Edmonton radiologist Dr
Michael Hoskinson is proud of his electric
Citroën ID
All Photos: Jordan
Verlage |
It all started innocently enough.
One day Dr Michael Hoskinson brought home a telescope
for the kids. The family messed around looking at stars,
contemplating the cosmos, picked out a constellation
or two. But harmless hobbies can quietly morph into
full-blown addiction. Next thing the Edmonton radiologist
knew he was customizing a 1970 Citroën ID with
an electric motor so he could drive up to the abandoned
campground that houses his homemade observatory every
weekend without causing undue damage to the environment.
The Citroën ID is a car with
an almost mythic reputation in its native France, where
it's more commonly known as the DS, or by its nickname
"D�esse" (Goddess). Futuristic-looking and innovative
in its design, it was fitted with a smooth-ride hydropneumatic
suspension, which once reportedly saved French president
and DS enthusiast Charles de Gaulle's life in an assassination
attempt. The car was so advanced no mechanic could fix
it when it broke down.
Dr Hoskinson became a part of the
mythology when he rescued a broken down old 1970 Citroën
from the back lot of a dealership where it had languished
since 1984. He spent the next three years restoring
it. "The dirty part was getting the engine out and figuring
out how to put the electric motor in," he says. The
motor came from a kit assembled by Canadian Electric
Vehicles in Arrington, BC, one of the only suppliers
of electric vehicle parts in Canada. Golf-cart batteries,
boosted occasionally with a small onboard gas generator,
make the 50km trip to the cottage a snap. (For full
under-the-hood details, see "The Electric D's specs"
on page 20.)
The electric Citroën is only
slightly cheaper to run than a gas-powered car when
you add in the cost of a new battery every three to
four years, he says; the real difference is in environmental
impact. "That's the main reason anybody does it. The
batteries are 95% recyclable, and an electric motor
is way more efficient than any gas engine," even when
you calculate emissions from coal-powered electricity
plants.
MAN
OF SCIENCE
How did it come to this? Early exposure to physics is
a known risk factor. Dr Hoskinson is a classic case:
lured from his home in Vancouver by a McGill physics
scholarship in the 70s, he was railroaded into pre-med
by his conscience. "A lot of young people at that time
were kind of idealistic," he says. "I was looking at
my future in physics, and realizing that I would really
rather help people than just pursue an academic career."
After training in family medicine
at McGill and doing a family practice residency in London,
ON, he moved back to the West Coast with his wife Gisele,
a medical librarian, and a burgeoning complement of
kids. He settled down to family practice in Prince Rupert
for seven years.
But physics still lurked. "I was
influenced by a young radiologist who was coming through
town doing locums. He told me radiology was fun, and
I thought, 'Well, it's about time I had some fun in
medicine.'" He was accepted by the University of Edmonton,
and soon specialized in nuclear medicine. Before he'd
even finished the program, they'd offered him a job.
Back to his number one love, physics, Dr Hoskinson's
been a happy man ever since.
"There's a lot of physics involved
[in nuclear medicine]," he explains enthusiastically.
"We use tiny amounts of radiation and highly sensitive
cameras. You're trying to get the most out of limited
data. What attracted me was looking at graphs of kidney
function versus time. You can scan a person for half
an hour and watch how the kidney takes up the radioactive
tracer and excretes it, and get graphs of each kidney's
function, and I remember looking at those and thinking,
'Gee, that's really cool.'"
It's no wonder astronomy captured
his fancy. "The same kind of imaging concerns are applicable,"
observes the scientist. "You're trying to take pictures
of dim objects far away, to take advantage of what few
photons are coming your way, and to generate some kind
of interesting information from it. Like light curves
coming from stars, for example - there's a lot of good
science coming from that, and amateurs can contribute."
But Dr Hoskinson says what got
him hooked on astronomy was much more down to earth.
At around the same time he was getting interested in
nuclear medicine, his kids were discovering space and
volunteering at the observatory of the Edmonton Space
and Science Centre. That's when they asked for the fated
telescope. As their interest grew, so did their collection
of increasingly powerful telescopes. The hobby culminated
in the construction of a small observatory at the family
cottage on a former campground 50km east of Edmonton.
But Dr Hoskinson's conscience started
acting up again as he calculated the amount of gas used
up with each commute to the star-gazing site. "I wanted
to be able to come out here without guilt," he explains.
He started doing some research on alternative transportation,
and bought a Honda Insight hybrid car. "Through an internet
group of Insight enthusiasts, I started reading about
electric cars. Some of the guys had them, and were extolling
their virtues. One of them invited me to a show in Vancouver.
I looked around at some of the electric cars, and figured,
yeah, I could do that."
EASY
BEING GREEN
The car isn't the only symptom of Dr Hoskinson's environmental
obsession. He and his wife snapped up a condo in one
of Edmonton's first green buildings, where state-of-the-art
insulation, heating and lighting systems reduce resource
consumption by two-thirds.
As if constellations and enviro-friendly
living weren't enough, the Hoskinsons are committed
eclipse-chasers — they even celebrated one of their
wedding anniversaries pursuing one in Hungary. "We went
bombing around the countryside in a rented car, looking
for a hole in the clouds. We wound up in a village with
an unpronounceable name where a few Hungarian families
were lined up in the village square with their telescopes
— we handed out welding goggles as gifts.
"It's the most amazing thing you'll
ever see in natureYou get a taste for them. People who
see one just want to see another. The one I saw in Turkey
was over in three and a half minutes - it was like,
'Oh, man, bring it back!'"
Spoken like a true addict.
| What's
under the hood |
| Vehicle |
1970 Citroën
ID |
| Motor |
Kostov Separately
Excited DC modified by Canadian Electric Vehicles |
| Drivetrain |
4 speed manual
front wheel drive |
| Controller |
Zapi SEM-3
separately excited |
| Batteries |
16 US Battery
US250-HC, 6.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded 1,280lb |
| System Voltage |
96 Volts |
| Charger |
Manzanita Micro
PFC50 |
| Heater |
Two 1500 watt
ceramic, individual high/low switches |
| DC/DC Converter |
Curtis |
| Instrumentation |
Link-10 with
RS-232 analogue volt and ammeters |
| Top Speed |
112km/h |
| Acceleration |
Not measured
(not real quick on the accel) |
| Range |
56km |
| Seating
Capacity |
2 adults, 2
dogs |
| Curb Weight |
1,663kg |
| Tires |
Michelin X-One |
| Conversion
time |
3 years |
| Conversion
cost |
$30,000 CDN,
including restoration |
Additional
features
 |
Hydraulic suspension,
self-levelling. Hydraulic brakes + regenerative
braking from sepex motor/controller. Hydraulics
are powered by separate small motor, controlled
by pressure switch and separate contactor.
Hydraulic suspension uses very little power. |
| Source: www.austinev.org |
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