City el / mini el driving tips


After many km with el I give some tips to " el " drive.

Generally

City-El safe driving depends somewhat upon other road user's behavior. Nevertheless driving in traffic is both possible and safe - here some tips.

Vehicle estimate by the other road users

The vehicle is often underestimated due to it's small size - even if one quickly comes along. Many drivers pull times fast still raus if it el see. However the statement that an electric vehicle there is, leaves the people the turn signal to set.

Passing

However the vehicle size induces other drivers to pass, although there is often no necessity for passing. Interestingly enough even other small vehicles seem to see City-el as a passing competitor. It has often occurred to me that drivers tried to pass me in intersections! Driver of larger vehicles mostly pull briefly to the left and past if it is free.

Highway

On highways the speed differences are so large that other drivers are clearly faster. In order to allow cars behind me to pass safely, I normally drive slightly to the right of the center of the lane, if there is no oncoming traffic. If there is oncoming traffic, I either drive very broadly in the middle of the lane, or purposely to the left, in order to prevent the car behind me from attempting to pass in a gap that is too small. Some drivers however insist on risking a head-on collision to pass me

One should establish range boundaries to avoid running out of charge, E.G. on the level not over a certain speed and distance, in the mountain not over a certain current however nevertheless not under a certain Mindestgeschwindigeit. With distances which one did not drive ever, one should look at the capacity meter well and select the speed. Rather somewhat further on the level than over the mountain etc. Some beating of the heart always remains with me, but it is then more beautifully new distances silently beckon.

City traffic

In city traffic there are actually few problems. If you drive the same route often and knows its traffic lights, you will soon figure out where it is worthwhile to drive quickly to catch the " green " traffic lights and where one can drive relatively comfortably, so that one arrives with " yellow / green " and not have to stop, thereby saving energy by avoiding needless accelerations. One can normally along-pull with traffic well. With 20km/h average speed should it there also no difficulties. Some wild el-pilots drive between the waiting cars up to the traffic light, which already brought some drivers to the edge cardiac infarct (heart attack).

Mountain

If you have a mountain to climb, NiCad batteries are best, since the engine efficiency strongly drops at slow revolutions . With the normal City-el one should not fall under 20-25, with 48V not under 25-30km/h. Try to gain as much momentum as possible before each hill.

It is interesting to observe with the armature voltage of the motor. This can measured by attaching a meter to connections A1 and a2 of the motor. The relation of armature voltage to motor total voltage determines the efficiency. I.e. with fully pressed current pedal the engine efficiency is good if the armature voltage is approximate the battery voltage.

Traffic light

A City-el driver knows what it is to be stared at - smile always -

Electrical gas stations

A network of electrical gas stations is come again. Around 1900 there were approx. 1400 e-gas stations in Northern Germany, perhaps we can create that again. Most vehicles can be charged however at normal plug sockets.

Many interesting trips can be made skipping from e-station to e-station. Many e-stations are blocked however by " Stinker " and are thereby useless. See the lists of the e-gas stations and plan your route.

If ever the juice runs out, one can save oneself often to get into the next locality. If one asks friendly, one can from many people get current e.g. with the farmer, at the kiosk, in the restaurant. The reactions are often very positive, one must only dare. There are plug sockets everywhere, additionally one must make only clear for the people that the vehicle does not use any more than 1 DM of electricity (4kWh x 0,25 DM). Charging becomes particularly impressive if one has a wattmeter (energy counter) and the people can see how little energy the vehicle needs. The only bad experiences were made so far with service-station attendants, who cannot expect for your business and do the right thing.

Handling

Dumps

A City-El can flip. This occurs most easily with sharp changes of direction during slow travel. With fast curves it's actually easier to avoid, once the tail drifts, get off the throttle or lightly apply the brakes.

Rain

One must watch out with el on wet roads as with the motorcycle, the front wheel gladly goes it's own way. Manhole covers, street car tracks, and also some carriageway markings are quite slippery.

Economic driving

One learns economic driving with an electric vehicle very fast. Particularly if you have an additional instrument, which displays the instantaneous current draw, you will see that the main energy use is for starting and hills. A little slowler accelerating really adds range. Do not drive on the level at 50 km/h for a long time, it's as current-corrosive as " stop and Go " traffic. With traffic lights, get off the throttle early, and coast, hopefully arriving at the light as it turns green while you're still rolling. Unfortunately this driving fashion is often not understood by other drivers.

Backing Up

When backing, DO NOT release the steering wheel! The geometry of the steering system is such that the front wheel will drive the steering wheel lightning-like up to the limit stops. This impact can break things! The steering wheel functions over a quarter gear wheel and cone gear wheel on the axis of rotation of the front wheel.

Standing

When stopped, particularly at light upward gradients, one should not " hold " the vehicle with the current pedal since while stationary only one of the armature windings in the engine is connected and the engine can overheat.

Wind

One should not leave the City-el with open hood in a strong wind, since this could be damaged by gusts of wind. When driving with wind, one must watch out as you would with an empty VW bus.

Winter

Snow driving in the winter has its difficulties, above all the front wheel does not always want to go the same way as it's driver. El drives in the snow happily, who wants to have more exact experiences should on an empty parking lot go.

Driving in the summer.

El closed in the summer is a sauna -- rather than this status, one should escape the glass roof for a better view and ventilation. With a screwdriver the screws of the hinge pins can be removed. Then one can shift these to the page (?) and squeeze the clamping sleeves out of the setting up joint, then one can remove the glass roof completely. But best buy a Cabrio? Or convert, everything is possible, ask you your dealer!

Tuning for better performance

A big issue. To go from 40 to 50 km/h (the "speed kit" - RRY) or from the old 1kW motor to the 2.5 kW engine is not a problem during vehicle registration. For everything else the German Department of Motor Vehicles has not so far given permission and concomitantly you have no insurance protection. Also with 60 or 80 km/h one is passed still exactly the same, opposite of what you'd expect. It becomes often still more dangerously, because many drivers misjudge the speed of this small vehicle.

Accident

Some accidents with City-el occur when it is overlooked as previously noted. I had an accident with the one vehicle me with tidy rate into the tail drove. The left taillight with the trunk was clearly imprinted. The vehicle was however was still drivable and could be repaired with glass and kevlar fiber. In all accidents it showed up that the overroll bar carries good services out and that the lower tub is very stable. The upper hood unfortunately splinters and it for better plastics is looked up. Danish insurance company statistics show the City-el in all areas is far better than the average car. With small damage to the body one can bond the out-broken sections with a plastic adhesive again. If the holes are larger, one can laminate with glass fiber or the like, prime and paint the appropriate place again. The manufacturer recommends an exchange of all the bodywork after large damage.

Vacation with your City-El

This a dream, which surely many had, but only few dared it. With additional battery charger (Ralf uses a fast charger of greater capacity than the standard onboard charger - RRY) can easily 200 km on the day be driven. A Kewet (another Danish 4 wheel Electric Vehicle - RRY) jet pilot already has been around the world.

Possible travel distances

Various long distances I've driven with my 48V mini el:

Stuttgart (Killesberg) > Heidelberg 105 km in 2,5 h without recharging

Stuttgart > Reutlingen > Zwiefalten > Ravensburg > Bregenz (Austrian solar race) in approx. 10h with intermediate charges at points mentioned

Stuttgart > Reutlingen > Zwiefalten > Friedrichshafen > Konstanz (company Autosol) Karlsruhe > Pforzheim > Black Forest > >Freundenstadt > Black Forest high route > Baden Baden> Karlsruhe (EVA Tour)

Exact planning and a fast battery charger are needed with such routes. The experience shows that the more battery capacity and higher voltage you get, the more one drives.

The electric road vehicle is best, if it drives as much as possible!


letzte Änderung 13.09.99