fuel consumption

i have worked out that the valiant does 8.6km to the litre; i calculated this by filling the tank then driving from wellington to ashburton (487 km or 303 miles) then filling again - it took 56.5 litres. it's quite difficult finding information on the web about average fuel consumption, but from what i can glean it would seem that 8.6km to the litre is actually pretty good. (& of course while she's tucked up at gasoline heaven, she's not using much at all.)

lucy goes round the clock

during march, andy & i did a south island road trip in lucy; we took the ferry from wellington to picton on sunday 14 march, and drove to kaikoura (where we hoped to see whales, but the trip was cancelled because the whales weren't around). the next day we drove to christchurch, and the day after that to dunedin. after a few days there visiting family & friends, we headed for karamea - at the top of the west coast. we made this trip in one day, going via arthur's pass. we left dunedin just before 7.30am & arrived in karamea around 8pm. a few days later we drove from karamea to portage in keneperu sound - another long drive - & the day after that a shorter drive through to picton to get the ferry back to wellington.

lucy did all of this driving without missing a beat; much of it was on the narrow windy roads typical of new zealand's geography - lots of one-lane bridges and a few steep inclines as well. particularly challenging for my upper arm muscles (lucy is definitely pre-power steering!) were the karamea bluff, the buller gorge and the road out along keneperu sound (we were in second gear for most of that one). the only problem we had was when we came down the karamea bluff in the gathering dusk and i went to dip my headlights for an approaching car - the headlights went off completely. for several days they would only work on either full beam or park. i knew we'd be arriving back in wellington in the dark & thought we'd have to drive from the ferry to karori with park lights only, but, miraculously, when we drove off the ferry the normal headlights worked again : ) (but the horn seems to have stopped working ... )

on the second last day of this road trip, at about 5 past 4 in the afternoon and just west of nelson, lucy's odometer went round the clock for the first time. we documented this momentous occasion and had a bit of a celebration. it was pretty exciting to watch the numbers roll over from 999999 to 000000 ... like a rebirth!

then, just over a week ago, i drove lucy to carterton and left her in the capable care of bob & georgie at the gasoline heaven car museum. i am going overseas for a while, don't know how long, so lucy is going to have a holiday at the museum. so if you're passing through carterton, look out for gasoline heaven (on the right just as you leave carterton heading north) & pop in to visit lucy.

alternative to heavy batteries?

Car Bodies Could Store Energy Like Batteries: http://www.inhabitat.com/2010/02/08/car-bodies-store-energy/

"As battery manufacturers race to produce more efficient lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, some scientists are looking to make the cars themselves a power source. Researchers are currently developing a new material that can store and release electrical energy like a battery. Once perfected, scientists hope the substance will replace standard car bodies, making vehicles up to 15 percent lighter and significantly extending the range of electric vehicles."

Tumanako

Just found this: "The Tumanako Project is an Open Source development effort to produce Open Source hardware and software to drive and recharge electric vehicles. Tu manako is Māori for hope & togetherness."

Tumanako on Sourceforge
Tumanako project blog

i haven't got time to look at it all in depth now (i'm in proposal-writing & deadline mode) but it's exciting to know that there is a local & open source initiative like this happening here in aotearoa : )

there is a talk about it at the linux conference on wednesday 20th, but i'm not sure if i can make it ...

i was heartened to read in the capital times this week that the wellington city council is planning to support the introduction of electric cars in the city. the article refers to a finish electric car conversion organisation, & after some googling i've found e-Cars - Now! which describes itself as "an open community devoted to develop high quality electric car conversions available for EVeryone." nice : )

roaring back to life

i got back from my 6 months overseas on friday, & on saturday i opened up the var. this took a while, as i'd put her up on blocks & very securely wrapped her up with a cover & a tarpaulin (because the end of her sticks out of the garage door). i'd had the solar panel putting a trickle charge into the battery, so i was hopeful that she'd start up immediately - but she didn't : ( the neighbours lent me a battery charger & i tried that, but even still she wouldn't start. i knew it was something simple, because the first turn of the key put on the dash lights, so power was getting thru, but when i tried the ignition, it all died.

because i'd put the car in frontwards, it was impossible to open the bonnet more than about a foot, & really difficult to see what was going on inside. so i gave up & this morning called the AA. once the car was out of the garage, he immediately saw that the battery connections needed cleaning, which took about a minute. then i tried the ignition again ... and she roared into life : )

tomorrow she'll get the warrant of fitness, & then i can reregister her, & we'll be back on the road : )

incentive to go electric

Recently the NZ government announced that electric cars will be exempt from road user charges, in a move to encourage more people to switch to electric powered vehicles. it's effective from october this year & will be reviewed in four years. it's good that this government is doing at least one positive thing, altho the transport minister's rationale for it - that there are very few electric vehicles in nz so the revenue loss will be insignificant - is indicative of their short-sightedness. the motivation for this move is to increase the electric fleet, therefore if it's successful the loss of revenue will be significant ... perhaps that's why they're slashing jobs in the public service now?

road user charges in nz are not too massive, i think for an ordinary car these days it's about NZ$280. if your car is over 40 years old, like mine, then it's only about $80 a year (in australia it's a lot more, because it includes compulsory third party insurance). uvbt it's still some encouragement for the average car user to consider going electric.