June 17, 2007 by Rob.

They don’t have 2/0 “welding” cable with lots of fine stands that bends easily, but they do have some multi-strand 2/0 cable.  The cable works fine for my missing sections, but is much harder to work with because it does not bend easily.  It is $4/ft.

Thanks to the AustinEV folks who offered to bring over their spare wire!

Posted in Parts, Storyline, AustinEV | 1 Comment »

June 17, 2007 by Rob.

At the AustinEV open garage today, we had more EVs parked on my corner than ICE cars. In addition to Erik’s, we had a 1981 Jet EV.  It is >25 years old and still one of the only 4 passenger commercial EVs ever produced.  Amazing, but true: the Jet was manufactured in Austin.
Lots of good progress today. I’ve changed the layout of the control board on advice from Aaron, Chris, and Erik. I’m putting the control board flat down instead of diagonal and will only have the high voltage components on the board. I’ll add a cover above the board to improve air flow and also keep people from touching the 144VDC components. The low voltage circuits will all go on a separate control board near the DC-DC converter. The converter and the smaller 12V battery will go where my old axillary battery lived.

I also found the perfect place for the volt & amp gauges: right next to the cigarette lighter (pictures to follow). I also completed the assembly of the pot box and gas pedal board.

Posted in Pictures, AustinEV, Planning | 1 Comment »

June 17, 2007 by Rob.

I’m in crunch mode to get on the road for the 7/4 parade. I think I can make it, but it will be close.

Yesterday, Alex and I made progress on nearly every aspect of the project. I also created a video showing how to crimp the 2/0 cable. Unfortunately, I also realized that I’m about 3′ short of what I’ll need to complete the project. Hopefully someone from AustinEV will have some spare cable.

Here are some of the things that we accomplished yesterday (pictures via links):

• Adjusting vacuum switch to cut off correctly took some tinkering with the screws.
• Installing last 3 batteries in the rear pack to bring the battery load up to 75%.
• Secure in cabin batteries to frame using coated wire to prevent battery flight in case of an accident.
• Pulling additional wires (14, & 18 gage) under car to provide more wiring options.
• Shunting the motor and creating a video.
• Termination of the traction battery leads to the rear box and controller board via an Anderson connector.
• Planning for the control board.
• Figuring out how to mount the pot box to the gas peddle cable. The pot box is a variable resistor that tells the controller how fast to go.
• Installing the crash sensor.

I also made the decision that the 220 VAC charger will not ride in the car. I’m going to hang it on the wall and bring DC power to the car. This makes my recharge wiring much simpler. I’m also planning to a supply 12 VDC pair.

One embarassing note: EVAmerica had sent the mount for the vacuum switch. I found it (and other handy items) when I was cleaning up my work area.
With all the rear batteries in place the RAVolt is riding lower, but not too low.

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