The Life of Riley

THE SEVENTY SEVENTH POST

Mike

Ollie loved new things that were in the pipeline, especially if they had something to do with saving energy.

If there was a link with her beloved Broken Hill, so much the better.

For those who’ve just stumbled on this blog, Olive Riley left us recently, last July in fact, at the spritely age of 108. She is sadly,sadly, missed.

No, she was not a relative of mine, but became a dear friend as I scribed for her, this blog.
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As I said, she loved knowing what was happening and was quite content to partner my passions for energy saving, global warming solutions, etc.

No, this is not an electric race car. It’s a hand powered torch, flashlight for our American readers, which I gave her to try.
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You can see her giving it a wind on Post, 59, called; Olive makes some Electricity

I always found it amazing that at 108, she could still be interested in the future as if she herself would be around indefinitely.

Actually Ollie was a very unselfish person and wanted the best for the kids of tomorrow.

She especially liked hearing about the wind farm that’s going to be built near her home town of Broken Hill. Well, it’ll be near Silverton, to be precise.

I’m convinced that if she’d lived , she’d have been a patron of that wind farm.

This is an artist’s rendition of how the Silverton Wind farm will look. It’s going to be huge!
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Earlier this year before Ollie died, I was in touch with the wind farm people, having had dreams she could be at the opening.

Foolish me, the project’s years from completion.

Here, I’m trying to convince Ollie it’s a possibility, her being there. She knows better.

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Whether she went to the opening or not, we did have a certificate prepared for Epuron, the wind farm builders, but she never got to sign it.

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It states that;

Gracious Olive Riley as patroness, hereby gives permission for this certificate of support to be displayed as seems attractive and appropriate.

I know Epuron was appreciative of her support for their 2 bullion dollar project. They told me so.

They’re a curious company, mostly German, I gather.

They released the most spooky and yet most effective commercial for wind that you could ever imagine.

It was this strangely touching bit of advertising which made me think they just might be interested in what an 108 year old woman thought of their plans

I showed the clip to Olive. She was a bit taken aback. Take a look and see what you think.

Would you trust this company with your 108 year old partner?
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Olive wanted no reward. Like Queen Elizabeth, Olive never accepted money or any sort of benefit for her patronage.

(Though I was secretly hoping Epuron would put her on their publicity payroll, making her the oldest employee ever.

Now, that would have been a blog story!!)

Here’s Ollie signing another Gracious Olive certificate for our local Avoca Thai restaurant where she had her first Laksa soup, indeed her first Thai meal ever.
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I know I keep talking about this possible wind farm and you are sick of it.

Anyway, what does all this have to do with an Electric car called Olive you are no doubt wondering?

Ah, thereby hangs a tale, as they say.

A few weeks ago I saw a movie I’d been wanting to see for a long time, one that many people told me is a “must see.”

It’s called; Who killed the Electric Car?
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It’s a shocking tale folks, a documentary about a tragic death, and it could well be true.

To be very brief, some years ago California passed some very radical yet wise legislation.

The new law stipulated that by a certain date a certain percentage of the vehicles on Californian roads had to be zero emissions, yes zero.

Well, GM accepted the challenge and built a sleek electric car, not just one or two for a motor show, but 1115, I’m told.

Here it is, the EV1.
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These cars they leased out to curious customers who proceeded to fall in love with them, their economy, their silence, their speed. It became a total love affair.

Here’s a besotted lease holder at a charging point. Yes, there were even public charging posts.
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Now, as the film tells it, GM got worried, this unexpected success was a step too far.

These vehicles were too good, too simple, too cheap to run.

What would such cars do to the spare parts industry and the jobs of all of those who serviced complex gasoline cars?

Most of all, what would they do to the oil industry?

Political pressure was applied and the too-good-to-be-true zero emissions law was repealed.

As the film shows, The Bush White House cleverly muddied the waters by seeming to promote an alternative, the Hydrogen car.

But this was just, as we say here, a furphy, a red herring, since Hydrogen cars are way over the horizon, if ever it comes.

No longer required to provide a zero emission vehicle, GM recalled the EV1. You remember, they were leased not sold.

People tried to buy their cars. No go. Then, they refused to give them up, they kicked and screamed. They held mock funerals….

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But all to no avail. All the cars, except one which was gutted and went into a museum (for what might have been) were recalled and crushed.

Yes, crushed in the desert.
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GM Claimed there was no market for the car and they were not prepared to take the risk.

That markets are developed though advertising and promotion, and not spontaneously born, seems to have been forgotten by GM..

Except when it came to the Hummer, that is. For that monster, that guzzler, a market could and was be cleverly developed.
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The film got me fuming I can tell you! But I must add that I’ve just found out that 40 survived, not one, given to motor schools so that the evil of image of GM is somewhat, slightly, mellowed.

But they were all gutted. Now, I find further that one EV1 has been resurrected. How wonderful the internet!
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The upshot was that I went on the Internet to see what was happening elsewhere.

Note, I’m not talking about Hybrids here, but all-electric cars, zero emissions cars.

I was delighted to find that in Canada, Quebec to be precise, where I lived for almost 30 years, an all- electric car is now being produced.

Here it is, the Zenn in front of what looks like a typical Quebec landscape.
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Here’s another Zenn more plausibly placed, with it’s happy owner. Cute looking car, eh?

The Zenn sells for about $16,000
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There’s a big drawback with the Zenn, though.

Because the company did not want to go to the huge expense of crash testing etc. as Govt. regulations require, the car’s speed is limited to 40 Kms an hour.

I fear that few motorists in Australia would want a car so slow, even though it would be sold as just a local run-about.

I kept looking on the net and found a small outfit in Victoria, the state just below my NSW, where an all-electric car company has gone into production. It;s called BEV, Blade Electric Vehicles

They are modifying Hyundai Getz’s to produce an electric car they call the Bladerunner.

Output is tiny at the moment but they have great hopes. The conversion, new Getz included , is still pricey. Around $39,000.

Here’s the Blade-runner with Mr. Ross Blade, company president, at the wheel.
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By this time I was seriously thinking that I’d like an electric car, not only for the eco aspects, but to help turn around perceptions that such cars are way off in the future.

I should add the one thing which stuck in my mind above all else from the movie.

This was the news that when cars first appeared on the roads in the early 1900’s, that is when Ollie was a girl, there were as many electric cars as petrol driven ones.

Just look how advanced they were!
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Isn’t it interesting the way they linked these cars with well dressed women of the day.

This was surely meant to imply that electric cars were easy to drive and not messy, which was and is true.

What’s also clear is that all-electric cars were on the market in a commercial way way back in the 1900’s

The more I found out, the more I felt we’ve been cheated by powerful interests

The more too I’m resolved to help spread the word about alternatives, especially with the price of gas as it is, and the environmental problems we face, none of which existed back then.

I know Ollie would be right behind me.

I next found an emerging builder here in NSW who seems to be approaching high professional levels.

This was Nathan Bolton, living some 100 kms. from me at Maroubra, in southern Sydney.

Converturcar was the name of Nathan’s little company.

Within days, I was driving to to see him, and soon after that, having a drive of his own converted car which he and his wife Linda call Sparky.

Being at the wheel of Sparky was a great surprise.

He was smooth and peppy. He accelerated with astonishing speed, I had to be careful, and was delightfully quiet. It was a weird drive but an enjoyable one.

Here’s Nathan in front of Sparky
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Under Sparky’s bonnet are neatly arranged batteries, covering the electric motor. The workmanship looked good to me.
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In the back, in a cavity where the gas tank used to be, were more batteries.

Nathan explained that these were old technology batteries, not the Lithium batteries he’d use in a conversion for me if I gave him the job.
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What I liked best was a peep into the gas tank cap and finding a power point instead of a filling hole.
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Then, the big question; would Nathan relocate his conversion from Maroubra to where I live on the Central Coast?

I explained that it was very important to me was to have the work done locally so that my neighbors could follow the story.

I told him I planned to try and involve the local paper, the Express Advocate, make it a story they’d follow from start to finish.

Nathan was cool about all of that. Somehow, he assured me, he’d get the bulk of the work done in my neck of the woods.
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Nathan gave me a quote. It was close to $30,000, and that was just for the conversion, not the host car.

Phew! My enthusiasm cooled somewhat.

The first step, I’d have to get rid of the two cars we now own. What would they fetch, I wondered?

I looked up the Redbook, not as much as I hoped.

First to go would have to be our dear Mazda wagon, the 626.

It was due to be sold anyway since I’d bought it mainly for Ollie, to cart her around in comfort with plenty of room for her wheelchair in the back.

With her gone, there was no need in our family for this wagon.

Katya never drove it and Ellen, though she’s about to get her first permit, doesn’t need to be in a big car, or have a car at all, for that matter. She’s only 16!

So I put the Mazda in the local paper and also out on the road with a sign on it. (That’s a good way to sell cars around here.)

After some nibbles, I decided that I should be advertising it as a historic relic, as the Ollie-mobile. I even thought about e-bay.
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Indeed, here is Ollie in “her” car. She especially liked Mazda’s for some reason
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Well, that’s done. The Mazda’s gone, sold for $3000, no premium for it’s great historic value.

Now the next step was to find a host car, something to take the conversion. I was guided by four things.

1. Price. Given the cost of the conversion, I could not afford a new car.

2. The look. The host had to look new and be like your average small car. This was because I wanted people to identify with it and say, ‘Hey, that could be my electric car!’

3. In the same vein, I wanted airbags, and aircon. the things one expects on a modern car.

While they’ll make the conversion more difficult, they are seen by most people as essential these days.

4. Lastly, the host car had to be light enough so that it would not be hard for the batteries to deliver a good range. I wanted at least 70kms between nightly charges.

Here it is, a Daihatzu Sirioin, 1999! This is now my electric car to be! with Tosca, so beloved by Olive, beside it.

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While far from new, (199) it looks new-ish and has done only 94 thousand Kms.

Moreover, it has two airbags, aircon, and weighs only 800 kgms. I paid $4500 for it.

I do hope those following the story will see it as a sensible choice . Am I right?

I also can’t wait to see the name, The Olive, or perhaps just, Olive on it’s neat little rear. Tell me what name you like best.

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Also, is there anyone reading who can render The Olive in script which looks metallic?

If so, do send it back and we’ll post the name on the car photo.

Here’s what the present name looks like and the lettering which I’m hoping to more or less match.
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Nathan assures me that my choice fits the bill exactly.
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Converturcar…..
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……is ready to give me a quote, coming from the core team which is Nathan and his wife, Linda.
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I’ve told Nathan, that, sad for me, he can’t give me a special deal.

No discount for any publicity which might accrue because I need the whole process, including the price, to be the same for others if they too decide to go ahead.

For the same reason, I’ve reluctantly given up any idea of applying for a Gosford council or State Govt grant, knowing that such a thing not only takes time, but would be a one off if it came through.

I have a dream that perhaps, if it all works out, modifying cars to electric, could be come a job creator in our area where we have lots of young men without work and sometimes inclined to bad behaviour

I got Nathan’s quote this morning.
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Together with the cost of the Sirion, this will bring The Olive up to around $32,000.

It’s a huge amount of money but still $7000 cheaper than the Victorian Bladerunner, and it’ll be locally made!

By the way, Linda would like it said for those of you who might contemplate a conversion,

“Each quote will vary; there may be price increases on some parts in the future.”

One problem I have is with my cousin Jonathan.

He’s good at this sort of thing and he has his doubts.

He came to meet Nathan and is not sure that enough is known for an accurate quote to be given, nor whether it can be built in the time frame proposed .

If you’ve followed Ollie’s blog you’ve met Jonathan before. His strange farm has featured on the post called, Making hens meet.

Jonathan also belongs to a country choir which we featured on the blog. Here’s Jonty, on the left, in song.
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Jonathan thinks the conversion is experimental. Nathan assures me it’s not. What to do?
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If I do go ahead, the first thing is to order the batteries.

They come from China, (what doesn’t?) are called Thundersky, are tried and true apparently, but take a good 8 weeks to arrive in Australia.

They requite an up front payment of around $8000
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So , what to do? what do you think, Ollie?
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Mike, the scribe.