Yeah, I know...

Back Off!

There's really no need for it...the casual passerby is not exposed to any stray current, everything is isolated and insulated.  The only way to get any kind of a jolt is to be poking around at the rear compartment, which is locked and secured.  

So What!

Yeah, I'm bragging.  It's a 1970 VW that is now ALL ELECTRIC, Bitches!

And so it's either the CAUTION sign, or the mud-flap girl. And I'm not gettin' away with that.

New Shoes!

New tires all around, tomorrow.  It kills me, because the old ones have good tread...the problem: cracked sidewalls.   I'm hauling so much battery weight, I'm afraid the sidewalls will fail.  So, new GoodYears.   

Anyone want some used 15x7's, cheap?

Happy New Year 2013

My range test went really well.  Drive 18 miles on a single charge yesterday, with all the major hills and routes that I normally have to take.  That's perfect!  I've been constructing discharge/distance curves, and recharge/time curves, and I'm learning how this thing behaves.  



There are still some mysteries to solve, however.

I've been using a hydrometer to "truth" my voltmeter as I'm charging.  When I bought my batteries fresh, the hydrometer floated high into the green.  When I used them a couple of times, it won't float into the green, but rather stabilizes in the "fair" zone (1.225).  Yesterday, after my distance run, I added some distilled water to all the cells and recharged overnight.  Pack voltage while charging is 132.2 V (max), but the hydrometer is still in the red.

Also, there is 50 volts across my motor even while the contactor is open.  I learned that while I was repositioning my tranny-mounts and I touched those studs on the motor...(zzzap 'DAMMIT!")

I also discovered that the black rubber water pipe I've been using as an insulative terminal cover isn't really an insulator!  I get a tingle if I touch the wrong one, and one actually caught on fire as it threw a 50V arc from the armature coil to the outer metal of the motor.  

I'm glad I was standing right there to catch it.