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| Wendi Davis of Great Falls, left, Gabe Pescosolido of Helena, center, and Steve Tilden of Gallatin County get ready to yank a gasoline engine out of an old truck that is being converted to electric power. |
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The signs of the revolution are quiet, very quiet: the soft hum of a motor, no exhaust. A shiny car that goes by you with no visible exhaust.
You see a few electric cars on the road now, and the next one that goes by may be a Montana State University truck used by Facilities Services.
For many people, the intriguing idea of buying an electric vehicle is closely followed by questions. Will next year's design be better? What do repairs cost? What's does a "fill-up" cost and how long does it take to "fill 'er up?"
You have to start somewhere to get the answers, which may be why MSU's Facilities Services donated a truck with a failing engine and 120,000 miles on it to Ken Bruwelheide's technology education class.
"Basically, we're recycling the truck by converting it to electric," says Bruwelheide. "When we're done, we'll run some tests, do a few demonstrations around the state and then give it back to Facilities Services to use.
"It's a great project," says Steve Tilden, a junior from Gallatin County . The best part, said Tilden, is "seeing the conversion rather than just reading about it."
The failing engine is now history, yanked by students during an October class. A shinny new electric motor sits nearby, awaiting a few hundred preliminary steps before it powers the 1986 truck skeleton. Electric batteries will power this Phoenix that is expected to rise from its ashes by the end of December.
"We're excited to get some electricity flowing," says Lorin Geiser, a junior from Great Falls.
When the electricity does flow, high school students around Montana will get a look via a web-camera that is being set up to follow the project. Bruwelheide says that students Karl Schwartz from Bozeman and Jay VanVost of Geraldine are setting up the web site.
Bruwelheide says he expects the resulting truck to go 70 to 80 miles at 30 to 35 miles per hour. Functional for an around-campus vehicle, which should allow for realistic work to get answers of how economical the vehicle will be.
"We expect to have the wheels rolling in December and be doing tests on campus in the spring," says Bruwelheide. The project gives the students experience in what is needed for an electrical vehicle, and should give Facilities Services a brand new, clean-fuel vehicle.
"Several of us in Facilities Services are interested in alternative fuel vehicles. Depending on the use, electric vehicles can play a part, and this is one way to find out what that part may be," said Jeff Butler, manager of campus maintenance for Facilities Services. "This was an opportunity to test one and . . . do something to help the educational mission of the university."
None of this would be possible without the donated vehicle and major support from the Western Transportation Institute headquartered at MSU and the MSU Extension Service Pollution Prevention Program headed by Mike Vogel. Both have contributed toward the approximately $14,000 cost of parts. Venders have also been generous. The conversion uses a standard conversion kit from a Canadian manufacturer called Canadian Electric Vehicles. Other Bozeman venders have aided the electric vehicle project, such as Montana Motor Supply, Exide Batteries of Montana, Internal Combustion Machine and Marathon Seat Covers.
Ken Bruwelheide (406) 994-5777, Jeff Butler (406) 994-7901
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| [View or Download] | 1. | Wendi Davis of Great Falls, left, Gabe Pescosolido of Helena, center, and Steve Tilden of Gallatin County get ready to yank a gasoline engine out of an old truck that is being converted to electric power. |
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