Link to Latest on my Conversion

Despite my best intentions, I have had trouble finding time to keep this blog updated while trying to make progress on the car, write some posts for Wired's Autopia blog, keep my day job, and not neglect my family.

In the meantime, here is an an index of my Wired.com posts, which should get you up to date.  You can also check out the many photos of my project in this flickr set, many of which are commented.

I've got plenty to write about, I'll see about getting around to doing it!

Living with an Electric Car

I recently made another post on the Autopia blog at Wired.com, and mentioned the car the electrified '94 Golf Kyle Dansie loaned me for a little more than a month.  I give a summary of my experience with the car in the Wired post, but didn't have room to include an interesting experience trying to push the range of the car one night:

On a very cold early December night I tried to make it back from the Electric Car Company of Utah's shop.  I drove about 15 miles from work to, to a parts store, and then to the shop, and charged the batteries while there. But I wasn't able to get a full charge before leaving.

DIY EV Battery Charger

The last major item I need to find for my conversion is a battery charger.  Amazingly, I'm staying within my budget so far (detailed in my wired post), but I'll probably go over if I pay for a new charger.

Russco and Quick Charge make some decent chargers that are relatively affordable compared to nice but more expensive Zivans and Manzanitas.  But if I buy new, I'm still looking at at least $500.  I have heard of people making their own chargers and got curious about how difficult and expensive it might be.  All a charger really does is apply a dc current to a battery right?  How hard can it be?

Regenerative Braking with an Alternator

When I first started serious research into EV conversions I was surprised to learn that most converters don't bother with regenerative braking.  I think the simple reason is just economics.  There are other ways, but to do it well it requires an AC motor and controller, both of which are much more expensive than the DC conversions.

I'm currently not planning to implement regenerative braking in my conversion, but imagining ways to do it is irresistible.  I got thinking about  hooking up an alternator to the back side shaft of my motor, and it occurred to me that the idea is so obvious that surely someone has done it before.

Sure enough, I found a Chevy S-10 conversion, using an alternator and an air conditioning clutch for regenerative braking. Can't find the name of the converter on the site, or I'd make mention.  It looks like a well done conversion, but ambitious.  He had to re-wire the alternator to generate the 120 Volts for charging....lots of work.

Motor Mounting Problems

Just before Thanksgiving week I went down to the shop of the Electric Car Company of Utah. Spencer and I were hoping to get the motor mounted up in a few hours.

I picked up the adapter plate and shaft coupler from Brian Berrett (Wilderness EV) at the same time that we picked up the batteries.  I also bought (traded batteries for) a flywheel and pressure plate from Brian as well.

Spencer and I spent some time loosely assembling everything to see how things would go.  Spencer was very impressed with the shaft coupler, some high quality machine work there.

Motor Shaft goes in the coupler here:

Found Some Cheap Batteries: 33 Universal Battery UB121100

I've been putting out feelers lately for battery options, and I've gotten a few decent leads. But here comes a great one has developed this week.

The building where my brother works is rotating some batteries in their data center's uninterruptible power source (UPS). The batteries are a few years old, but are getting rotated out simply because of their age. They have been treated well, mostly just sitting around with a managed charge waiting for a power outage. I'm told that they still hold a charge, and could potentially still perform pretty well. They almost certainly won't last as long or perform as well as new, but with my budget...

There are 33 available, $5 each. I'm planning to take them all so that I can sift through and choose the best. Whatever is left over I can use for spares, or recycle and earn a few bucks back.

First Drive to Work in EV VW Golf

My first drive to work in an EV was uneventful -- in a good way. The only thing that takes a little getting used was shifting later than you would in a gas powered car. I had no problems keeping up with traffic on a 55 mph highway.

The drive was a bit cold because I avoided using the heater to conserve power, but it turns out I had plenty of charge left when I got to work. I could definitely feel the 1300 pounds of battery mass that has been added to the car. The ride was a bit rough when going over bumps, and the lack of power steering meant using some muscle at low speeds. In talking with Kyle I've never asked if he modified the suspension at all...something to ask him in the future.

I've been inquiring at work to get permission to plug the car in at a seldom used stall in the back of the garage, but they haven't been able to get back to me yet. So I just plugged it in anyway. Crossing my fingers.