convert why

Why Convert?

© American Classic Conversions 2015. Minneapolis, Minnesota 071075 000000

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Using petroleum as our sole transportation fuel is not a sustainable. The summer of 2010 brought home very clearly the risks of drilling for oil as the Deepwater Horizon blew it’s top. We are experiencing increased weather activity and patterns not seen in hundreds of years. Our use of petroleum fuels and the industrial age appears to be contributing to these weather patterns. An increase in oil prices will motivate the alternative energy markets. A recent study indicated that people are holding onto their cars longer and looking for ways to economize. According to the Standards and Poors' Industry Trends, the average age of cars in the US is now 10.6 years. They attribute this aging trend to the effect of the 2009 recession. It’s quite likely the lower gasoline prices are because OPEC is driving down the price of oil in hopes of breaking the shale oil industry. North Dakota’s Bakken oil formation region is suffering from unemployment and excess housing as the hydrualic fracking is coming to a halt. $50 a barrel is the price needed to make fracking profitable.

Deepwater Horizon Ecosystem area destroyed

How many un-reported spills occur each day?

Long term health effects are still unknown

Exxon Valdez 11 mill. gal. - Deepwater Horizon 210 mill. gal.

Cost savings of conversions comes from the difference in the cost of gasoline and electrical power. Taking the average gallon of gasoline price for Minnesota of $2.222 with an average fuel economy of 25 mpg, we are paying $0.088/mile to drive a gasoline powered vehicle. Electric vehicle operation averages $0.015/mile. With a kWH cost of $0.03015 for off peak rates and given a 26kW battery pack charged to 90% (state-of-charge was 10% when the charge started), the cost of that charge is $0.06271 now factor in the range of the battery pack. Our current build, ‘66 Corvair, has been calculated to achieve 260 watts/mile. That’s 80% usage of our 26kW pack driving 80 miles. Assuming the national average commute of 40 miles per day and an additonal 100 miles on the weekend, we’ll use 300 miles/week as the benchmark. At 15,600 miles driven per year the cost of operating an EV is 15,600*200 or 3,120kW used, costing $94.068/year. The same calculation using gasoline at $0.088/mile amounts to $1,372.00/year. Total yearly savings of *$1278.73 in fuel costs alone. This assumes the car is charged from the grid. When we take into account oil changes, which will not be needed anymore and reduced maintenance costs, we have calculated that the customer will break even on the cost of the conversion at approximately 6 years. One other consideration is the life expectancy of the LiFePO4 battery pack. The batteries are rated at 3,000 cycles, a cycle is one dis-charge and re- charge. If you drove the 15,600 mile/year re-charging every 80 miles for 6 years, that’s a total of 1,170 cycles of the 3,000 this still leaves 61% of the life expectancy of your pack or 9 more years of pack life to go. As of Nov. 2015, the price of crude oil is near a 10 year low and it’s safe to say the Saudi’s are not going to hold the price down much longer. Let’s use pricing from the Summer of ‘08 when crude was at $147 a barrel and gasoline was $4.00/gal., the conversion payback would then be 3.3 years. *Estimated yearly savings figure of $2.000 was used to take into account for reduced maintenance savings.

$Using gas-powered vehicles adds to the green house gases every mile that we drive. We know that these green house gases add to the pollution of our environment and may significantly add to global warming. Using electric-driven vehicles, we still create green house gases, however at a significantly lower level. There are other environmental savings to converting our vehicles to 100% electric. We will greatly reduce the risks of spills from oil exploration and pipeline ruptures. We will greatly reduce the emissions that are created in refining crude oil and the transportation of crude oil and gasoline. We will also eliminate the need for engine oil, thereby eliminating the used oil that is collected at every oil change. Our aging pipeline infrastructure, which, was largely built during the post World War II economy boom, is going to create a very serious environmental problem. It already has..., we’ve been having a pipeline burst each year for the last several years. The very dangerous one’s such as the one located in Mayflower, Arkansas destroys all of it’s surroundings. Exxon has ruined yet another neighborhood, water supply and wild life habitat. Our nation has approximately 280,000 miles of pipeline of which, only 24,000 miles are federally regulated. To make matters worst, the regulation of these pipelines are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Transportation, not the Environmental Protection Agency. Everyone of those homes that are effected by the latest spill are now having to deal with health concerns from carcinogenic tar sands saturating their neighborhoods and water table. Their property values have fallen to near zero, they’ll need to find a place to live and they’ve been forced to enter a legal battle with the most profitable corporation in America in hopes of recovering any of their losses. View the petroleum pipeline maps to see if underground pipelines may be located near you or your family. You can also view the larger natural gas pipelines in Minnesota. Although, natural gas is often considered less sinister, it’s pipeline leaks can be equally harmful, if not more so, than petroleum. Furthermore, the process of fracking is incredibility dangerous to the environment. Considering the chemicals used in the fracking gel, the contamination to the local drinking water and nearby streams is irreversible and quite harmful to the health of the population and wildlife. T. Boone Pickens theory of using natural gas is flawed. His policy of using natural gas as a stepping stone towards wind energy sounds okay on it’s face, but the harvesting of natural gas will do, ...is doing, extreme damage to our aquifers. It’s likely the flaw stems from greed. Why would these drilling companies endanger people and not disclose the list of chemicals used beneath their neighborhoods, it must be greed. We don’t need an increase in natural gas drilling to get our country off foreign oil. We need to increase the transmission line infrastructure for solar and wind energy. Minnesota Refineries: Pine Bend Refinery in Rosemount, MN 320,000 bbl/d Koch Industries Inc, Flint Hills Resources LP, St. Paul 262,000 bbl/d Northern Tier Energy, LLC. ( ACON Investments + TPG Captial), St. Paul Park Refinery Co., LLC 74,000 bbl/d$

Minnesota Petroleum Power Plants: Thomson Corp., Thomson Reuters Campus - Cap. 11.2MW Thomson Corp., West Group Data Center F - Cap. 2.4MW Thomson Corp., Thomson Reuters Data Center - Cap. 2.4MW Thomson Corp., Thomson Reuters Data Center E - Cap. 0.6MW Northern States Power Co., United Hospital - Cap. 4.8MW Northern States Power Co., Alliant Techsystems - Cap. 1.6MW Ziegler Power Systems, MNDOT Standby Power Generation - Cap. 1.9MW Great River Energy, St. Bonifacius - Cap. 61.2MW Rochester Public Utilities, IBM West - Cap. 3.6MW City of Lakefield, Lakefield Utilities - 3.0MW City of Worthington, Worthington Utilities - Cap. 14.0MW Adrian Public Utility Comm., Adrian Utilities - Cap. 2.0MW City of Luverne, Luverne Utilities - Cap. 3.5MW Interstate Power & Light Co., Hills Plant - 3.9MW City of St. James, St. James Utilities - 10.2MW Truman Public Utilities Comm., Truman Utilities - Cap. 7.9MW City of Wells, Wells Utilities - Cap. 8.1MW City of Blooming Prairie, Blooming Prairie Utilities - Cap. 6.2MW New Ulm Public Utilities, New Ulm Utilities - Cap. 48.0MW Sleep Eye Public Utilities, Sleep Eye Utilities - Cap. 11.2MW Springfield Public Utilities, Springfield Utilities - Cap. 8.9MW City of Fairfax, Fairfax Utilities - Cap.1.9MW Redwood Falls Public Utility, Redwood Falls Utility - Cap. 1.9MW Redwood Falls Public Utility, South Generation - Cap. 6.2MW City of Granite Falls, Granite Falls 2 - Cap. 6.0MW City of Benson, Benson Utilities - Cap. 12.0MW Willmar Municipal Utilities, East Willmar Municipal - Cap. 6.0MW Litchfield Public Utilities, Litchfield Utilities - Cap. 15.7MW Great River Energy, Maple Lake - Cap. 21.7MW City of Elk River, Elk River Utilities - Cap. 9.0MW North Branch Water & Light, North Branch - Cap. 4.0MW Great River Energy, Rock Lake CT - Cap. 22.3MW Princeton Public Utilities Comm., Princeton - Cap.12.8MW Melrose Public Utilities, Melrose - Cap. 8.0MW Morris, Stevens Medical Center, Medical Center - Cap. 1.0MW Otter Tail Power Co., Fergus Control Center - Cap. 2.0MW Moose Lake Water & Light Comm., Moose Lake - Cap. 10.6MW City of Detroit Lakes, Detroit Lakes - Cap. 9.4MW City of Moorhead, Moorhead - Cap. 5.9MW City of Two Harbors, Two Harbors - Cap. 1.9MW City of Halstad, Halstad - Cap. 3.8MW City Thief River Falls, Thief River Falls - Cap. 5.3MW

We believe that we can make a difference for you. We believe in the technology for electrical conversions. Every conversion is custom based on the needs of the customer. We supply full documentation of the conversion. Core Competencies: The core competencies offered by ACC is knowledge and experience with electronics and electrical vehicles. One partner is an expert on control systems and electronics. The second partner is one of the original engineers from the EV1 team back in the 1990's. She has experience with designing, testing and maintaining electrical vehicle battery packs. Resources: The team at ACC has a variety of skills. One of the partners has the business knowledge to strategically lead the company and formulate the financial issues that may arise. The other partner has an extensive background in aerospace, medical device manufacturing and chassis fabrication and automobile Tier 1 electronics experience. Another team member has welding, automotive repair and bodywork training. He’s very talented at painting and custom artwork. ACC has the tools and equipment necessary for the entire restoration or a simple conversion. Strengths: The biggest strength ACC possesses is the passion of the founding partners for good engineering and for the environment. The founding team has a desire to make a difference for their families and their communities.

Why Convert?

Cost savings of conversions comes from the difference in the cost of gasoline and electrical power. Taking the average gallon of gasoline price for Minnesota of $2.222 with an average fuel economy of 25 mpg, we are paying $0.088/mile to drive a gasoline powered vehicle. Electric vehicle operation averages $0.015/mile. With a kWH cost of $0.03015 for off peak rates and given a 26kW battery pack charged to 90% (state-of-charge was 10% when the charge started), the cost of that charge is $0.06271 now factor in the range of the battery pack. Our current build, ‘66 Corvair, has been calculated to achieve 260 watts/mile. That’s 80% usage of our 26kW pack driving 80 miles. Assuming the national average commute of 40 miles per day and an additonal 100 miles on the weekend, we’ll use 300 miles/week as the benchmark. At 15,600 miles driven per year the cost of operating an EV is 15,600*200 or 3,120kW used, costing $94.068/year. The same calculation using gasoline at $0.088/mile amounts to $1,372.00/year. Total yearly savings of *$1,278.73 in fuel costs alone. This assumes the car is charged from the grid. When we take into account oil changes, which will not be needed anymore and reduced maintenance costs, we have calculated that the customer will break even on the cost of the conversion at approximately 6 years. One other consideration is the life expectancy of the LiFePO4 battery pack. The batteries are rated at 3,000 cycles, a cycle is one dis-charge and re-charge. If you drove the 15,600 mile/year re-charging every 80 miles for 6 years, that’s a total of 1,170 cycles of the 3,000 this still leaves 61% of the life expectancy of your pack or 9 more years of pack life to go. As of Nov. 2015, the price of crude oil is near a 10 year low and it’s safe to say the Saudi’s are not going to hold the price down much longer. Let’s use pricing from the Summer of ‘08 when crude was at $147 a barrel and gasoline was $4.00/gal., the conversion payback would then be 3.3 years. *Estimated yearly savings figure of $2.000 was used to take into account for reduced maintenance savings.