If this was yesterday I might be tempted to call bullshit on this one. So I guess if this is somehow real my main question is isn't this simply a case of "theft of services" from a municipality? I don't know how it is where the Prius lives but around here they take this kinda seriously. Still skeptical - Dach.
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are" - Theodore Roosevelt “We reached the old wolf in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes .... I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, that no wolves would mean hunters’ paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view.” - Aldo Leopold On Wednesday, April 2, 2014 12:07 PM, Peter Gabrielsson <peter.gabriels...@gmail.com> wrote: Published April 1st On Wed, Apr 2, 2014 at 8:20 AM, Ing. Marco Gaxiola <mgaxi...@gmail.com>wrote: > Not sure if I saw this on EVDL or FB, but in any case it is interesting: > > > > http://www.thebolditalic.com/articles/4717-hacked-prius-running-on-muni-powe > r-lines > > > > > HACKED PRIUS RUNNING ONMUNI POWERLINES > > By Sierra Hartman > > A couple months ago I was walking out of Golden Gate Park onto Fulton > around > 8th Avenue. I stepped onto the sidewalk just in time to see a Prius roll by > with a pair of giant antennae mounted on the roof. At first I thought it > was > just some kind of art-car getup, but then I realized the antennae was the > same power pole doodad that MUNI buses use (I later learned they're called > "trolley poles"). Not only that, they were actually running along the > overhead power cables for the 5 line. The driver cruised past with a > high-pitched humming noise as I stood there thinking, "No. Fucking. Way." > > Two weeks ago I was in the Safeway parking lot at 16th and Bryant when I > saw > the driver again. This time I was on my motorcycle and happened to have my > camera. I snapped a few shots as he passed the bus stop, then jumped on my > bike and followed him east on 16th. I caught up to him a few blocks later > at > Kansas. Before I even dropped into first gear I could hear Foghat blaring > out the windows, "Sloow riide, take it easy." > > I pulled up behind him and noticed his fantastically appropriate license > plate: MUNI PWR. I sidled up next to the open driver's side window and > shouted over the music, "Hey, man! Are you actually running on the power > lines with that thing?" > > "You know it, dude! 150 miles of free energy courtesy of Mr. MTA!" > > I instantly had a lot of questions and asked if we could talk. From his > back > pocket he fished out a business card that looked like it had been in there > for a year. > > "Can't talk now, but yeah man, give me a call." > > All the card said was "Jon" with a phone number on the bottom. "All right, > dude, MUNI's coming," he said, gesturing at the approaching bus behind us. > > I went home and called him later that day. I asked if we could meet in > person to talk more, and we set a time to meet at his place in the Outer > Richmond. > > I was excited to get a closer look at the car, but when I got to Jon's > building, there was a conspicuous lack of power cables and the car was > nowhere to be found. He buzzed me up to his apartment and greeted me at the > top of the stairs. He was a calmer, more stoic version of the wild-eyed > character I met before, and after a minute or two of the standard first > meeting chitchat, I asked where his car was. > > "Oh, she's got a special home." > > I asked what kind of special home, and he said with a grin that he was not > at liberty to say. > > "She wouldn't do too well out here in the avenues anyway. Once I come off > the power lines I only have about two minutes of go time before the > batteries quit. After that I gotta depend on the ol' Chevrolegs. It's > usually fine for turning around or parking but it's no bueno if I'm stuck > at > the bottom of a hill. As long as I plan ahead, though, the wires get me > just > about anywhere and everywhere I want to go. Except they get pretty pissed > when I run on the light-rail lines on 3rd Street." > > Whenever I asked about how he came upon the trolley poles or his discovery > of how they worked, he less than subtly evaded the question and changed the > subject. I suspected he had some connection with MUNI, probably a former > employee who somehow maintained access to a less-frequented storage > facility. I've seen old streetcars and antique buses parked in big lots in > Dogpatch and figured there must be facilities for the electric buses too. > > I had a hundred questions aside from that, though, so the conversation went > on regardless. I asked what the hardest part was in putting the whole thing > together. > > "The juice, man. The overhead power lines put out 600 volts at around 400 > amps; plenty of "juice" to stop your heart and fry your extremities." So > how > do you use an electrical system designed to propel a 30,000-lb. bus to run > a > 3,000-lb. Frankenhybrid? > > "You just gotta siphon it off," he said, as if it would all be so easy. > > The NiMh battery that does the heavy lifting in a normal Prius puts out 273 > volts at 6.5 amps. Jon uses up the excess power on a whole lot of > resistors, > full-time headlights, and a kick-ass stereo system. The more we talked, the > more interesting he got. As it turned out, this wasn't his first attempt at > public transport piracy. > > "A few years ago I modified an old VW Beetle to run on the cable car > tracks, > but they shut that one down real quick." > > The car I saw wasn't even his first Prius. The first one was a 2003 model > that apparently wasn't built as robustly as the later ones. > > "She just couldn't handle the juice, man. I was driving up Van Ness one day > and the roof unit started buzzing real loud. The whole engine compartment > caught on fire and all the plastic under the hood started to melt. I kind > of > wish I would have saved it - it would have made a cool sculpture now that I > think about it." > > I asked if he would consider making more if people offered up their hybrids > for customization. > > "Absolutely, though I wonder how long it would last. The few guys at MUNI > who have caught up with me aren't as impressed as you are. They haven't > figured out how to make it illegal yet, but I can only imagine that'd > happen > pretty quick if it became a 'thing,' you know? Still, if someone is down, > I'm always up for another project." > > I got the impression that Jon's car was more of a science experiment than a > genius way to save money on gas, so I don't know how many of these we'll > see > buzzing around the city anytime soon. For anyone interested in volunteering > their Prius for Munification, you can reach Jon at muniju...@gmail.com. > But > for now, keep an eye out for Jon and his Franken-car on a bus route near > you. > > > > Ing. Marco Gaxiola > EvMarch - Director > https://www.facebook.com/EvMarch > > > > > --- > Este mensaje no contiene virus ni malware porque la protección de avast! > Antivirus está activa. > http://www.avast.com > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA ( > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > > -- www.electric-lemon.com -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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