Judebert.com (Entries tagged as ev)

Silent E for Sale

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 20 Mar 2013 14:47:38 -0400

For Sale: $5000

Would you like to buy an 'O'? Round, and neat: a nearly perfect circle, tidy and complete...

Seriously, I'm selling my EV. I'm moving, and I don't have the time to fix it up and take it with me.

The entire saga of Silent E's rise and fall are detailed on this very site. It's cost me more than $9000 to make, with around $7000 dollars of good parts in it. Not to mention a new paint job. I'm asking $5000.

More details? Sure, read on.

Continue reading "Silent E for Sale"

UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 6

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:39:53 -0400

On a BOAT! ... Well, NEAR a boat. (full)

Wait, part 6? I never thought I'd get that many. On the other hand, breaking the SDS into small parts was inevitable: all that awesome can't be contained in one post.

How much awesome? Well, so far we've seen a plasma-guided rocket, aerodynamic bicycle farings, a life-size remote control and motion base, an SUV car wash, and an autonomous oil-spill cleaning robot. Is that enough awesome for you?

Well, maybe for you. BUT NOT FOR ME! Today I'll be showing you the EVs I saw at the SDS.

Continue reading "UCF Senior Design Symposium 2012, Part 6"

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Decommissioned

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 05:29:00 -0400

I still haven't fixed the batteries, and insurance is expensive, so...

Today we decommissioned Silent E.

I'm saving up for a lithium-ion pack. Maybe I can get some of those new ones, with the polymer anode, that store six times the energy. That would be awesome.

I haven't turned in the plate yet, but we've cancelled the insurance. Yes, I "Killed the Electric Car".

BUT! She will rise again!

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Third Birthday

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 08:26:00 -0400

I've always considered Independence Day to be Silent E's birthday.

This makes it her third, and I'm sorry to say it hasn't been a happy one. The most recent battery problem has sidelined her while I decide what to do next.

Obviously, the right thing to do is to replace the battery pack. But the original pack suffered from two problems: insufficient capacity and clamp-on terminals. I believe -- without much evidence, I must admit -- that the clamps to the 2/0 wires are the source of a lot of heat, and it's killing batteries. However, switching to higher-capacity batteries means rebuilding the battery boxes. And switching to screw-on terminals means rebuilding all the wires. And returning to 144V means buying a bunch of new regulators (I've blown up a bunch of mine).

If I'm going to go to that expense, I may as well go for some serious range. I'm considering large AGMs, or even lithium. I've run some numbers, and I've discovered that about 200Ah in a 144V battery pack will get me close to 100 miles.

All I have to do is sell all my spare internal organs. Or make it big with an iPhone app in a difficult economy.

Well, happy birthday anyway, Silent E. I promise to get you back on the road as soon as I can afford it.

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Meltdown

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 06:05:08 -0500

I lost another battery; I'm down to 8, the bare minimum. (My voltage converter will reportedly die if I try to run it under 96V.) This one literally melted.

Continue reading "Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Meltdown"

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Roadworthy Birthday

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 06:26:00 -0400

I've been lazy long enough. Today is Silent E's birthday; time to replace that wire and get her back on the road!

This is a very simple operation. Remove the old wire, cut a new wire to length, attach new terminal clamps, and put on the finished wire. Why have I been putting it off so long?

The wire in question was getting so hot it melted its plastic terminal covers. Rather than fixing the problem, I removed the terminal covers. Eventually it got so hot it literally melted the terminal clamps. That's right. Drops of solidified lead on my battery tops. Yikes. They must have made a conduction path somewhere, because the terminals started sparking under load. That's when I stopped driving.

The operation went pretty smoothly, except for one disturbing problem: There's a ground somewhere. Even with the main power switch off, putting the wire back on caused sparks. I washed the tops of the batteries with a baking soda solution, as best as I could. (One of my regulators got wet; I hope I didn't break it.)

Including a dead-end wire that was too short, forgetting to turn off the main power switch, and spraying the nearby wasps (not in my car, thank RNG), the whole thing took me an hour. I used only the tools in my emergency kit, just to be sure I could replace a wire in an emergency.

Happy Birthday, Silent E! Tuesday, it's back to work!

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Sparks

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 17:21:43 -0400

I've been living with a hot wire for a while now. (No, not my wife. ) Fixing it is just a matter of replacing the wire, but I've been putting it off. A few days ago, on the way home from work, I could actually hear it sparking.

It's not the first time it's done that, but this time it was really loud and sustained. I saw the voltage go down at the same time; it must really have been pulling some current out of the other batteries.

The odd thing is... this means there's a path to ground somewhere. Luckily, it didn't short out the 12V system, or even blow any fuses. That means the short is probably among the batteries themselves. I'm betting it's splattered lead and/or dust.

In any case, I'm not moving the car until I replace the wire. With everything else going on, that could take a while.

I really need a vacation.

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: RubeRally

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:02:00 -0400

People just love Silent E

Thanks to my good friend Clark, today I attended the RubeLab RubeRally alternative fuel vehicle rally. Rather like a scavenger hunt, really. Silent E took second place! Well, the first place car ran on CNG -- a fossil fuel -- so I contend it should've been disqualified, but hey...

I also pushed my car beyond its limits, saw some other neat vehicles, and enjoyed hanging out with my brother. Read on for details and more pictures.

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Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Crashing the Party

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 08:35:37 -0500

On Tuesday, Greg Frenette, manager of Ford's Global Electrified Fleets, came to UCF with a prototype Ford Escape Plug-in Hybrid Electic Vehicle (PHEV) to show off their new solar EV charging station. I had received an invitation via Facebook, and I planned to show up early and charge my home-built EV in the new spaces. I figured I'd be available if there was a problem, and Silent E would likely get a picture with Ford's prototype. I had even washed and waxed her for the event.

Unfortunately, one of my children got sick, and I had to take her to the doctor. I didn't have time to attend the photo-op, but I did go to the lecture.

And thus began the adventure.

Continue reading "Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Crashing the Party"

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Surprisingly Easy

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 12:11:00 -0500

Today I went out to fix my car. Tomorrow is my approximate birthday, and we'll have some sort of event, so I won't have time then. On March 2nd UCF unveils its Ford Escape plug-in hybrid and solar recharging station, and I want to bring Silent E. So this is my last chance.

I started trying to find the short by tracing the wires from the contactors all the way around to their origin. Since the car is low to the ground, and I'm 6'2", this is back-breaking labor. I kept at it for about an hour and a half, verifying with the multimeter that I was looking at the right wires.

Having found that the ignition wire was ground all the time, I went to the dashboard. In minutes I had ascertained the problem.

Continue reading "Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Surprisingly Easy"

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Stink

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:35:00 -0500

A combination of cold, work, and family events has prevented me from working on my car lately. After Kayla dinged my nice paint job with the door of our other car, I cleaned out my side of the garage and moved Silent E where she'd be safe.

After a quick 1.5A refresh charge, I figured I'd take another shot at rescuing my two leftover batteries. They'd gone bad when I had my motor disaster, as you recall. Sometimes, if you use high voltage and low current, you can get the battery back.

The first battery seemed to work overnight! It was at 13 volts the next morning. I may be able to up my range a little, or replace that one battery that's driving me nuts! I plugged the second battery in and left it overnight.

The next morning I kept waking up, wondering what the horrible smell was. I thought a cat had been incontinent right in the room. It was terrible. Eri woke up once, too; she asked if I had been farting. When she mentioned it smelled like rotten eggs, a light went off: sulfur!

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Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Shakedown Breakdown

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:26:24 -0500

Yesterday was not a good day for Silent E. We were stopped in the bumper-to-bumper single-lane rush-hour line inside UCF when she quit on me altogether.

Oh, did I mention it was raining?

As I gently pressed the pedal to start creeping, I heard the contactors open and saw the "check engine" light come on.

I never wired the check engine light to anything. Clearly, the car was mocking me.

Luckily a policeman stopped to help out before the traffic backed up behind me became violent. We pushed it up a nearby driveway. He wanted to give me a jump-start. I assured him that none of the things that work for a gas car would help me and that I would be fine. Then I called Eri to explain that I would be late for dinner. Before calling AAA for a tow, I broke out my trusty voltmeter and started debugging.

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Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Cold Snap

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 08:42:23 -0500

My, it's been cold here in Florida. Cold for Florida, anyway. This week of sustained freezing temperatures makes me feel like I'm back in North Carolina. The cold is bad for my range, too.

Y'know what's great about an electric car, though? It's got an electric heater. That means I don't have to wait for the engine to warm up; I just flip the little switch and get a waft of hot air. Unfortunately, that reduces my range, too.

This morning, after using the gas car to drop off my eldest daughter at her bus stop, I did something clever. I plugged the EV in, turned on the heater, and cranked up the charger so I was replacing all the electricity the heater used up.

By the time I was ready to leave, the frost had melted off the windows and part of the roof. The whole car was toasty warm.

I think I have to start a list of The 10 Best Things About Owning an Electric Car, and this goes on the top. I'm definitely doing it tomorrow!

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Showoff

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:23:59 -0500

I'm glad I've painted the car; otherwise I wouldn't have had much to show off the past couple of days!

Last Thursday I went to Hagerty High School and gave a presentation about EVs in general -- and mine in particular -- to their National Honor Society club. (Here's my EV presentation slides with notes in OpenOffice format (CreepyGirl font required for title page), and my EV presentation in PDF format, which doesn't support notes, but gets the cover right.) I estimate 100 or more students in attendance. The A/V club filmed it.

Yesterday I presented the car to the 3rd grade classes at Carillon Elementary. I didn't have a computer to present with, so I brought lots of EV parts, including my two dead batteries.

Continue reading "Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Showoff"

Judebert's EV Conversion Diary: Hippy

judebert@judebert.com (Judebert) — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 05:35:15 -0400

I was driving home with my middle daughter and a load of groceries; the windows were down, because I don't have air conditioning. Luckily it was a very pleasant day.

As I pulled away from a light, someone bellowed across four lanes and a median, "HIPPY!"

In a split second I considered my options. I discarded the immediate outrage -- C'mon, people, there's a child in a car, must we resort to name calling? -- because I didn't want to turn it into a big problem. Then I realized: I'm a pony-tailed peace-loving man driving an electric car; "hippy" is pretty accurate.

I put my hand out the window and raised a peace sign high.

It wasn't until I was past the intersection that I realized my car has no electric symbols on it anywhere. Either I had just passed a friend with a sense of humor, or someone really wants me to cut my hair.