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EV World Premium Feature Article |
Otmar Ebenhoech installs twin DC electric motors in his personal Porsche 914 conversion. In a marathon conversion 'party' volunteers helped him remove the gasoline engine and install the complete electric drive system in a single day. His Zilla controller powers hundreds of similar electric car and truck conversions.
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The Alchemy of Otmar Ebenhoech
A conversation with the wizard of Zilla from his secret Cafe Electric lair.
By
Bill Moore
Premium Feature Article Originally Published: March 26, 2008
As legends go, Otmar Ebenhoech is both approachable and elusive. You don't have to hang around the performance EV world -- virtual or real -- very long before you start hearing references to "Otmar" this and "Otmar" that. Where high school kids and budget EVers look to "Curtis" controllers for their electric vehicles, the power-hungry, high-voltage denizens swear by -- and sometimes at -- Otmar's fabulous Zilla controllers.
In case you're an EV neophyte and aren't all that familiar with this Curtis versus Zilla debate, a controller is the electronic equivalent of the carburetor or fuel injection system on an gasoline engine. It is what controls the speed and torque of the electric motor. Curtis controllers are world renown and used in countless types of electric vehicles from wheelchairs on up.
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27-Apr-2009
66634
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Re: Mr. Otmar E. & Zilla contollers,
Actually they start where other controllers simply peak out at. And yes., I know. That's saying a lot !
I mean there just isn't any better option when it comes to any real driving etc concerns what-so-ever. End of story. As-in.... Being able to drive at highway speeds 55 mph. etc. And Im not just mentioning this for the many racing EV's that use his controller ether. We have installed them into SUV's conversions etc.
Nothing so far as we are concerned at DeLagostti Technologies even comes close to beating what Otmar has been able to do for so many years now and continues to do., to date.
He defiantly has our vote !
Posted by: Sarah DeLagostti
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26-Mar-2008
60931
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the Zilla controller is the best of any DC EV unit in the country.Our friend Dennis Berube and his EV Dragster Current Eliminator can't break one. No matter how fast he goes.
Posted by: jim stack
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26-Mar-2008
60935
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Here is a link to a You Tube interview that you will find interesting and informative.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yl9uejKnMFQ
enjoy
Posted by: Keith Tomilson
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19-May-2008
61742
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stupid premium content. internet is about free info. bad website
Posted by: John Doe
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28-Mar-2008
60963
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Piles of great information here. I may have
to listen to this a few more times.
Posted by: Joel Couch
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01-Apr-2008
61010
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Otmar is an incredible guy to work with and correspond with. He is very helpful and knowledgeable. As an ex-GM'er who worked on EV1 and did conversion vehicles with GM, I have realized that what is basically missing in the conversion market business is an understanding of electrical safety and reliability. How do you build a reliable and safe electric vehicle? You can visit all the websites on EV conversions and look at how people have done it. It is enough to scare me to death. If you ask why there are unrestained batteries in the back seat or why there is exposed high voltage under the hood. The answer comes back, I don't get into accidents and anyone who knows anything would not touch the live termainals. Oh my god what a crapy uneducated answer. But as you get into it, there are not good instructions or examples out there to do it safely. Don't get me into cars with the entire front end filled with batteries that don't crush or even using flooded lead acid batteries in a roadworthy EV.
I am a member of EAA, and our Michigan chapter intends to help turn this around.
Take a Zilla controller, for example. Otmar will tell you up front it is not designed for anything more than a hobbyist. It is not water proof or water resistant. I have taken mine, put into a sealed, weatherproof box, with sealed connectors coming in and out of the box. More work, more expense...only a little, but I don't have to worry about it getting wet and blowing up, ever.
We the EV converters need to upgrade what we are doing! Safety and reliability are number #1 & #2.
Posted by: Richard Marks
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04-Jun-2008
62081
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Can these so called, "ZILLA controllers" make their EV go 1000+ km's ?
Posted by: W E
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