David's 2001 Civic EV (80-100 mile range; 65+ MPH; 8 second 0-60)

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Congrats - that's probably more mileage than I've put on the ForkenSwift all of this year!

I'm now at 712! I just got home from school and checked the odometer. I will well over 1,000 miles by the end of the semester.

I love not buying gas, just having to plug in works fine for me. I have not taken the EV on the highway yet, but it is definitely capable. I've had it up to 50 MPH with extreme easy, usually traffic is 40 MPH around here on 45 MPH roads.

Since my heat isn't working yet I've been using my ceramic space heater to warm up my car each morning.

[mechman600]

How many seconds do you think your motor can handle the full 1000 amps from your controller for? I remember watching a video posted on diyelectriccar.com of a Warp9 grenading while being fed 1000A.

I imagine shifting becomes completely optional with that much power on tap, hey? Insanely jealous of your setup over here!

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by mechman600

How many seconds do you think your motor can handle the full 1000 amps from your controller for? I remember watching a video posted on diyelectriccar.com of a Warp9 grenading while being fed 1000A.

I imagine shifting becomes completely optional with that much power on tap, hey? Insanely jealous of your setup over here!

I'd say 10 or so seconds at 1000 AMPs and that would be scary!

I ordered up new adjustable cambers for my suspension today and I'm going to adjust my spring a bit to see if it helps. I tried taking it to the Honda dealer but they were too afraid to work on the suspension! The lithium battery pack scared them, but they did love the EV!

[TheSGC]

The temperature is getting pretty cold, but tonight I should have my heat all working. Last weekend I filled the system with antifreeze and changed over to using the stock radiator overflow container. All I have left for the heater is the circuit that turns on the relays when my Temp Control knob on the dash is to the full HOT position. I designed up the circuit last night and today I will pickup the parts and solder it all together.

I now have over 850 miles on the EV and still going! I got some new bolts for my suspension that I will install this weekend and hopefully by Monday I will be winter ready.

[Daox]

Great to hear things are still progressing and everything is going smoothly. Have you noticed an increased voltage sag in colder weather yet?

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by Daox

Great to hear things are still progressing and everything is going smoothly. Have you noticed an increased voltage sag in colder weather yet?

I still haven't wired in my meters yet, but I have so much capacity that I haven't noticed anything at all.

I am still working on my heater, I'm just finishing up the relay driver.

[TheSGC]

My heat is working! I am using the stock climate controls in the Civic, which are electronic. So now I have it setup that the heater and water pump activate when the temperature control knob is all the way to HOT position. It worked quite well, gets hot within two minutes and is more than enough to keep the windows clear and the passengers warm!

I am guessing its 2 kW of heat, I will know once I get the gauges properly installed.

[MetroMPG]

Nice. I have EV heater envy.

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Nice. I have EV heater envy.

I am so close to having the EV run just like the stock Civic! Here is what I have left to do in the coming months:
- Get tach working (just need to wire it)
- Get A/C working (Finish mounts, design motor controller)
- Fix suspension issues (replace bolts, replace funky spring)
- Install volt meters, current meters
- Build fuel gauge to work with Civic fuel gauge

These will keep me busy for a while, but I like doing this is small batches.

[TheSGC]

Today was about 38F out and I am glad I have heat! I am really thrilled on how well it works, although I might insulate the hot water tubing to keep the A/C condenser fan from blowing all over the heater tubes.

I will have over 1,000 EV miles by the end of the week! And snow has been predicted for Wed/Thurs so the real test of the EV begins!