EV Trans Am

A couple of thiings have been figured out regarding the small electric motor I purchased to run the power steering and A/C. The bolts that I used to mount the adapter plate to the transmission actually are the same thread pitch and size as the interior of the P/S pulley. However, the pulley needs to run counter clock-wise so if I used the threads it would probably unbolt itself over time. Alternatively, before the threads the pulley has a hexagonal opening and a 3/8″ punch fits perfectly into it. I assume then that a 3/8″ allen key will also, or a nut that is 3/8″ outer width.

The other trick though is that the motor shaft is reverse threaded. So what I really need is a nut that is reverse threaded and the appropriate inner diameter to mate to the motor shaft while having an outer width that is 3/8″. I don’t know that they make those so I may need to but a reverse tap and a make my own.

I haven’t heard anything from the vendor I ordered everything from earlier this month. Normally they ship very fast so I’m assuming that some of the parts are not in stock. I know the crimper I will be renting had a few days delay, but that may ship separately since it has an extra shipping charge. I’ll probably call tomorrow to see what’s going on. I also wasn’t able to order the mk2d regulators online so I asked them so send me an invoice for them separately and I want to followup there as well.

On a good note I’ve been directed to a local metal fabricator who is interested in the project and will be coming by sometime this week to look over everything. He’ll be helping with the battery racks, including the new one that will require cutting out the floor above the fuel tank and raising it about an inch. We’ll also provide an access hatch to install and maintain the batteries.

Looks like Tesla is getting a boost and investment by Daimler. Should be good for EVs all around.

http://www.teslamotors.com/media/press_room.php?id=1356

One Thursday I placed one of my final orders, I hope. This one included the charger and battery regulators, a rented bench mount crimper to make the battery cables, DC-DC convertor, and a pretty cool looking forced air cooling kit for the WarP11. I wanted to filter the air somehow and this kit makes sense to not only filter but force air into the motor. I’ll need to modify my control board layout because I think the hose will be pointed up right behind the accessory bracket, but I have to room to fit it all in.

Not sure how I will tie the power in to the cooling fan. It would be nice if it could be triggered automatically off a temperature probe, although I have a feeling that sealing the motor with the shround will block any ambient air, requiring the forced motor to be on at all times.

I figured out the wiring for the motor that will drive the power steering pump. I wanted a way to shut the motor off when PS wasn’t needed to save some amps. This would be primarily when sitting at long traffic lights, but I could also see using it on the interstate occasionally. I really depends on the amps the motor ends up drawing and if the PS pump can be cycled on and off. If it takes 5 seconds after switching the motor on for the lines to be pressurized then it’s a no-go.

My original thought was to tie into the parking brake light indicator. This comes on when the parking brake handle is engaged even a single click. There is continuity in that wire that I was going to use to trigger my relay. Turns out though I would need a normally closed relay and then the brake was engaged it would open the relay. That’s not what I bought, so considering that and the fact that the brake light is on all the time currently (when a battery is connected to the frame for testing) I opted to instead use a switch the presious owner had installed for some fancy blue light special around the radio bezel.

Here is me figuring out how everything needs to be wired with a junk motor from a cordless grass trimmer. The switch triggers the relay which can handle the amps of the motor. The switch even has a little light on it when it is on.

12V, 1200 amp battery makes 18V tiny weedwacker motor whirrrrrr!

The next step is to figure out how to mate the shaft of the motor to these threads or hex (9mm?) opening on the PS pulley. And also how to mount the motor itself to maintain a parallel connection between the two. I think I’ll sleep on it some more.

Instead of constantly thinking about the wiring song (The battery negative connects to the fuse wire, the fuse wire is connected to the funny bone, the funny bone is connected to the motor controller…) I decided I just needed to lay it out in a way that makes sense to me. Here is what I came up with – tags of paper tied to each part with a label and designation of where it goes. That way when I’m laying it out in the car I only have to think about connecting “1” to “1” and “2” to “2” instead of + and – and whatever.

I’ll use the string again once things are going in the car to determine how much cable I’ll need for that connection.

I realized I never posted any pictures of the motor mounts, so here is one:

The silver ring is actually meant for petroleum pipe lines, 10″ to 12″ diameter. I purchased it from JM Ellsworth. I see irony in that. Shipping was fast and I think it worked out well. The thickness of the band is just larger than the spacing between the bolts around the motor so I had to grind a little material off one side, otherwise it went in pretty easy.

I started to layout the front batteries now that I’ve decided to go bigger. A simple math correction revealed that 156 / 12 = 13, not 14, as I’d previously thought. So I only need to cram 13 batteries in the car, meaning 8 out back and 5 under hood.

Three batteries end to end along here

Two batteries side by side here - need to clear the accesory bracket and front shaft. Speed sensor will be there.

This is the room I have left for the controller, DC-DC and fuses, contactor, etc.

A few weeks ago we went to an Alternative Fuels \ Vehicles expo in Orlando.  The big showing was for compressed natural gas.  The directed audience was industry, so not too many consumer goodies, but it was still interesting.

This is made by VPG Autos. It has an automatic ramp that extends out for mobility options. Their website is spectacular.

Pretty cool lawnmower. I assume it's CNG powered, but didn't look too closely. Mostly it looked like it had beer kegs attached for those farm-sized lawns.

I don't know what this truck was for, but it was pretty cool too. Looked like a mix between Internationals and a Ford Excursion