1976 Citicar, my new project.

[bennelson]

I would also be interested in how the "contactor controller" on these works.

I am pretty new to electric vehicles, mostly familiar with golf-cart type controllers.

Please snap some photos of the controller when you get a chance.

[MetroMPG]

There's a schematic for the C-Car contactor controller here:

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/C-Car/files/

You may need to register to gain access.

In a nutshell, a contactor controller is a number of switches and (usually) a big fat resistor. In the C-Cars, there are 3 stages in the setup: 1st speed is 24v through a resistor for creeping; 2nd speed is straight 24v (no resistor); 3rd speed is straight 48v.

Check this vid for an example of one in action.

@ about 1:50 he engages the 1st stage

@ about 1:56 he engages the 2nd stage

@ about 1:57 he goes straight for the 3rd stage

And he has a bunch of fun doing it over and over!

@ about 4:40 he gets lined up to go direct-to-4th stage from stopped ... and lights up the tires! It's a goofy but fun vid to watch...

[bennelson]

Can't believe I watched that whole video.

It's always amazing how quiet electric vehicles are. The contactors are the loudest thing on that car.

It actually looks COOL without the body. Put some plexiglass in front for a windshield, and a cooler on back, and you have a great summer car/dune buggy!

[TomEV]

Here is a picture of a contactor setup from my Citicar -



And the modded relay box with the Alltrax 4844 controller -

[Ryland]

more photos uploaded! including the motor and contacters.
I feel rather lucky to get it for as cheap as I did, however there seems to be some stalling on the vehicle title for it... as soon as I get a title I'll start spending money.
And yes, I realize what they sell for in good working order, I also now have a better understanding of why people will pay for one with a good body! the plasitic gets brittle in the sun, and in the cold, if I figure out how to make a mold to make replacment body panals I'm sure I would then be rich.
As it is, I'm thinking about Cotten for the body, with a few layers of some kind of reson, varnish, or shelac, then some white roofing paint, and maybe some sound deadening insulation made out of cork... just thinking that if I could get a "green" body going...

[TomEV]

Ryland - Hard to say for certain, but it looks like a 3.5 hp motor. If you could get a pic of the data plate, we might be able to figure it out.

Your contactors look to be in reasonable shape - they should work to get you moving once you get the batteries. Hopefully the wires are still attached (including the small control wires...)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDzpoLG8lpc

[bennelson]

Fiberglass over foam may be a good way to do a new body from scratch. It would be light, sturdy, and quiet.

There is a how to article at rqriley.

Maybe not quite as "eco-friendly" as you want to go, but a good possibility otherwise.


Is the contactor on the left of them all a reversing contactor? I see that it is left in even when the the drive contactors are replaced with a PWM controller like the Alltrax

Most electric motors can reverse direction by reversing the polarity of power to the motor. The only electric car I ever drove was an electric Geo Metro. There was a rocker button on the dash that said FWD-OFF-REV. You just press the button and hit the go pedal. That car was originally an automatic. Funny to see a covered up hole where the gear selector used to be.

I have an old golf cart motor I removed from a cart at a junkyard. Interesting to see how it was hooked up. It is almost the exact same one as is on the Citicar. On the golf cart, it was mounted at a 90 degree angle to the rear axle - just like how a drive shaft connects.

There was a reversing contactor and 3 resistance coils. The idea was like having a couple of "gears". These thick coils of wire resist that battery, so you get less voltage. Works just like a toaster. It also means you were using the same amount of power at any speed, but the slower you go, the more electricity got wasted being turned to heat. Only the highest setting connected the battery pack more or less directly to the motor.

(BTW - How do you go in reverse in the Forkenswift? Just shift to reverse I assume?)

[MetroMPG]

A green body on a CitiCar would be something else, Ryland. Like the old Hemp Ford I've seen pics of.

TomEV: small world - I'd already watched your C-Car vid on youtube before you joined the forum. Right away I thought... I don't hear contactors

Bennelson: that's right - I use the transmission's reverse.

[Ryland]

It's hard to get the camera in for a good angle of the motor plate, but I can read most of it I'm pretty sure it's the stock 36v GE motor, 3,200rpm, 98amp.

I want to check over all of the wiring befor hooking up a big battery pack as there is some mouse damage on the main battery cable, but middle cable is there with the wire going to the gauge as well, the key switch is missing the key and the switch was disconnected when I got it so I need to check on what kind of load that switch gets for replacing it, it's a collage town so I don't want to leave it parked on city streets with just a togle switch.

I thought about doing fiberglass over foam, and I might still do that, but cotton over basswood or birch plywood might be fun, I have also been informed that real hide glue is often used as a base on canves for painting, looked at a painting that was done this way and it seeme to make it reasonably stiff and cheap, figure a few layers of UV filtering urithane floor finish will keep it safe, at this point it would be a vehicle body that could have been made 100 years ago...
I'm also getting a phone call tomarrow from my current favorit battery supplier about some NiCad batteries, I asked enough questions, and it's their slow time of year so the guy in charge of batteries at the golf car repair place is going to search for a supplier of the NiCad's, less weight and longer life.

[bennelson]

I got to go see a Zap Zebra electric car today.

The rear axel setup looks to be exactly the same as the Citicar.

http://web.mac.com/benhdvideoguy/iWe...s/DSC05609.jpg

It uses an Alltrax 72 volt programmable controller, but I am not sure at how many amps.

This dealer added another battery in so he has 84 volts for more speed. He said the controller had no problem with this.

The batteries are in a tube inside the car in a box with a bolt down lid, and a few more batteries in back.

This Zap is a three wheeler, so it is technically a motorcycle, thus avoiding NEV laws and limits on speed.

I have a couple more photos on my photo page