Mileage Quest

Here are a few nice closeups of Lincvolt from LincvoltGarage.com

March 30, 2009: LINCVOLT RETURNS TO HOME BASE! Lincvolt is scheduled to arrive in California on Tuesday March 31. Lincvolt is being transported to California home base where experiments with fuel types in the rotary generator will continue. Adjustments to the rear end and brakes will take place while the fuel work continues. We are still waiting for the electrical components that we need to completely test the car and generator system. More info as it happens.

March 27, 1009: According to Lincvolt's Facebook page, she is heading for California.

March 22, 2009: From The Lincvolt Gazette

Experiments with fuel sources continue while we await the arrival of components to allow Lincvolt to regenerate its own power. In this time we will experiment with fuel blends to run the generator system more efficiently.

The fuel source for Lincvolt has changed several times. We have tried CNG, ethanol, bio diesel and gasoline. We have tried displacing these fuels with HHO gas from water and have had the most success with the quick burning fuels, ethanol and CNG. The big winner for efficiency has been CNG at this point, yielding 65mpg without any displacement by HHO. We are currently experimenting with ethanol again and researching various blends for experimentation.

We will keep you posted as events develop during the interim time as we wait for our charge system electrical components. We have had no problem with the vehicle's main power. The problem is with the accessory power used to control Lincvolt's many accessory systems. We are confident that the issue will be solved.

March 18, 2009: BACK TO WICHITA
One more time! Lincvolt leaves Austin today traveling North to Wichita for another round with Johnathon Goodwin at the Lincvolt garage. Despite performing beautifully on the track and highway, Lincvolt's main objective is long range and fuel efficiency and no statistics were gathered. Problems with components related to the generator and recharge system prevented meaningful efficiency and mileage stats from being gathered during the trip east.

Lincvolt's journey to Washington and Detroit has been postponed indefinitely while the remaining challenges are confronted. We have always said that we would keep you aware of all of our successes and setbacks. Apparently we bit off more than we could chew. We could not meet our own deadlines for fuel efficiency stats. Watch lincvolt.com for further developments as we continue on our mileage quest.

The Lincvolt team and Goodwin-Young thank you for your continued support.

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Sounds like a quiet period is coming in the video streams, in comparison to recent weeks. Lincvolt has already raised the bar on electric commuting, for such a heavy vehicle. The project has also introduced many newcomers to the notion of improving their gas mileage, and sparked the desire to learn more. That's all good. Now I suspect it's back to the shop to get the long range efficiency of the generator engine dialed in. It will be very interesting to see what happens next in the Lincvolt development process. The generator needs to provide enough electricity to sustain power to the batteries and electric motor, at cruising speed, and do it using as little fuel as possible, to reach the 100 MPG long range goal.

Are you interested in Lincvolt but keep missing the webcasts? Would a notification to your phone via twitter be helpful?

If so, we can help.

Follow @Lincvolt on twitter or signup for email alerts by sending an email to lincvolt at mileagequest.com (fix the @). Use the subject line "Subscribe Lincvolt".

Note: No other communication is available at that address. Please go to www.lincvolt.com for that.

I'll do what I can to send short alerts when I'm made aware of an event, and as time and circumstances on my end allow, but can't guarantee 100% availability or accuracy. So please don't expect that. Sometimes these happen on very short notice. The Lincvolt team is aware of these accounts and I reserve the right to grant control, and your email address, to them when/if they're ready.

It really is an interesting project and a unique opportunity to see Neil at his passionate best, in another important area outside music.

Follows are a few bits of Lincvolt news. Lincvolt is currently in Virginia for some software work and MPG testing on a test track.

Charge on, Lincvolt!