April Update

I have been busy, but I have added a few things to my EV. I know have a quiet vacuum pump from Audi which provides up to 28" Hg of vacuum and my brakes work a lot better now. I got the pump off eBay for a lot less than the noisy Thomas Pump I had been using.

I have been working on two rather stubborn batteries. I haven't been driving the EV as much as I should, and two batteries are performing a lot worse than they should be. I believe they are become stratified, so I am working on those batteries. I am breaking in the pack again slowly and charging the lower batteries with a power supply. I also am giving the entire pack a day or two on a float setting to get the acid moving around again.

I am thinking about upgrading my EV to 120 or 144 volts and a new chassis this summer, with lithium batteries possible. I am going through my budget and options now, but if I can't get these two stubborn batteries back up I am thinking about replacing them or doing the upgrade. This weekend is really nice, so I plan on working a lot on my EV in between getting ready for the end of the semester.

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Trekking On

My heat has been installed for some time and it functions! It does defrost the EV, but really doesn't do much more than that. My voltage just isn't high enough at 96 volts to heat the EV up, but I get by. I have to drive the EV everyday just to keep the batteries nice and toasty around 80F, but I go places each day and it isn't a problem.

Over the past 8 months of EV driving I have made quite a few notes for my next build. I have noticed that past 50% DoD the performance is just awful on lead acid batteries. My automatic transmission is a real power hog. I estimate that I get 10% less power and range than a Civic using a manual transmission and in the cold upwards of 25% less power and range just due to the automatic transmission. My batteries stay nice and toasty in their boxes, but the transmission fluid gets real thick in the freezing weather. My 96 volt systems works fine for most things on my commute, but I really need at least 120 volts to keep up with traffic on the last hill home and to run the heater to do more than just defrost the windshield. But overall I am very happy with my EV, and in the next week or so I will be going to get is inspected for the year.

Now I am planning to do another EV, this time a Generation 7 Civic (2001-2005 model years). I am going to reuse almost all my parts, but this time go for a manual transmission and a 156 to 160 volt system using lithium batteries. I am looking for a 60 mile back road range and about 40 miles highway, and I am hoping to start doing research into charging stations. I am hoping to build this EV in the next year or so when I get the funds, and after my lead acid pack dies out in my Civic now. I am expecting at least another 6,000 miles out of it so I have plenty of time to plan this EV. I do own a 2004 Honda Civic VP coupe that I find extremely comfortable and peppy, and my new EV will be designed to maintain the same pep, but I want to try and get a Civic EX coupe for my next EV.

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Winter is Here!

I have now well over 5,000 miles on my EV and winter has arrived! My heater is installed, but I am waiting for an overflow tank before I can use the heat full time. Right now the pressure builds up and shuts down the pump because it's a closed system, but once my overflow tank arrives it will be an open system and I can run it continuously. It's about 900 watts of heat but once it gets going it does a nice job of keeping the interior warm and the windshield clean.

I have gone about 7 months without buying any gas, and I am going to spend part of this break testing the winter worthiness of my EV. I just watered the batteries last weekend, about 1/2 a gallon for the whole pack, so I don't use much water which is good. This pack now has 4,000 miles and seems to get stronger all the time. I am hoping for at least 10,000 miles from this pack, hopefully more. I have figured my break even point is about 6,000 miles due to the benefits of driving an EV, so I'm pretty happy.

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Winter's Coming

I have over 4,000 miles on the EV, and now winter is coming. While the batteries are insulated, I still don't have heat in my EV yet. These past few weeks have been quite chilly, even some frost. While preheating the EV works to clear the ice, it doesn't last too long on keeping me warm.

Today was a day off from classes, so after my homework I worked on my heater. I originally had this overkill setup with all sorts of electronics, but I decided today it was unnecessary. I now just need to pick up two automotive relays and some anti-freeze and I can install this sucker on Saturday!

If all goes well, tomorrow I will pickup the last parts of the heater, get it all wired and lugged up, then Saturday I plug it into the EV and I should have an all season EV!

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Harvest Energy Fair

Yesterday there was a Harvest Energy Fair at the high school, so my dad and I decided to check it out. I also decided to bring my EV to show off and check out the advertised Plug In Hybrid.

There were a local company who sells Electric Bikes there with three bikes that people could test ride. My dad took one for a spin and loved it.
There was also a Tesla Roadster! The owner just received it this past Tuesday and got word of this little event and had to show it off.
In this picture you can see my Civic EV, the 2010 Tesla Roadster and the 2012 Toyota Prius Plug In Hybrid. The new Prius has a slightly larger hatch and a 13 mile EV range, the Tesla has a 250 miles range and my Civic has a 32 mile range. My Civic and the Tesla were definitely big hits, you have the home made commuter EV and then the sports car. And yes, not only did I sit in the Tesla, I got a ride! It has some serious zip, I know what I have to modify my Civic into next!

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Still Going

Well, my EV is still going! I had to buy new tires a few weeks ago, I got a flat on my way home and it was not repairable. I got Goodyear WeatherHandler Fuel Max LRR tires from Sears, and they have really good grip on the wet roads.

Last weekend I removed my batteries, cleaned out the trunk and checked water levels. Everything was great, and this weekend I am insulating the battery pack. It's been cold at night, 35F, and the batteries aren't too happy. Today I purchased two 2x8 sheets of 2" foam insulation and tomorrow I will rig up my new insulation box. This box will be twice as thick as my last box, and it will be easier to keep sealed.

I am also hoping to test my water heater this weekend. It's getting pretty cold out, but preheating the EV with the ceramic heater has worked fine the past week.

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Power Windows

Since my driver's window stop working, I decided to go all in and see what the damage was. Ever since I owned the car the drivers windows was the only one that would work from the control panel on the door, the passenger windows only worked on the individual doors.

It didn't take me long to rip off the fender, side trim and finally peel back the insulation and inspect the 25 pin connector. Four wires were completely cut off and another 8 had severe cuts in them.

After inspecting the connector, I called up Honda looking for a replacement and they wanted $500 for a whole new cable! After an hour of trying to remove the pins on the broken connector I said forget this, went down to Radio Shack and pick up 25 bullet connections. After that, I spent over 3 hours cutting cables, stripping wiring, crimping, soldering and testing.

Now all my windows work from the main control panel! It has been my largest pain, which is now cured!

I have also had significant progress on my heater setup, which I will post about once I get some more time to case it up.

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