Ben Nelson's Electro-Metro Build thread

[Daox]

It really was a great meet. Getting a ride in the Electro-Metro was probably the highlight of the event. I loved seeing it all done and moving! Thanks for the invite Ben.

[nelsonway]

I think the real test should be Ben NOT telling anyone it is an electric car.

Yep... I dare him to go one week without saying electric or batteries, and
see if anyone really notices. (OK maybe when its warmer)

It'll be like the ole' hidden camera Folgers crystals commercials.

[bennelson]

Dare accepted.

Now just let me go put new batteries in my electric razor...

Doh!

[bennelson]

By popular demand, I now re-worked the motor end mount.

Franky, the turnbuckle was working just fine. Tinkering with it, it still felt sold and was doing it's job just the way it should, but something more solid looking would be nice to have there. That, and I have always been jealous of the Forkenswift motor end mount...

I mentioned to Rich yesterday that I might want to work on a mount.

This morning when I showed up at the EV work day, Rich already had a steel plate, sander, and plasma cutter ready.

I played around with making a rough paper template by "brass-rubbing" a sheet of paper over the end of the motor. There are four large bolt holes on the bottom of the motor. I traced them out and marked them on the paper.



The paper got transfered to the steel plate, and we drilled two holes - one for each of the outside bolt holes.

We cut a hole through the middle with the plasma cutter to allow for the tailshaft and "shoulder" around it.



More cutting shaped the steel plate to a Q-shape.



The original motor end mount was cut short on the band saw, and welded to the Q.



Then, the whole thing could slide straight down, toaster style, between the motor and the frame.



The original mount bolt went back in, and two bolts went through the plate into the motor.



I hit the whole thing with a coat of rust red primer. Maybe it will get powder coated someday....

That's enough work for today!

[bennelson]

I have a speaking engagement at a private school on Thursday.

A Teacher there is involved in sustainability issues, and knows me from a county group.

I have been invited to show photos of my car and talk about how I did it, and how "doing Eco-things" can create new jobs in the future.


That speaking engagement reminds me that there is an electric car dealership which has offered me a 72V battery charger. It was a return from a customer, meaning there's SOMETHING wrong with it. I am hoping it's something simple. That way, I can just fix it and use it.

There charger has a couple of adjustable charging settings to it, so I think I can use it with the gel cells just fine. It also has a 12V output, so if nothing else, I should be able to use it as a DC/DC converter.

I am planning on picking it up Thursday, after speaking at the school. It's not close by, but at least the school and the battery charger are at least the same direction away from home...

If I can get this 72V charger working right, I may be able to have a 144V system and charge it with TWO 72V chargers. It would be real easy to use a contactor to split the full battery pack in half right down the middle to make two 72V packs for charging.

Also, I think I'm murdering my battery pack. I have had really short ranges lately, and voltage drops under load so fast. I think I need to test all the batteries individually, and load test them all again.

I do have a few spares of these batteries, so I can pull out a "bad" one if it seems far below average from the rest.

I also took the car through the carwash today. And yes, I even got the feared (to EVers) "Underbody Blast"!

My car still ran fine afterwards.

[RarestAce]

with all the road salt used in winter the under car wash is a good idea even with the electronics dont want to have your car rust out from under you literally

[Intrigued]

All kinds of neat things happening here!

It is so cool to be able to inspire others to do their own car. If I could ever find a blasted forklift within 150 miles of here, that I could figure out how to get home, I'd start on one myself.

It's neat to have help to do things, on an "EV help day." If there were a group in Springfield, I'd go to that once in a while!

I'm glad you mentioned that dreaded "Underbody Blast." That'll give me a heads up for when I wash my car. Maybe something like a piece of coroplast to keep direct spray off of the motor will have to be done.

Maybe you'll be able to inspire a couple of kids to help save the environment!

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by Intrigued

It's neat to have help to do things, on an "EV help day." If there were a group in Springfield, I'd go to that once in a while!

BE the change you wish to see in the world!

Missouri

Mid America EAA
Web Site: maeaa.org
Contact: Mike Chancey <eaa@maeaa.org>, (816) 822-8079
Mailing: 1700 East 80th Street, Kansas City, MO 64131-2361
Meetings: 1:30pm, 2nd Saturday of the month
Location: Location changes, please check web site for details

Gateway Electric Vehicle
Web Site: gatewayev.org
Contact: George Moellenhoff <nowev@sbcglobal.net>, (314) 963-1358
Mailing: 741 Eckrich Place, St. Louis, MO 63119
Meetings: Monthly, Please contact us for for details

[Intrigued]

I get the emails from the KC group. They meet on Sunday afternoons, and I can't get there from church, and back to church, in time, or I'd go.

KC is better than 3 hours and STL is around 4, from where I am...

One of my ideas is to actually start a green enterprises business in the Springfield area (I live south and east of Spfld) and try to get something going with electric cars, and get a group going there. Once I graduate, that is... .

I wouldn't mind going in with an established business, and help expand it, even. Mainly because I have no collateral...

[Christ]

PS - I forgot to mention that the mount looks pretty good!