce carbon footprints and create clean tech jobs. Advances in large format lithium batteries will keep this modular design on the cutting edge of electric vehicle range and performance. The open-source format will attract a design community to refine the design and add more options and body styles.
The world is electrifying our transportation systems and this provides the DIY'er and local entrepreneur the opportunity to drive electric without worrying about proprietary drive systems or battery interfaces. The cars can be built to spec, will last longer and will get better with age as each generation of batteries is replaced with the next with no other modifications to the vehicle.
Once the design and fabrication process is validated, the designs will expand to bicycles, scooters, motorcycles, three-wheel vehicles, neighborhood electric vehicles, four-wheel cars and trucks.
Thank you for your time and please contact Gary at ZWheelz for further information.
I'm afraid the basic design is flawed. It doesn't offer nearly enough protection for the batteries in the outer rows, and thus endangers both the occupants and rescue workers. The first version of the design is horrible, with the later ones becoming merely unsafe...
A better open-source vehicle would have the batteries all inboard, an outer 'crash bar' cage, and room to add replaceable impact-absorbing foam blocks and composite panels to channel impact force away from the driver, passenger(s) and outer batteries. The tadpole version that was built could actually be made to do this, but by putting all those extra SLA batteries up front it remains unsafe. It would make more sense to have a smaller, well-protected battery space and rely on lithium or other advanced battery designs for long range, with an SLA option for urban commuting only. The tadpole version could probably even be made into a serial hybrid, with a small ICE generator.
Leftiebiker,
Good comments, I agree. The first phase is just to get a basic EV design to build upon. If you look at pictures on my website at www.zwheelz.com you can see an example of what some front and side protection extensions would look like, and I also provide an idea for how a foam block could be used for protection as 3D body panels. Eventually, when a full body is integrated onto the frame, it would provide even more protection. Good to see that you are thinking ahead but I have to focus on step one - establishing a solid open source EV foundation that myself and others can then use to refine and evolve into better and better iterations.
Gary Krysztopik
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Gary Krysztopik
Owner - ZWheelz, LLC - www.ZWheelz.com
President - Alamo City Electric Auto Association - www.aceaa.org
blog - http://voices.mysanantonio.com/drive_electric_san_antonio/
San Antonio, TX
Also, I don't propose and wouldn't recommend lead acid batteries for an EV. Having driven several vehicles with both types, now that lithium has come down to somewhat affordable prices it's the only thing I'd build with.
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Gary Krysztopik
Owner - ZWheelz, LLC - www.ZWheelz.com
President - Alamo City Electric Auto Association - www.aceaa.org
blog - http://voices.mysanantonio.com/drive_electric_san_antonio/
San Antonio, TX