• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

EEVC NEWSLETTER Published by the Eastern Electric Vehicle Club Peter Cleaveland, Editor Vol 28 No 1 Club Address: P.O. Box 134, Valley Forge, PA 19481-0134 JANUARY, 2008 email: [email protected]. Web site: www.eevc.info President: Oliver Perry, 5 Old Stagecoach Turn Shamong, NJ 08088, (609) 268-0944 Copyright © 2008, Eastern Electric Vehicle Club, all rights reserved Now affiliated with EAA ALAN ARRISON 2007 EEVC CLUB MEMBER OF THE YEAR By EEVC President Oliver H. Perry It has been a long-standing tra- belonging to a group that dition in the January issue of keeps them abreast of the lat- our newsletter to honor a est developments in the trans- member of the EEVC as the portation side of environmen- outstanding club member of tal issues. But, as for actually the previous year. For the year participating in electric vehicle 2007, Alan Arrison earned this conversions and participating distinction. in promotional events, most The EEVC was formed in EEVC members have re- 1980 to provide stimulation, mained more in the stands than information, resources, and on the playing field. Fans are support for the advancement of very important, but without electric vehicles into main- players there is little excite- stream driving. It was hoped ment. This past year Alan that many members would Arrison provided us with that become interested in making excitement and demonstrated their own private electric vehi- that he is a major player, not cle conversion with the encour- just a spectator. agement, advice, and hands-on After ten years designing, help from the EEVC member- planning, and constructing an ship. Many EEVC members Alan Arrison, EEVC Club Member electric vehicle conversion have fulfilled that dream, but of the Year Alan was able to drive his con- many more have not. version onto the competitive It was also hoped that many EEVC mem- track of last June’s 21st Century Automotive bers would become active in promoting elec- Challenge held in Burlington County, New tric vehicles through public displays and pub- Jersey. At that event Alan won the technical lic events. Again, many EEVC members testing award for having the neatest and best have done just that, but many more have not. made electric vehicle in the competition. His Most members have found our organiza- vehicle was no doubt the one vehicle, out of tion intellectually stimulating and a source all of the competing electric vehicles, which of information. They enjoy the benefits of most people would have preferred to own if they were forced to commute daily in an EV. skills and the understanding of how mechani- In addition to competing in the two-day cal, electrical, and electronic machines work. 21st Century Automotive Challenge, Alan The repair of gaming machines has been his also towed his vehicle to Kempton, Pennsyl- trade for about twenty years. vania in September to display it in the three Alan remembers when juke boxes used day Energy Fest sponsored by the Mid vinyl 45 rpm records and pin ball machines Atlantic Renewable Energy Association. sent a real ball bouncing off solid obstacles For the many hours, days, weeks, and years under a clear plastic top. He has seen the that Alan spent bringing his VW pickup truck transition from vinyl records to computer electric conversion to a reality, his participa- based audio systems and “PacMan” type tion in two major EEVC electric vehicle games give way to Star Wars and plasma events this past year, his faithful attendance screen virtual imaging. and participation in our monthly meetings, and The public room gaming business accord- his adventuresome drive to and from our ing to Alan, is being killed by the home video EEVC meeting in his electrified VW pickup, game market. So Alan’s livelihood faces Alan has been chosen for our EEVC 2007 challenges. He does not want to become as Club Member of the Year Award. useful as a typewriter repairman. Alan we all salute you! How then an Electric Vehicle? Alan cannot exactly remember how or Out of high school and into life why he joined the Electric Auto Association Alan Arrison graduated from Clearview in the early 90s. But after receiving the EAA High School located in Southern New Jersey. Current Events publication Alan was able to His father, an iron worker, was forced find electric vehicle conversion companies through circumstances to learn how to fix that were available to provide necessary parts everything surrounding his family’s life with and instruction. He checked out several com- few to no tools. Alan picked up his mechani- panies and settled on EV America, owned cal skills and a self taught problem solving and operated by Bob Batson. The gaming mind. Having an interest in motorcycles Alan repair company that Alan worked for just soon found himself working as a mechanic happened to have a 1981 VW pickup (that for a Honda motor cycle dealership for they used for running about) for cheap sale. approximately five years after graduation. Alan purchased the pickup and the needed There he was provided training leading to conversion parts and was soon at work con- Honda mechanic certification. verting the VW pickup to an electric vehicle. During the early 80s Alan completed an on The fist part of the conversion, taking out line electronics course enhancing his the internal combustion engine and replacing acquired mechanical skills. it with an electric motor, went quickly. How- One might suspect that the arts had escaped ever, figuring out where to place custom Alan’s attention (except for the sound of welded battery racks under the hood, without motorcycle exhaust pipes). Not so. For five placing too much weight in front of the front years Alan was a drummer and vocalist in a axle, slowed Alan down. Battery racks that full time band that traveled about the require welding in a relatively precise fash- Delaware Valley playing in bars that featured ion, take time to fabricate. And, sometimes live music throughout the week and week- uncertainty as to where to place just one bat- ends. Perhaps, while waiting to go on stage, tery rack can create longer stalls in a project Alan became frustrated trying to play many than a shortage of parts. broken video and arcade games, and began One wait led to another and soon the con- using his skills to repair them. For whatever version was reduced to a snail’s pace. Many reason he ended up becoming a repair special- projects never do see completion once they ist and technician for the gaming machines stall. Some awfully good purchases can be that were abundant during the height of the made of unfinished electric vehicle conver- video game era. Alan was well suited for this sions that entered the doldrums and never particular trade with his multi-disciplinary recovered. However, Alan stayed with his 2 dream for ten years and was able to finally School, the charger still indicated that it was show the world a well completed, running fully functional when in fact it had only limit- electric vehicle. Alan plans on preparing an ed power. After Alan plugged in the charger in depth article describing his conversion the output meter was not completely dead, as project in an upcoming newsletter. As they many chargers (that we are familiar with) are used to say, “Look for it soon on your local when a main fuse blows. news stand!” (Now they say... “View it on There was no way that anyone could have YouTube.”) suspected that this brand new charger, show- ing an output of one amp, had only blown a fuse. Alan discovered the problem the next day after he contacted the charger supplier. PART II OF We think that the charger should have an BIG AL’S ADVENTURE: indicator light or some clear printed instruc- “BIG AL, ON THE COBBLESTONES” tion indicating a blown fuse for those who might not be familiar with, what we consider, an UNUSUAL charger feature. If any of you are familiar with this type of setup please write us. Crawling under the car with cobblestones for a headrest and broken glass in abundance for arms and legs to find, was not Alan Arri- son’s idea of a happy ending to his first elec- tric vehicle commute to an EEVC meeting. Neither was “Big Al” in a mood to act as if he were a star in a survival TV show, espe- cially when there was nobody around with a video camera to document it. Never the less Big Al squeezed his lengthy arm and shoul- der under the front of the VW and tried to put Review and helpful charger hint the half axle back into the transmission cou- Last month we left Big Al somewhere in the pling. Four bolts had come loose and allowed middle of Philadelphia (on a dark night) with the axle to come loose from the coupling. It a dropped axle of his “under charged” elec- was amazing that all four bolts remained in tric converted VW Pickup truck, lying on their bolt holes. Allen, still spouting off about cobblestones. the “darn cobblestones,” painfully tried to Earlier that evening Alan had driven his finger twist each bolt back in place. All of the electric pickup to the EEVC meeting, expect- while he struggled to keep his fingers from ing to re-charge his pickup (during the meet- slipping, I kept asking Allen if he felt it might ing) with his newly purchased Russco 110 not be a bad idea for us to push his truck volt input, 15 amp output charger.

Load more

  8

Copy Link