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Is it too late?
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Mikes car modifications can be found here: Mikes Insight
For information on MIMA systems please check here:
MIMA
The recent news video gave many people hope that there could be an answer to the rising cost of gas and the loss of value of their current large SUV, Van, or pickup truck.
Mikes Video
The video mistakenly gave people the impression that the MIMA system, v-boost, and e-wheel were available for all vehicles, rather than three distinct modifications.
After talking to many people on the phone and reading all of the e-mail response that this video produced, It was kind of a wake up call to me.
If a reasonably priced and well designed electric drive system could be put into a plug recharged e-wheel or two wheeled e-trailer(Hybrad), that allowed moderate speed travel for 20-30 miles, on electric power, it could make a huge difference without the need to replace the whole fleet of vehicles.
The peak oil situation is real, and we need to conserve gas right now to give the other green energy solutions time to mature.
There is still a lot of oil in the ground, but as energy cost go up, the cost of the solutions also go up, and the average persons ability to buy the solution will always be a bit out of reach for increasing numbers of people. It takes energy to produce the devices that can generate the energy, and as the dollar sinks to new lows in the world economy, and due to massive outsourcing of production, we increasingly depend on foreign sources for the solutions.
Doug Hartley gives a nice overview of how we both see the next years unfolding in Dougs blog
It can be a bit depressing to look at the current and future prospects, but the boy scouts motto of "Be Prepared" is good advice for us all, and if we act wisely and quickly, and in mass, the slope of decline can be extended so we have more time to make the required changes to present energy wasting lifestyle .
An e-mail sent to me from a concerned mother in FL. Is representative on much of the e-mails and conversations that I have had.
"Will this E-wheel adapt to any make of car? Can this be put on a truck as well? I need to do something to help my four grown kids who have families and are ALL facing losing their homes due to the high prices of their commutes to and from work. This has just ruined our way of life and we are hopefull that this might be just what we need to turn things around for us.
I drive a 2001 camry. The kids drive ford F150 trucks, a Dodge durango,my husband has a 2002(I think) GMC sanoma, my son has a dodge pickup also.
Just wondering if we would qualify for any of these vehicles?
Thank you and God bless you."
The pressure is already on, home heating fuels of $4 a gallon, diesel fuel @ way over $4 a gallon will effect the transportation cost for much of the goods we use.
Why the urgency? Don't we have solar, wind, hydrogen , Ethanol , electric cars.
I am encouraged by the progress that these technologies promise, but the scale of petroleum use and the enormous cost of bringing these technologies into widespread use, depends on a healthy economy with the resources to make it happen. Look at the exchange rate of the US dollar, and we see that we are not the economic super power that we were only a few years ago.
Depending on new energy sources to allow us to continue our wasteful ways, is asking for failure.
We need to conserve first, and change the way we live if sustainability is to be possible. 100 years from now, we will be either an extinct species in a recovering world, or will be living in a society that has learned to live in a sustainable way with nature.
A massive change in each of our energy footprints could almost overnight make a huge change in how long we have to solve the massive problems we, or our children will face.
A recent report shows that it takes 42 barrels of oil to produce a modern automobile.
In times of decreasing energy availability, upgrading existing vehicles with an e-wheel would save that 42 barrels, and ease the financial burden that we each will face when our present 2-5 year old vehicle consumes too much gas for us to continue using it, and we see that the residual value has sunk to near zero as no one can afford to feed these metal monsters.
I will be continuing my efforts towards building a running prototype e-wheel or dual wheel pusher, as time finances and components become available.The blog about this project will be here:
E-Wheel
How do we make it happen?
My present situation:
I am 62, and my dear wife Sue of over 40 years is 72 and we do not have medical insurance, homeowners insurance or any liability insurance. Just can't afford it.
My income for the last three years while I have been working on the modifications has been so low that I got an earned income credit, and no taxes for the last three years.
We have some retirement savings, but if one serious illness happened, or a law suit we would get wiped out. A constant worry and stress in my life.I am investing some of my retirement to fund my experiments.
That's where a big influx of money to the efforts would really make a difference.I need to set up the R&D shop to design and built this and make it safe and dependable.
Without the supporters of my modifications to date, my car would not be where it is.
All of the people that contributed to the effort have made it possible. The MIMA system schematics, and computer software are available for download from this site, and is open source so others can build their own and contribute to the project.
The supporters:
A MIMA customer John Snook, sent me a donation of $800 to cover my battery cost, so I could buy the E-tec motor that drives the donated used scooter wheel, with the donated CURTIS PWM motor controller, driving the donated wheel through a donated GATES Power Belt speed reducer.
The Vicor company graciously donated the DC/DC converters that allowed me to build the first V-Boost system to prove that by shifting the cars power mix to the electric side of the equation, one could raise the MPG proportionately, and it became a Plug in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV)
The non supporters:
I tried every battery company looking for some donated batteries, and finally gave up and bought the Trojan AGM 31's, which John Snook was so generous to pay for.
My car is a prototype of what is possible.
All of this was developed and built by my hands, with my creativity and engineering skills in my shop for almost nothing.
Where are the solutions that came from all of our tax money that was given to the large automakers?
I will continue to work on the e-wheel project and will use any profits from MIMA and donations from concerned people to proceed with the e-wheel as I can, with enough money to proceed more efficiently, the progress could be accelerated a hundred fold.
I need a large motorcycle frame with rear wheel, I need some batteries, a motor and a power controller.
The parts for building an e-wheel or e-trailer are readily available from EV parts suppliers, and many people have the required skills to develop this concept.
As I have done on my many other projects, I will make my e-wheel project progress open source, and welcome cooperation and support from any other teams that want to pursue this concept.
If you would like to support the E-wheel project, with financial support, or parts and components, please contact me at (860)935-5569
Sincerely
Mike Dabrowski
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