Static Charge

Our buggy will be pulled out this weekend. Time to begin again. We plan on a Kostov 11" and I plan on taking the shell and end plates of the motor to the machine shop for turning to smooth it and then we will paint it. I like the smooth motor look. We will color match when done. The motor on it now is a Kaylor motor/adaptor setup. We were testing a Kelly controller with this motor. It works. Will still need to do an on the road test later but the motor and controller work together quite well. Diamond in the rough but with the nice pan and disk brakes up front and IRS suspension it will be a nice ride. Yes, it will be a lowered street rod buggy. Not sure yet about the headlights but they must be California compliant. Ug.

Ug!

Kelly Controller woes. I connected up my KDHD 14800 controller this evening to the low 12 volts and got the pre-charge hooked up to pack voltage to pre-charge the caps. I did not even have the high power connected nor did I have a throttle pot. Just low voltage and pre-charge. Three minutes into the setup the controller let out a high pitch squeal then a loud crack then a cloud of smoke. Ouch. Blown cap. I know what caps sound like. This was for sure a blown cap. I am going to send the controller back to Kelly. The bummer about this is that I had a buyer for the MG but this will more than  likely kill the deal. I did offer to sell it with the motor and every thing else except the controller and batteries. Not sure yet if I keep the MG or still get to sell it.


Now that I have the Synkro out of the car I have decided not to put it back in. I will continue with the Buggy. I may even part out the car. I want this one out of here. The MG must go now.

Pete :)

Aaaaaa Pooo

Well I think I will just pull out the Buggy and get that sucker on the road instead. The chassis is almost finished and now we need to focus on the body. It badly needs sanding and painting. Getting all that old metal flake off is just terrible hard. So with that we do continue to slowly move forward with the Bus too. I think we could make fast headway with the buggy. I am thinking of taking it to the local Tech School and let the kids there have a shot at the car. Let them finish up the chassis and body for me and give them a project to finish. I think I will call this week to see if it's possible. UTI Technical Institute is not far from here. My boy graduated from there as well. Now a diesel mechanic with a strong interest in electric conversions. A big fat 11" Kostov Motor and 156 volts of 100 AH cells would make a quick little track runner. Might be hard to hold that bunny back.


Looks like I need more photos of my Buggy.

Bummer

Went to see the Ghia today and it was not what I had expected. I was told a body off paint job and NO RUST. However when I got there is was not a body off but the paint was done well.  The other issue was the NO RUST issue. Well, there was rust. There was rot through on the rockers and I mean all the way through. The friggin painted over the rust and holes leaving gaping holes in the rockers with fresh paint. WOW, freshly painted RUST. What friggin good is that. Whoever buys it will need to re friggin paint the car after the rust damage is repaired. How friggin lame is that. It had a wrinkle on one of the fenders and it was sanded and painted but the wrinkles were not fixed. There is lots of good parts and it has a nice interior but that is worthless with a freshly painted rust bucket. When you say no rust that means NO FRIGGING RUST OR ROT. ROT IS RUST. Rust that has gone through. GRRRRRRRRRRR. I see that this guy is using the glitz of the new paint to distract one from checking so closely. They will see this nice shiny paint and say I will buy it then upon further inspection later when they come to their senses they will find the ROT and kick themselves in the ass. It's not the worst I've seen but you just can't claim no rust when you don't even try to remove and repair the damage. God I hate these guys that do this sort of thing.


Pete :(

Next Ghia

Well I am at it once again with the VW Ghia. I am still hunting for the right one. I have in my sight a nice 68 Ghia and have first dibs. I am hoping to go see it tomorrow. It is complete but needs a few items put back on. It has a body off restoration on the body and was done well. We shall see how well when I get there. If it is what I expect to find I will have another Ghia to convert. This one will be converted as a daily driver and one to get near or better than 100 miles with heat and air. It will be done right. I have what is needed to do a decent conversion. The wife will then get the Leaf to drive if she so desires. The MG is sold and will be shipped out soon. I have a few things left to do but for the most part it is ready. They are getting a good deal. I will not be making much. More like I am getting rid of the MG and not loosing on the deal but not making much. That is fine. The components and car are in good shape. Not perfect. But good. The motor is a Warp9 Impulse.

The Ghia is a 68 with the old style bumpers and the new style dash and independent suspension. So it has the better ride quality but not the old style dash. That is fine as the newer dash is still a good one. It also has a fuel flip cover and will provide an external spot for the plug. Perfect for the new J plug.


Pete :)

Choices

Well we have choices. Not only do I promote Electric but I promote any alternative source that is available and viable. I also promote organic grown food and supporting local farmers.

Pete :)

Rebate

Wow, that was fast. I got my full $5K rebate today in the mail. Now to apply that to the principal of the loan. Now to get the next rebate. :)

Prius

Prius is NOT an electric car. It is a well designed gas car that is assisted with an electric motor. It does happen to have an all electric mode but for only a few miles at low 35 mph speeds. Not very electric now is it. The mileage comes from the little assist from the motor and the aerodynamics of the body. The engine is not big but enough. Just enough. Also they decided to stick with the NiMH cells in the small format. Drat. Such a nice car but it is just that, a gas car. So too is the Volt and all the other hybrids. I hate that everyone calls them electric cars. Damn, they are not. They are gas cars. The Leaf and Tesla roadster are all electric. The only two in the US on the road vehicles that are sold. I am not including the fancy neighbor hood golf carts that are called by many electric cars. Ouch.

Choices

Well I was going to do a quick video but it would be just as boring as this. So I opted to not publish that at this time. Sound is crappy on my HD recorder but I will soon fix that issue. Anyway we have choices now on cars. It is no longer gas or gas/hybrid only choices. Yes there is also BioDiesel. It is an option too. I am glad to announce that OEM electrics are very good. There is a large gathering of DIY types and those who want to become or will become the next generation OEM's for electric drive vehicles. It is possible to build a nice electric vehicle that will take you from home to work and back that is reliable. I am not talking about your POS junker you happen to have on hand that is ready for the junk yard. I am talking of buying a new or near new vehicle and remove the engine and install electric in its place. Lithium is the only way to go and contrary to some NiMH is not a superior cell. It is not available in large format like the lithium LiFePO4 cells. Quality controllers are available for DC drives that will withstand everyday rigor on the road and give plenty of punch for a nice drive for small to medium sized vehicles. Some electronics are going to be a bear to overcome but it is possible. I also think production vehicles can be changed enough to hold a bunch of cells within the chassis and to be enclosed like the Leaf but accessible if really needed. Changes of seat rails can help fit cells low in the chassis. Yes, someone will come up with a new specific build for electric chassis but that is some time from now at lest to where we could buy them. I am also forward thinking that maybe we could come up with electric chassises and buy them and insert our own cells and then go to the other store and buy your set of custom bodies.

We have choices. No longer slaves to big OIL. I am glad that Nissan decided to commit to electric.

Pete :)

You do have a choice

Well the statement is true. You do have a choice. Choose wisely. I will elaborate later. It's late and I want to keep the theme going.

Busted a 1000 miles

I busted over 1000 miles on the 4th with the Leaf. It is just so cool to be able to drive all electric with no worry about any thing breaking or just not quite this or that. Hey, home built vehicles have an air of is it good enough or is it something that I can just get in and drive. When you can build one and never have to look back and can just get in and go with no worry then you have done a good job. Until then you are still experimenting with a custom system. Every one does something a bit different and most often the parts are just not quite up to the task. That is not how I want to drive. It is fun building one and building a reliable one but I want to have one that I don't have to worry about at all. The Leaf is just that. No worry. It is comfortable, quiet, and cool. The navigation just works as does every thing else. There is a lot to say about an OEM vehicle that has many many years of research. There is a lot to say about our work too but nothing compares to the OEM. Sorry Jack but the OEM's do have a bit over us in the R&D department.

Pete :)

More lightning in a bag info

We now have some numbers and I am looking to get a better resolution graph for posting. So far the numbers are impressive except the charge amp numbers. I'd like to see higher charging amps. I'd like to not just see the lightning but I want to hear the thunder of the crowd as I finish first. :)

discharge rate ---1C----20C-----25C------30C-------33C
discharge current/A----- 6----120------150-----180------200
middle voltage/ V -----3.782------3.546-----3.493-----3.438-----3.374
discharge capacity/mAh -----6417-----6260------6175-------6090------5950
discharge efficiency -----100.0%------97.6%------96.2%-------94.9%----92.7%

initial internal resistance /mO -----1.4
end internal resistance/ mO -----1.3
IR change rate -7.1% ----6.5
initial thickness /mm----- 6.65
end thickness /mm ------2.3%
thickness change rate

The specs they sent me tested only up to 200 amps, I will gladly send someone a cell to continue data up to 300 to 400 amps.

Fuel Gauge

Fuel gauge used for an AH meter. We are pleased to announce that our analog fuel gauge is now functioning as an AH meter. It counts down AH used and when you charge it shows you the current state of charge via AH out. Now that we have full time power to the controller we can now count AH in vs AH out and show it on an analog gauge too. It shows on the computer when we have the computer connected for log runs. So hopefully it will do fine. We also know we are getting a good solid 2.5 Ah per mile driven in our 120 volt car. It is a convertible so I figure that we are doing quite well. I do drive this kinda hard but I am now going to use 3rd gear for all my driving up to 60 mph. Anything beyond that I will go into 4th. This keeps the motor rpm up so it is easier on the batteries. I hit my cells hard but they are doing just fine.

Pete :)