Ben Nelson's Electro-Metro Build thread

[bennelson]

Heres some video about the springs!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g05SZBzUxW0

[Joe_Bloe]

Originally Posted by bennelson

I tried to cut it as close as I could, but the right side ended up being about half an inch taller than the left. Maybe I will need to go back in there and grind down a bit more.

What about just swapping the springs so the higher spring is on the driver's side? With the heavier load on the left (assuming you aren't running turbo-boost batteries in the shotgun footwell) that might be all you need?

[bennelson]

I'm not too worried about the springs for now. It may be as simple as just swapping sides.

Today was an EV build day. Most of the guys seemed to think the springs were pretty good overall.

One fun thing was that I got to drive Brian's electric S10. It was very weird to drive an electric with a 5-speed and a clutch! It took a minute to get used to. You really short shift on it. It's got a Zilla controller, and it was very easy to forget that the thing had a ton of lead in it.

Mostly, it just drove like a truck! Better acceleration than my 2.2L gas engine and a heck of a lot quieter too!


Trying to figure out what to do next on my car, we went back to the storage space/platform vs. retain a backseat design.

So here's the official plan:
A modified "stair-step" wood battery cover.

The rear-most batteries will be covered with plywood, as will the "back-seat battery box" batteries, although those are much lower. There will be a step down between the far back batteries and the back seat batteries.

The small area of overlap between the two with be a "hidden compartment" to house the charger and main contactor. This will also help clean up the wiring, cover the manual battery disconnect, and whatever other junk I have.

When it's finished, the plywood will be covered with carpet to look nice, and be hinged to access the batteries, charger, etc.

The lower platform will be perfect for groceries and other cargo. The upper platform will not be as deep, but will still be useful (flatter) cargo space.

I think a cargo net across the front might work well.

Here's a view of the rear battery cover as just rough-cut plywood.


Here's a view from the front of the car, so you can see both the back seat platform, and the upper battery plywood cover.


The charger and contactor will go in that extra space in front of the batteries. Then, a vertical section of plywood will cover that up.

Here's another angle for you to see.


The plywood is a little extra long right now. I figured I can cut off more, but I can't cut-it back on later!

Hope these photos give you an idea of what I am going for!




Hey look! It's another one of those fancy electric car charging stations!

[Tango Charlie]

As always, very nice work, Ben!

Do you know the dimensions of the Cougar controller, and have you arranged a spot for it?

[bennelson]

I am assuming the open source controller is roughly the same size as my existing controller. I donated the heat sink for the Cougar, and remember what size that is, so I do have some reference of scale from the photos.

Right now, I am just planning on yanking out my 72V Curtis and dropping the Cougar in its place.

I continued work on the battery box/cover.

Here's the view from the back.


Here's the view from the front.

As you can see, I trimmed how deep the "seat" board is. Later, I will add a short vertical piece to the bottom front too.

Here's the middle vertical piece.

It's hinged, and provides are area for the charger, disconnect, main contactor, and anything else I have forgotten. Of course all that stuff will be nicely bolted down, not just pushed in there as it is in the photo!

With the middle piece flipped up, the bottom can also swing up for access to the bottom batteries. This is hinged using the original car hinges that the seat back was mounted on to fold down the back seat.

[my first gmc]

Looking good.

[TestDrive]

Rear most cover is/will be a) loose - lift out; b) tilt up on a hinge; c) be bolted down???

[bennelson]

The rear-most cover/lid is currently loose. It's just sitting there over the top of the batteries.

I think I will have it bolted down on the outside edges, with a main center portion hinged. That way, it doesn't jiggle around, but the batteries are still easy to access.

When it's all done, the plywood will be covered with carpet. I think that looks nicer as an interior than paint does. Also, the interior car body panels will be reinstalled as well.

I'm sure I will work some plexiglass into this as well....

[TestDrive]

Originally Posted by bennelson

I think I will have it bolted down on the outside edges, with a main center portion hinged. That way, it doesn't jiggle around, but the batteries are still easy to access.

Wonder if something could be done with recessed handle(s) from metro interior door latch?
Would help give it an oem look.

[Christ]

Rear door handles from 4th gen Civic sedans are flat and have a groove that you fit your fingers into to open the door... that would fit nicely into the wood and probably wouldn't look out of place. You can obviously get the front ones with a lock on them as well.