Electro new look!

Only things missing are the emblems and side trim, which should go on this next week.  Looking really good.

Electro's new look - body work complete

Electro just finished up at our local Maaco body shop.  A variety of dent/ding removals, rust removal, hole welding/filling, new windshield, and of course a brand new paint job.  I still have to put the bumpers and other assorted hardware back on, but I am ecstatic about the new look.  Check it out.

Greenwood Car Show June 2012

Electro was part of Seattle EV Association (SEVA)'s "Gasless on Greenwood" contingent this weekend, showing off EVs of all types at the Greenwood Car Show in Seattle.  Here are some pictures:

The club first met at a staging area for donuts and coffee.  Here is a new CODA, commercial EV out of California:

A restored and converted Fiat 600.  This car was the coolest clown car I have ever seen.  It has suicide doors too!

 Lining up and getting ready to go.

 My inspiration - the White Zombie!  John Wayland drove up from Portland for the show.  For those of you who don't know, the White Zombie is the fastest street-legal EV out there.

 A converted Honda!

 At the show on Greenwood.

 We ended up having two Cabby-EVs!  The black one is an earlier conversion that has lead acid batts.  Runs a little slower and not as far as Electro, but it was still cool to see it!

 Older conversion meets the upgrade!

 General shot of the show.  Despite intermittent showers, the show got really crowded in the afternoon.  Big success.

 "Gasless on Greenwood" general shot.  We had a parking lot as well a street-side spots.

 A nice Karmann Ghia conversion.  Also has a Zilla Z1K like Electro.

 Several Tesla roadsters in attendance, as usual.

 Here's an old 60's dune buggy conversion.  Almost all fiberglass, no seatbelts (grandfathered in to current laws).  I asked the guy what his view on safety was.  His answer: "DON'T GET HIT."

 The Karmann Ghia conversion again, this time from the front.  He was using the same lithium batts as me as well - CALBs.

Come see me at the Greenwood Car Show!

This Saturday (6/30/2012) is the annual Greenwood Car Show!
I am showing Electro as part of Seattle EV Association's "Gasless on Greenwood".

Come on by - let's talk shop!

http://greenwoodcarshow.com/

Post-balancing Distance Calibration

I have been (properly) balancing my lithium cells for a number of months now. I hate to say it, but the time before that I wasn't pushing the upper envelope of charge high enough for all the cells to get fully recharged. That meant that if I went for a significantly longer distance than I normally do, I would risk an over-discharge alarm on some of my cells (< 2.5 V).

Luckily, I never went that far.

Now I believe my pack is happily balanced, being pushed to ~183V (~3.52VPC) on every charge for the last few months (full charge voltage is 3.3V). This weekend I started to take another look at my range, and start *really* using my amp-hour meter to see how far I can really go. With lead acid batts, you're supposed to only use up to 50% of the charge if you want them to last. With lithium batts, it's up to 80% (80 of the 100 Amp-hours in my case).

Some data points from this weekend:

1) 28.2 miles, half freeway driving, half not. 51.5 Amp-Hours expended. No BMS alarms, no performance differences at all at "halfway". Great! On to data point #2...

2) 32.5 miles, ALL freeway driving, quite fast in windy conditions. 65 Amp-Hours expended. Again, no BMS alarms and no noticeable performance difference at the end of the drive!

Inching toward the mythical limit of 80 Amp-hours! I want to be careful when establishing these 'confidence' points, because I don't want to get stranded or cause harm to the batts. Good news is, because of data point #2 I now know that I can confidently expend 65 AH without getting stranded - that's about three times my daily commute!

Has it been THREE years?

I just realized that I have been driving Electro for three years! The maiden voyage (first with lead acid batteries) was back in August 2008. 6,200 gas-free miles since then and going strong.

5,000 miles!

As of this morning's drive up to Mill Creek, Electro has passed 5,000 'electrified' miles. Woo-hoo!

This is more of a symbolic milestone than anything else. Pretty nifty, and I am looking forward to many more.