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People just love Silent E

Thanks to my good friend Clark, today I attended the RubeLab RubeRally alternative fuel vehicle rally. Rather like a scavenger hunt, really. Silent E took second place! Well, the first place car ran on CNG -- a fossil fuel -- so I contend it should've been disqualified, but hey...

I also pushed my car beyond its limits, saw some other neat vehicles, and enjoyed hanging out with my brother. Read on for details and more pictures.

On Tuesday, Greg Frenette, manager of Ford's Global Electrified Fleets, came to UCF with a prototype Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid Electic Vehicle (PHEV) to show off their new solar EV charging station. I had received an invitation via Facebook, and I planned to show up early and charge my home-built EV in the new spaces. I figured I'd be available if there was a problem, and Silent E would likely get a picture with Ford's prototype. I had even washed and waxed her for the event.

Unfortunately, one of my children got sick, and I had to take her to the doctor. I didn't have time to attend the photo-op, but I did go to the lecture.

And thus began the adventure.

A combination of cold, work, and family events has prevented me from working on my car lately. After Kayla dinged my nice paint job with the door of our other car, I cleaned out my side of the garage and moved Silent E where she'd be safe.

After a quick 1.5A refresh charge, I figured I'd take another shot at rescuing my two leftover batteries. They'd gone bad when I had my motor disaster, as you recall. Sometimes, if you use high voltage and low current, you can get the battery back.

The first battery seemed to work overnight! It was at 13 volts the next morning. I may be able to up my range a little, or replace that one battery that's driving me nuts! I plugged the second battery in and left it overnight.

The next morning I kept waking up, wondering what the horrible smell was. I thought a cat had been incontinent right in the room. It was terrible. Eri woke up once, too; she asked if I had been farting. When she mentioned it smelled like rotten eggs, a light went off: sulfur!

I'm driving a friend's gasser right now, because I'm preparing Silent E for painting and windshield replacement. So the electric vehicle charging space at work has been going unused.

Until yesterday! I came out of work to find a plug-in Prius in my spot!

I didn't get to meet the driver, but the stickers indicate it's one of Sarasota county's plug-in Prius hybrids. I wish my cellphone camera was better, so it could capture all the awesome!

I recently took Monday off and attended the UCF - Progress Energy Senior Design Symposium in Renewable & Sustainable Energy. Don Harper generously arranged charging for my EV behind one of the UCF engineering buildings.

The seniors presented finished projects in a variety of alternative energy fields. They featured real-life building improvements, biodiesel extraction and automation, wind turbine control and design, ocean wave energy, mass transit monitoring, and even a electric generating bicycle and a solar cooker.

I enjoyed talking with all the teams. They were knowledgeable and enthusiastic. I was especially impressed by the wireless auto-dimming LED light bulb, the DynaLight (I want to re-illuminate my entire house with them!). But of course my favorites were the two hybrid golf cart teams.

One team made a series hybrid golf cart, while the other made a parallel hybrid. In a series hybrid, the gas engine only generates electricity and the electric motor only pushes the wheels. They Chevy Volt will be a series hybrid. In a parallel hybrid, both the gas engine and the electric motor push the wheels. The Toyota Prius is a parallel hybrid.

Both projects were rudimentary, and neither were applicable to a production automobile. But it was interesting to see how each team had solved the control problem.