James, does that thing have a heater? Sometimes they're referring to the cab, and sometimes the trailer. LOL. It does. Me! And it works when there's enough insulation. Standing Rock, 40 degrees below zero with 70 mile an hour winds, was a real lesson in what is survivable for James. The gigantic problem that has not been solved, his feet. When pedaling. So many things have been tried and last year when traveling from Michigan down to the Gulf Coast January, James attempted to purchase the only cycling boots that have any promise of keeping the feet warm, $450. Lake. There's just nothing else design for cycling that can do the job. Nothing close. But there were none in stock anywhere in the country so it didn't happen. Several weeks ago in anticipating that Khanh is now making this vehicle a true mobile tiny home, with the range and solar collection for many years to come for James, energy storage, and the power, James purchased those boots the way someone else would purchase a furnace for their home. No longer would cold be a major factor inhibiting travel. But $450. And that on top of the other $1,000 worth of expertise work materials Parts components due to Khanh.
Sol is Off the Grid the 6 long spring summer and fall months but not so up until now the late fall winter and early spring months 6 months. We carry a small generator and it can do the job but generators are so horribly polluting. Khanh found incredibly priced top grade durable solar panels to dramatically increase our generation capacity so we can be off grid in the winter too. But with shipping $450 or more. Guess what we just freed up the money for those. How?
Double sided pedals, one side for the clips to hold the $70 insulated winter hunting boots that James has when needed, and the other side, clipless, for his bicycle shoes used all other times. About 40 bucks. That's less than 450 bucks. LOL.
And, is this wonderful old body gets a bit more frail every day, the time is soon approaching when James can't be depended upon to get the entire payload moving with his legs up steep grades before the motors can help. So $750 was about to be spent on Motors twice as powerful ship from China, but at the last minute we discovered that by using different controllers that we already have the current voters have more than enough. What a great Mercy that was.
Our first project here was to see if some previously used batteries that Khanh had purchased, could provide a 30% increase to current battery capacity to take us through the winter months. It was a big project, tremendous amount of testing, wiring, Etc. And it looked pretty Grim until it wasn't. And through Khanh's Ingenuity and generosity that one third battery increase, one kilowatt, about $200 including the controller, is about one-fifth what James was paying for similar capacity in Lithium-ion. And this new lithium iron phosphate technology is infinitely safer, though 30% heavier.
Sol and I have been rear-ended twice now in the last 3 months. I think some valuable lessons have been learned in terms of additional high intensity flasher placement and I think we're going to be fine going forward, but the last hit destroyed the signage on the left side and damaged it on the rear and structural damage. I've just gotten off the phone with the insurance adjuster and it appears that within a week a suitable settlement for the repairs will be appearing.
To the incredible soul that offered to help in what looked to be a dire financial situation, bless your soul dear sister. But, We're near certainly Out of the Woods for the foreseeable future. This creation by Khan is just a masterpiece in so many ways including vastly improved durability. Incredible generosity on his part he has allowed this his place to be a dry dock for going on 3 weeks now and the vehicle is finally coming to full fruition as a true stable solid reliable four season tiny home base of operation for James work. A godsend.
