Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 30, 2008
I spent most of this afternoon and evening removing the fuel tank and exhaust system. Since this part of the car wasn't steam cleaned like the engine compartment, I got complete covered in dirt and gasoline grime. I'm using the floor jack to raise the back end of the car. If I don't use these blocks, I can't raise the car enough to insert the large 6-ton jackstands.
Plug In Partners
JUNE 30, 2008
A nother major manufacturer is jumping on the plug in hybrid bandwagon. Here's the story from Motor Trend : VW jumping on plug-in hybrid bandwagon with TwinDrive system Nate Martinez June 26 2008 Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn announced today that pre-production testing of the automaker's plug-in hybrid electric system, dubbed TwinDrive, is underway with the full support of the German government.
Plugs and Cars
JUNE 26, 2008
It was January 2nd this year when oil hit $100 for the first time. Today it reached $140 , and OPEC warns it will only get worse, and soon. Instead of biting the bullet and facing the need for plug-in cars quick, "solutions" put on the table by the presidential candidates wouldn't have an impact as soon as required to meet carbon and petroleum reduction or national security goals.
DIY Electric Car
JUNE 18, 2008
Last week I said that this blog would be part journal, part guide to the conversion process but I've decided to separate those two categories by having a build thread for the bike with pretty pictures and having this blog as a sort of step by step guide. I'll still give you updates here but primarily the build thread will be about how I'm doing it and the blog will be about how you can do it.
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Electric Cars are for Girls
JUNE 4, 2008
I am just starting to look at building an electric vehicle. I have the mechanical know how but lack the electrical know how. What HP motor should be.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 30, 2008
My buddy Andrew is coming tomorrow morning to help me hoist the engine out of the compartment. I went out to Home Depot and purchased the following: four foot length of 1/4" chain one 10mm x 1.25mm thread bolt 30 mm long The engine didn't come with hoist brackets, so I put the 10mm bolt into this hole on backside of the camshaft cover (drivers side) to hold one end of the chain.
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Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 28, 2008
Whoosh! Today was loads of fun. The conversion process has started and the Civic is out of commission and up on jack stands. The electric 914 has been relegated to the driveway until the conversion is done or at least until I roll that sucker out of the garage. I also got my internet connection back, so I feel good about being able to post entries and photos from my home.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 27, 2008
Things have been a bit frustrating this past week with my home internet connection down. It will get restored at the end of next Wednesday. I'm relegated to either go into work or camp out under a wi-fi antenna in a nearby parking lot to gather information or keep in touch with people. Life could be far worse, but I enjoy complaining about it. I spent this morning going over the engine removal instructions in the Helms manual.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 25, 2008
Things have been changing quickly in the EV world these days. I was looking at the new line of motor controllers from Logisystems. They seem to have similar characteristics of Curtis controllers, but at a much cheaper price. I've already put down $2250 for the holistic EV system from Belktronix. This system contains pretty much everything you need including controller, charger, contactor, potbox, battery balancer and DC-DC converter.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 25, 2008
While putting the engine hoist away yesterday, the UPS driver came and dropped off a surprise package from Electro Automotive. Here's the mystery package. Wha. Wait. Can it be??!! ElectroAuto actually sent me. The Civic Adapter Plate! Here is one side of the adapter plate on the left with the shaft mounting hub in the lower right corner of the picture.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 25, 2008
What's the use of converting an EV if you don't get to buy some cool tools? With vacation coming up next week to remove the gasoline engine from the Civic, I needed to get an engine hoist. One of my associates named Matthew, took the time to look around and he found a 2-ton hoist at Harbor Freight Tools on sale for $147. He used it to remove the engine from his truck and then he sold it to me.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 25, 2008
My internet connection at home has been down for the past three days, so I'm going to blast out several blog entries today. Due to a conjunction of several events, things seem to be ramping up very quickly with the Civic project. My employer is "strongly advising" we take next week off on vacation, so I think I'll take the leap and start tearing into the Civic.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 20, 2008
I registered the Civic today at DMV and washed it to get all the grime off. The car is quite zippy as a gas car and is fun to drive. I also removed all the upholstery from the trunk and took some measurements to see just how I could mount six batteries back there. Here's a center view of the trunk. Here's a closeup of the right side where I intend to mount the sixth battery for the trunk.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 15, 2008
My friend Jonathan was in town this weekend, so we took some time on a traffic free Sunday morning to get some 0-60 times from the original Civic. The first run took 12.70 seconds, but we agreed that I wasn't pushing the car much. The second run was goofed by slow traffic. The third was fairly indicative at 10.33 seconds. I'm sure many other folks could do better than this, but I wouldn't want to push the car much further.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 13, 2008
Over the past few days, I've been compiling a list of tools and supplies needed to do an effective electric vehicle conversion. After getting valuable feedback from several people on the Civic-EV Google Group, I came up with the following list: [link] tools-needed If anyone has additional comments, I welcome the feedback. This list will continue to change as we find new information during the conversion process.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 13, 2008
One of the baseline items my colleague highly suggested getting was a curb weight value before and after the conversion. He suggested going to the Jubitz Travel Center where trucks get weighed. It was a bit intimidating waiting in line with several semi-trucks, sort of like landing on the main runway of Portland International Airport with an ultralight airplane.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 11, 2008
Before I do too much with the vehicle, I wanted to take some measurements so that they wouldn't get lost after I remove the engine. Here are a few items after I pumped up the tires to 40psi: Ground to front-left fender: 24" Ground to front-right fender: 24.5" Ground to rear-right fender: 25.25" Ground to rear-left fender: 25" Distance between two rear shock towers in the trunk: 36" 10" rear of the trunk shock towers, the trunk widens out to 39" It looks like the car is slightly tilted to the lef
Plug In Partners
JUNE 11, 2008
T oyota President Katsuaki Watanabe made his company's intentions clear yesterday about PHEVs. Here's the story from the LA Times: Toyota promises plug-in hybrid vehicle in U.S., Japan and Europe by 2010 By Yuri Kageyama, The Associated Press June 11, 2008 TOKYO -- Toyota is introducing a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries in the U.S., Japan and Europe by 2010 , under a widespread "green" strategy outlined today.The ecological gas-electric vehicles, which can be recharged
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 9, 2008
My colleague Ian and I picked up the '92 Civic today. It rattles a bit, but overall is in good condition. The paint is good, the interior is good and it looks like everything works. I'm eager to start tearing out the engine. Ian suggested we get some baseline numbers like 0-60 time and curb weight before we start so that we can do an accurate comparison.
DIY Electric Car
JUNE 10, 2008
I have been researching Electric Cars since September last year , in that time period I have gone through many plans and thrashed out many budgets as I worked out how a student could make a satisfactory EV. I have planned an RX7, CRX or Civic and pick-up conversion, even to the point of being outbid on eBay for a donor. I started my own mini EV project as documented on this Blog, but since it was going to be just a toy, that I couldn’t fit in and didn’t feel comfortable giving away without testi
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 7, 2008
A few new things have happened over the past two days. With the huge jump in oil prices yesterday, I received a call from the local KEX radio to ask about electric vehicles and how they could be part of the solution. James Boggs over at Electronpirate interviewed me today for a podcast about my past conversion experiences and this Civic-EV project. I was hoping that Bob Bath, the original CivicWithACord creator, could join us but I think he might have had problems with his Skype connection.
Plugs and Cars
JUNE 6, 2008
Rechargeit.org , Google.org's campaign for plug-in cars, has issued a call for short videos. If you've got one, explain how it works for you. If you want one, explain why. Videos are beginning to show up on youtube. Jeff U'ren drove an EV1 for three years.well, the vid tells the tale. Tags: rechargeit.org google.org battery electric car plug-in car.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 4, 2008
I've started to order parts over the past few days since lead times are getting larger these days with the demand. I ordered a Warp9 motor from Carlo at EV-supply in Seattle. I also bit the bullet and decided to try out the Belktronix system for the controller, charger, battery-managment and DC-DC. I still haven't found a donor vehicle, but I've been swamped with preparing for EV-awareness day since I'm the chairperson of the Oregon Electric Vehicle Club.
Open Source Civic EV Kit
JUNE 1, 2008
Now that I'm back up to speed with several things on the Civic-EV, it's become painfully obvious that I probably can't make much progress without having a real Civic in my garage to work and take measurements on. This is a bit of a dilemma because I only have a one-car garage and my current electric vehicle (the Porsche 914) is sitting in it, charging up.
Electric Cars are for Girls
JUNE 8, 2008
Since I don't have the tools, the expertise, nor the time, I'd rather pay a mechanic to do the conversion for me. So where are the conversion shops.
Electric Cars are for Girls
JUNE 8, 2008
Does anybody know what the make is of the car that is on the front cover of his book? Hi, Joe - That's a Ford Ranger. Regards, Lynne P.S. You can.
Electric Cars are for Girls
JUNE 9, 2008
I am beginning a project of converting a Honda Civic into an electric vehicle. Can you recommend a motor(s) and drive type for this project?
Plugs and Cars
JUNE 13, 2008
News of oil by the barrel and gas by the gallon reaching new highs had been dominating TV and print, so it was perhaps not surprising that the Google/Brookings Plug-in Electric Vehicle Conference saw overflow crowds. The speeches and hallway chatter suggested plug-in vehicles have finally caught the attention of industry bigwigs and policy makers. Auto makers, electric utilities, battery makers and advocates all found themselves under one roof in the nation’s capital, and all said regarding plug
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