June 2nd 2008
Neil Young Takes His Hybrid-Electric ‘59 Lincoln For A Test Drive
Cruise almost ends in disaster...
Filed under: cars-houses, transport — michael @ 2:59 pm
Hot on the heels of Matt Damon taking an electric vehicle out for a spin, rocker Neil Young hit the road with his still-under-development green vehicle: A 1959 Lincoln Continental Mark IV that’s being turned into a beautiful serial-electric hybrid by John Goodwin. Young has been working on having the car transformed since the announcement of the project last October. ”Johnathan and this car are going to make history,” said Young in an interview with The Wichita Eagle. ”We’re going to change the world, we’re going to create a car that will allow us to stop giving our wealth to other countries for petroleum. And we’re going to do it right here in Wichita, a great place that I now love, where people know how to make things, and make things happen.”
Of course, there have been a few bumps along the road. The $120,000 project almost ended in disaster during a recent test-drive with Young and Goodwin. From the article,
“Because there is no gas pedal, Goodwin had to drive with his left hand, with no power steering, while twisting half around and turning an acceleration knob in the back seat with his right hand. ‘And we just about crashed it,” Goodwin said. At K-96 and Webb, as they approached the entrance ramp, Goodwin turned the knob the wrong way, and the car leaped toward the back end of another car. In a micro-second, Young, from the passenger seat, stomped the brake, averting disaster.
‘Still needs a little work,’ Goodwin said.”
For more pictures — and a video — of Young’s hybird Lincoln, jump to the article here.
Sounds good, but all I could gather was a lot of hype about the man and little about the car. What type of batteries was he using, or drive motor? I have built a couple of cars and used forklift (electric) motors. The controllers are Curtis PMC and hooked up to the throttle. The motor is a 48 volt cat and there is no need for me to let go of the steering to adjust the speed.
One car was a 64 VW and this one is 1988 Ford Aerostar. The Aerostar is a bit heavy and the battery pack is huge, performs well but the engine and wiring tends to heat excessively.
Enjoy
KMD
Driving that thing sounds more than a little complicated. It won’t much matter if it’s electric if noone can drive it. Let’s just hope they work out all the kinks.
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