CarBEN EV5 Full Sized Prototype Construction - 5 Seat Electric Car From Scratch

[NeilBlanchard]

I built a display stand today for the festival to hold an info sheet, my business cards and a support donations box.

I also got the hood nearly fitted; though finalizing it will wait until the nose is glued on and I have the windshield and the bezel vent in hand.

[NeilBlanchard]

This is the first time I've seen it at a distance greater than a few feet, since it's been smoothed (and there is more to go!):



Then back home:


Here's a reworked version of the presentation slideshow I had running on my iMac at the Festival: Neil Blanchard Designs: CarBEN EV5 Construction

[Xist]

Neil, you are making your own wheels?! They look lightweight!

Your car looks amazing!

[NeilBlanchard]

Thanks - In general it does look good, but there are a lot of "wobbles" that I have to work on. You see them better from a distance.

[JethroBodine]

Great pics Neil and awesome to finally see it in person!

Neil was VERY busy the whole time I was there, and I had to leave a little earlier than planned so we didn't get to chat much.

Here's one crowd...



...And another...



There were plenty more, but you get the idea.

Neil, I'll try to make it down after your vocal chords have had time to rest.

Also, got to meet Sheepdog 44 face to face. Always great to meet EMers!

[bennelson]

Wow! Looking great.

Reminds me of in the film TRON with the whole dematerialization event.

The car has the look about it of a 3D model, and to see it in the real world (instead of under a blue tarp) has an other-worldly feel to it.

[NeilBlanchard]

Yeah, I needed a bit more juice and/or coffee, and the cold pizza I brought for lunch didn't get eaten until I got home after returning the rental van - about 6pm! And I got sun burned on my face and arms...

I took a walkaround video that I have not seen yet - I'll upload it to YouTube later today.

In general, folks were very interested and once they heard some information about the CarBEN EV5 project, they asked some good questions; as well as surprise that there are electric cars at all already on the roads. Some people asked "will it have windows" - but this was because they didn't see the subtle recesses, and when I showed the inside, they realized that of course, it will have windows. A few other folks thought it was a solid piece of foam and were surprised to see the inside, let alone the battery bays and the cabin air exhaust vents, and the hood area, etc.

Many people wondered about the cost of electricity to charge the battery, and several mentioned the "long tailpipe" argument, and when I could discuss with them the several countervailing points. A few folks were very interested in the open source and creative commons aspects, and about what financial support options I have considered.

A lot of kids were very interested, and a couple had some very good questions. I got two young adults telling me about an awesome new engine or something that was perilously close to a perpetual electricity generator.

The one thing that I did tell many people that I was *expecting* to hear pushback on is the entry through the back door - and nobody objected to it. I did make it clear that there were be a small aisle down the right side and the hatch door would be a roof. One very young child wondered about the ~16" step up onto the floor - and for good reason. It would be a daunting height - but he also suggested a solution of having a step extend out to make it more workable.

Once they saw the back and how the taper is supposed to work - most people seemed to "get it".

This is an approximate recreation of the presentation slideshow I had running on my iMac: http://neilblanchard.blogspot.com/20...struction.html ... which was little hard to see given the reflections of the gorgeous sunny day we had!

[sheepdog 44]

It truly is a work of art, it wouldn't seem out of place in a museum. It's much more impressive in person. You have stand back to really get a good perspective because of how much taper it has. Up close from the front, if you take one step to the left, the rear half of the car disappears from the taper. I wanted to get a photo of three rows of people sitting one behind the other beside the car, but i couldn't find any empty seats.

Carben and the Frankenjetta were really inspiring. I really need to get off my butt!

[NeilBlanchard]

Thank you for the kind words!

As promised, here's a video that I took (I should have done the shake compensation in the camera, so you have to live with the slightly warping compensation in the YouTube fix):

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckUMwbfROyU

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Thank you for the kind words!

As promised, here's a video that I took (I should have done the shake compensation in the camera, so you have to live with the slightly warping compensation in the YouTube fix):

Neat. I actually think the YouTube "warping" is cool looking. A "special effect." And the car looks quite remarkable when seen in motion like this.