September 28, 2007 by Rob.

According to this blog post, it looks like EV users in California will have the ability to buy the cheapest electrons possible by linking their car software to their utilities rate schedule.  I’ve got ideas about this too but we’re still pretty far from variable rate billing here in Austin.  I even had a chance to ask Austin Energy exec Roger Duncan (a vocal green energy advocate)  about it at the CleanTech conference.  They’ve got lots of green initiatives going and, apparently, this is not the top of their list.

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September 27, 2007 by Rob.

Erik with AustinEV has arranged for the RAVolt to get a lift to 8th Annual Renewable Energy Roundup and Green Living Fair in Fredericksburg.  I can’t make it, but at least the interesting part of the team will be there.

Kate helped me give the RAVolt a bath before the show.  Of course, it started to drizzle right away!

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September 25, 2007 by Rob.

Steve H sent me an interesting blog post by Toyota Group VP Irv Miller that basically sells their Synergy drive as the greatest thing since sliced bread and pitches GM’s Volt as day old fish.  The sparks really fly in the community response!

The summary is that Toyota’s got some good & proven technology, but there are workable alternatives.  The game is not over yet.  Personally, I agree with the Volt design (series) over the Prius (parallel) because it is simpler.  I think of the Synergy drive as having all the complexity of a last generation steam locomotive.  Those engines were replaced by a simpler system - a series hybrid train.

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September 23, 2007 by Rob.

A car on the net?  Nah - too logical.  It could only be an EV.

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September 22, 2007 by Rob.

Today was a mini-work day to clean up some loose ends in front, back, and behind the RAVolt.

I neatened up the some of my wiring to show better at the Maker Faire. This classifies as “lipstick on a pig” but that bacon sure is tasty!

A front battery cover keeps acid from splashing the hood. I’m out of yellow paint so Laura’s sign is more proudly displayed. Maybe I should get another can of paint…  [note 9/27: I found some paint and it’s much better now]

And a new battery charger with 1.5 amps of umph to teach my auxiliary battery some proper respect. Note to self: cheap chargers = poor results.

Posted in Improvements, Pictures, Conversion | 1 Comment »

September 21, 2007 by Rob.

One thing I’ve noticed about the RAVolt is that there are times when pushing on the accelerator does not produce more power.  Typically this happens on hills when I really want that extra power.   I’m moving along OK, but my ammeter is pulling a low 200 and the voltage is hardly sagging.  Normally, I can put my foot down and get some extra “go.”  It’s common for me to burst over 400 amps going up a hill.

It turns out that my Curtis controller’s current limiter is on the OUTPUT side of the controller while my ammeter is on the INPUT side.  The PWM (pulse width modulation) going on inside the black box does not always translate directly back into readings on my analog gauges.

I knew that the Curtis had a current limit - I’m just surprised how it shows up.

Posted in Daily Use, Parts, EV Tech | No Comments »

September 21, 2007 by Rob.

I had a really good time showing off the RAVolt at the CleanTech grid vehicle forum.  Unfortunately, I could not stay for the panel because I would like to hear what they had to say.  Hopefully someone from the AustinEV group will post some minutes and I’ll include a link (hint).

We had a good turn out and I was happy to see many familiar faces an also make some new friends.  I’m getting comfortable explaining that the RAVolt was not designed to be a “show EV” and my goal was to get on the road quickly and cheaply practically.  I hope that makes it more approachable and I’ve stopped pretending that everyone could do (or would want to do) a project like this.

After the crowd went inside for the panel, Erik and I got to do some serious EV geek speak.  He was so full of great suggestions that I’m going to schedule an open garage to review the RAVolt and get more tuning ideas.  Some of Erik’s gems include:

• Building an “oh shit” 110 VAC recharger using a rectifier.  It would need to be monitored, but rectified 110 VAC become 150 VDC pulses.  That’s perfect for charging my 144 VDC pack!  More designs to follow.
• Adding a auxiliary battery volt meter (amen to that!)
• Upgrading the cell caps on my floodies to reduce water loss.  Between the heat and speed bumps, I’m loosing a lot of water.  The caps would also make it easier to water my couple of batteries with cables running over the cell covers.
• Looking for ground faults from the traction pack.  I’ve been getting a little “zing” when I touch some components and that’s from a very small short with the traction pack.
• Grounding the car chassis when I’m charging.  The traction pack is supposed to be isolated, but it is nice to be extra safe.  I’ve got the ground wire available, it’s just not connected.

PS: It’s great to meet people who are reading the blog!

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September 21, 2007 by Rob.

Next weekend (9/28-30) is the 8th Annual Renewable Energy Roundup and Green Living Fair in Fredericksburg.  This event is heavily attended by the AustinEV group and should be really interesting.

I’m not able to the RAVolt out there, but nearly every other Austin EV is making the trip.   I’m hoping to swing out there to see the event and will post some photos if I go.

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September 21, 2007 by Rob.

The RAVolt had a busy week with two over 25 mile days.  We made it home both days with out causing traffic congestion and I’m getting more comfortable about attempting drives near the edge of my range.  I still make a point to drive extra gently when I know that I’m in for on the long drive.  Both days covered most of the miles at highway speeds (MoPac and 360).

One downer: I’m still having trouble with my auxiliary battery.  This is not a big deal since I can just jumper the auxiliary from one of the traction batteries.  Unfortunately, I had to pull up to the CleanTech forum with the jumpers on :(  - I hopped out and popped them off, but it was a little embarrassing.  Of course, the battery has been running fine since then.

Posted in Daily Use, Storyline | No Comments »

September 21, 2007 by Rob.

This dramatic EV bike crash has been all over the EV groups, but did not make waves in the non-nerd news world.  I retold this story at least 3 times today and figured that more people would be interested.

KillaCycle is a BAD ASS hot rod electric bike that goes 0-60 MPH in under 1 second and gets up to 158 MPH in 1/4 mile.  That’s really really fast.  Unfortunately, it’s also too fast to react if you happen to gun the motor on a city street.  The first part of the video is an interview about the bike - the crash was supposed to be a demo of the bike doing a burn out.  Ultimately, both rider and bike are OK.

No worries about the RAVolt repeating  the KillaCycle performance.  I’ve installed 1200 pounds of lead as extra inertia to ensure that I don’t accelerate too quickly.   Maybe when I upgrade to lithium A123 batteries…anyone interesting is sponsoring us?

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