Winter Has Arrived

Today we got our first snow storm of the winter. School was cancelled for the kids and I left the EV at home to avoid the traffic fuss. Although the car is parked in the driveway, it is under a winter car shelter which I purchased and installed back in October.

Since I have been a little concerned about the effect of the cold temperatures on the battery pack, I purchased a small ceramic PTC heater to place in the trunk to keep the temperature above freezing. These can be found at just about any local hardware store and are very affordable. Luckily, I have all my cells in one location which keeps them at an even temperature. I have the thermostat of the heater set fairly low to maintain an average temperature around 10 celsius. Although the battery cells warm up during overnight charging, I am more comfortable knowing that the heater provides an extra automatic source of supplementary heat.

Lately, I have also been keeping a close watch on an open source development of a mini BMS that is being developed by Dimitri through the DIY Electric Car forum. Nice to see all the contributions and exchange of discussions between many members.

Last September, Electric Mobility Canada held a conference on Plug In Hybrid Electric Vehicles in Montreal called PHEV'09. There were some very interesting presentations and speeches given on a wide range of topics. Unfortunately I was not able to attend but did read up on and view many of the presentations online by accessing the conference proceedings on the EMC website and found very many of them to be interesting and very informative.

Carbon Offsets

I've been wanting to know how much carbon dioxide (CO2) a typical small car produces in a year when driven on a daily basis. I found several sites on the internet that calculate the size of your carbon footprint for just about everything (household, transportation, etc). Here is one of those carbon calculators.

It is said that the average US vehicle has a footprint of 10,383 LBS of CO2 per year. When making my own calculation based on a small car and less mileage travelled (ex. 15,000 KM or 9320 miles), I came to 6029 LBS or 2.7347 tons per year. That is how much CO2 is out of the air when a car like this one has all it's fossil fuel pollutants removed when it is converted to electric.

A couple of nights ago, CBC Doc Zone aired an episode called "Carbon Hunters" which looked at the concept of "Carbon Credits" or "Carbon Offsets" as one of the ways to slow climate change. This approach is not the best but it was deemed necessary and adopted by the UN because other approaches were taking too long. Something that I did not know is that carbon credits have become quite the commodity and can be traded for cash on the Chicago Climate Exchange and other international carbon exchanges.

- One metric ton of CO2 out of the air for one year = One Carbon Credit

- There is one ton of carbon in 3.67 tons of CO2

Apparently, there is a "gold rush" for carbon offsets and many speculators are jumping in for a piece of the action. I don't know exactly how much one carbon credit is worth today, but I know that Denmark's carbon tax is $25 for every ton of carbon. Watch the film to learn about this. I am sure you will find it intriguing.



Watch Carbon Hunters online in it's entirety.

Control Box

As things are pretty well broken-in after 3000+ kilometers driven it was time to make one important addition to the car. The electrical controls in the front compartment were originally installed in a temporary fashion and I was always intending to contain most of the components inside a control box in order to shelter them from the elements (water, salt, road dust etc). I wanted to get this task done before the first snowfall but I knew this was going to be difficult now that I don't have access to an indoor work space. So, I decided to take the car to Richard's place so that he can put together a custom control box that would fit nicely up front and that would be easily removable to facilitate servicing the car.

All the wiring leading into and out of the control box can be disconnected using Anderson and Molex type connectors. The pot box was left outside of the control box for easy access without having to open the control box. At the same time, the Charger was slightly repositioned for added hood clearance and the power steering pump was lowered for a better control box fit.

Here is a shot of the custom bracket used to support the front of the control box and charger.

The power steering pump is seen here after it was lowered to make room for the control box.

Another shot of the front bracket (driver side).

Control Box (empty).

Control Box (with components mounted inside).

Control Box mounted inside the front motor compartment (uncovered).

Finished look with control box covered.

During the making of the control box, I commuted to and from work on public transit and was anxious to get the car back. I spent plenty of time watching and reading about conversions and keep finding some very interesting material. Here is a project presentation recorded on video entitled "Customizing Commute Ecology" given by a Carnegie Melon University professor named Ilah Nourbakhsh. The project is named "Charge Car" by the "Create Lab" at the university.

PakTrakr Woes and Wows

I'm beginning to feel like a klutz or I'm just really unlucky. A few days ago I received my PakTrakr display replacement and went ahead and installed it along with my newly built noise filter. I paid special attention to ensure nothing was shorting and that the noise filter was well insulated and connected. Unfortunately, the display unit wasn't powering up and I noticed that one of my five PakTrakr remotes stopped flashing indicating a problem. I felt major disappointment and could not figure out what went wrong at that moment. I was stumped and sent off a few emails for assistance.

Since the in line noise filter uses capacitors, I was told that it is always a good practice to disconnect the power (at least the black PakTrakr wire that connects to the first battery in the series) or to pre-charge the capacitor(s) using a 9v battery prior to connecting the filter.

The extent of the damage to the remote is not known at this point and I am even questioning the cause as I have heard that these remotes are very sensitive (especially to static) and can pop at any given time. I have also read several forum posts about users who have seen their PakTrakr remotes die on them for no apparent reason. In my case I am hoping it is only the fuse. The fuse is located at the remote's black battery lead (ring terminal) just under the shrink tubing. As instructed by Ken, I will attempt to replace the fuse (1A or less). If the remote is still dead, it will have to be sent in for repair or replacement.

On a brighter note, I recently came across an attractive looking display that translates the PakTrakr battery monitor data to a color graphical format. It's called EV Dashboard and it uses a five inch GPS color display running on Windows CE 5.0. The data from the PaKTrakr system is captured by the EV Dashboard via a serial to Bluetooth adapter. Anyone interested in giving this a try can contact John who is open to suggestions on improving this display solution.

Colder Weather

I have not posted any news in a while mostly because I have been waiting to receive my PakTrakr display replacement. The reason for the long delay is that I messed up when providing my return address to the maker/supplier and it appears the package is either lost or heading back to the sender.

The weather has started getting colder and it's a good thing I decided to install two heater units because I am now sure that one unit alone would not have been sufficient to provide enough heat. To date, we have seen temperatures reach as low as freezing (0 Celsius) on a few occasions already. On such days, I start off using both heater units (high) to heat the car for approx 10-15 minutes and then drop down to using only one heater unit (low) to maintain a comfortable temperature without wasting much energy. I am now realizing that my calculation of 30% energy consumption for heating should be quite accurate and that my daily commute of 45-50 km will be my range limit in the cold winter temperatures leaving some room for avoiding full discharge of the battery pack. What is still a big unknown at this point is the effect of much colder sub zero temperatures on the LiFePO4 batteries. Only time will tell but I promise to report my data.

On a very different topic, I like many others have been watching TV and reading about the Swine Flu wondering what to do. Vaccinate for H1N1 or not? I started poking around and discussing with different people and the sad thing is that the public is not well informed or shall I say malinformed. Very few people seem to know what the side effects of most vaccines have been and continue to be. I watched an interesting documentary produced by Canada and France looking at exactly this issue. I recommend that you take 51 minutes of your time to watch it. The english version is called "Shots In The Dark" and the french version is called "Silence, on vaccine".

Trailer:

Film:

Silence On Vaccine

Noise Filter for PakTrakr

While waiting for my PakTrakr display replacement, I decided to a build a noise filter in case the new display still behaves strangely. This noise filter has solved the issue for at least one other EV converter that I know of who has a very similar setup to mine.

To avoid mounting the capacitors directly onto the PakTrakr display or the twisted pair cable, I purchased a small simple circuit board and connectors from a local electronics shop to facilitate installation and removal if necessary.

Note: Only three pin connectors are needed but since they were not in stock I used four pin connectors instead.



The two capacitors used are 4700 uF and 0.1 uF. The board was cut to be smaller and more compact.



The male connectors were mounted on each end of the board followed by the capacitors. This could also have been done using only one male connector at one end and three wires connected at the other end with a three pin female connector to plug into the PakTrakr display unit. Nevertheless, this approach will work well and give the unit some rigidity.



The connectors were soldered and the capacitor leads were bent and soldered accordingly on the underside.



The underside will be covered with an insulator and then I plan to wrap the whole unit in shrink tubing leaving the connectors accessible. The total cost of the parts was $8 cdn.

PakTrakr Issues

Several weeks ago I was getting strange behavior from my PakTrakr battery monitor. To be more specific, the display unit would often indicate false alarms and erratic voltage measurements. The thing that surprised me the most was that the display characters would often be garbled and this would happen while my car was powered off sitting still in a parking lot for several hours. During this behavior, I had to fallback to my reliable analog gauges for voltage and current readings. Boy am I glad the analog gauges were installed.

I initially contacted Ken Hall (the maker) who sold me the BMS and explained the situation. He told me that these types of symptoms are commonly seen in high current EV conversions due to EMI and suggested that I try adding Ferrite Choke Cores to the twisted pair data cable between the display unit and remote unit. I tried this without any success and returned my possibly defective display to Ken for further investigation. Unfortunately, Ken tested the display unit and was not able to reproduce the problem(s) I was having. At this point I began researching the problem on the Internet and came across a few exact cases. I read many forum postings to the point where my mind was overloaded with information.

PakTrakr Goes Nuts Motor EMF
PakTrakr Data Noise
EVDL posting

EMIControl in Electronic Governance

I read about people testing their PakTrakr units using oscilloscopes and determining that noise was entering the display unit because it used the high voltage from the pack as it's power source. Suggestions were made that the PakTrakr monitoring system should use a separate power source or have in line filters to eliminate any noise. In addition, it seems that many PakTrakr customers have provided valuable feedback for product improvements but some of these improvements have not yet been implemented. I started getting discouraged to the point where I am now considering returning my entire BMS kit if one more last attempt does not resolve the issues.

Cleaner Feel and Look

I finally got around to giving the car a good exterior wash after many months of collecting dust inside the garage and only getting rinsed by rain while sitting in the driveway. Now, the car not only feels clean but it also looks clean. The EV stickers on the sides have replaced the old LX stickers from the car's previous ICE life.





With every day that passes, the car mingles into traffic with all the other ICE vehicles on the road and many thoughts come to mind.

Thoughts like;

"Why is everyone so anxious to go nowhere so fast in traffic?"

"Wow, look at all these tailpipes...wonder if anyone has noticed that this car doesn't have one?"

"It's amazing how far I can coast before coming to a stop".

"Where will we be in a couple of years from now with battery and energy storage technology...will the next major breakthrough really be in super/ultra capacitors?"

I recently read that researchers have found a way to transport electricity wirelessly. Imagine that. It's called witricity.



As I cross the Champlain bridge during my daily commute to and from work, I also can't help but smile and laugh inside of me when I see the huge illuminated signs displaying messages like "Look for alternate transportation and save fuel" or "Take the bus and avoid the fuss". In my case, I have certainly found alternate transportation that doesn't use a drop of fuel. I also spent almost a year travelling on public transit during the EV conversion process and can say that it was a decent experience that allowed me to relax and read while riding on the bus and subway as well as walk on a more regular basis. This is important when you have a relatively sedentary job like I do. With more time in my hands, now I can get back to my old exercise routine and enjoy the EV commute and contemplate further improvements I'd like to make.

Energy Consumption

This past weekend I spent some time with the family at my sister and brother-in-law's place where we charged the car using 240 VAC for the first time. I made an adapter to plug into a standard 240 VAC Household Dryer socket since Eric and I judged that the available 120 VAC circuits were already quite loaded and we did not want to overload them and risk blowing fuses. Getting to the dryer socket was very easy as most dryers are very light and easy to move in order to get behind them to access the plug. The charging time at 240 VAC was approximately 3.5 hours compared to 4.5 hours using 120 VAC for a typical commute (42 KM).



To accurately measure the actual energy consumed when charging at 120 VAC, I also decided to use an energy meter that I had purchased a while back. I was a little surprised to discover that the charger was drawing more power than I initially thought. At the beginning of the charge cycle, the charger gradually but quickly comes up to it's maximum power consumption of 2300 watts which would exceed a standard 15 amp circuit of approximately 1800 watts.

Here are a few shots of the energy meter's display at various intervals during the four hour charge cycle:

4:20 into the charge cycle and consuming 2234 watts (pack <80%)



21:07 into the charge cycle and consuming 2298 watts (pack <80%)



37:28 into the charge cycle and consuming 2298 watts (pack <80%)



1:57:08 into the charge cycle and consuming 2220 watts (pack <80%)



2:55:43 into the charge cycle and consuming 2245 watts (pack <80%)



3:50:05 into the charge cycle and consuming 540 watts (pack >80%)



4:06:45 into the charge cycle and consuming 540 watts (pack >80%)



4:08:08 into the charge cycle and consuming 21 watts (pack 100%)



The maximum power consumption measured by the energy meter was 2318 watts and the total cost of the energy consumed was $0.688 ($0.08 per kilowatt hour x 8.6 KW).



To conclude, my initial estimate a few weeks ago was only off by about five cents on the total cost of energy consumed for a commute of 39 kilometers. Based on the energy meter measurements, the actual cost per kilometer driven is 1.76 cents.

$0.688 / 39 kilometers (24 miles) = $0.0176 per kilometer ($0.0286 per mile)

Energy Meter sold at Canadian Tire

ABS Fault Codes

The only thing left before I have the car inspected is to resolve the ABS fault(s). When I purchased the car in August 2008 I was aware of the fault and intended to eventually correct it.

Last week I borrowed an OBD2 scanner from my friend Anthony at work hoping it could shed more light on where exactly the problem lies. Unfortunately, I discovered that the OBD2 scanner does not diagnose ABS brake faults. I did a little research and found out how to retrieve the code(s) the manual way. It involves accessing the Data Link Connector or Diagnosis Port located in the engine compartment in between the firewall and front strut on the driver side. Using a fused jumper wire, you ground the below indicated pin [x].

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [x] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]
[ ] [ ]



Once grounded, turn the key switch to the ON position and watch the ABS light for the flashing sequence. The light should turn on for a few seconds and then start flashing. The first sequence of flashes are slow and refer to the first digit of the two digit code. The second sequence of flashes are fast and refers to the second digit of the two digit code.



If there is more than one fault code, there is a pause in between each fault code reported. The sequence will repeat itself as long as the key switch is ON and the jumper wire is connected. Below is the wiring diagram for the data link connector.



If you own or have access to a sevice manual, you can look up the DTC codes for a problem description and troubleshooting guide. Here is a link to one of many sites for downloading a Mazda Protege Service Manual.

Inspection Preparation

This past weekend we attended a day long event on sustainable living and green technologies at Parc des Rapides in Lasalle organized by Heritage Laurentien.

Although I was born and raised in Montreal, I have never visited this park and was pleasantly surprised by the natural beauty of this well preserved habitat. One can visit the bird sanctuary, admire the wildlife, bike or walk along the riverside or simply sit and have a picnic while enjoying the view. The weather was just right and we met various interesting people displaying their items which included solar ovens, solar panels made of recycled aluminum cans, rain water collectors, water saving techniques and ofcourse we were their with our e-Protege EV conversion.





I am now in the final stages of the inspection preparation with two things that need to be addressed before I schedule an appointment (get better tires and resolve the ABS brake fault). I also know that I will have no problem driving the distance to and from the inspection center. Example, driving 46 kilometers only requires four hours of charging to fully replenish the battery pack.

I did some quick math and determined that the cost to travel 46 kilometers is 65 cents or 1.4 cents per kilometer:

120 Volts AC x 15 Amps = 1.8 Kilowatts x $0.08 (Average Hydro Quebec Kilowatt Hour Rate) x 4.5 Hours = $0.65

$0.65 / 46 kilometers = $0.0141 or 1.4 cents per kilometer

Clean, green and efficient!

Break-In Period

In an effort to equalize the battery cells, I have taken a few short rides with the car in order to go through a few discharge/charge cycles. I also want to know what my driving range is in order to determine how far I can travel.

The issue with the PakTrakr BMS reporting 'Alerts' on 'Remote A' was resolved. My experienced fellow eProtege5 converter (Dimitri) was most helpful in resolving it. The problem was that the PakTrakr display was set for "Flooded" type batteries instead of "Lithium". The system is now behaving correctly with only one strange incident where the display temporarily experienced a glitch and the characters got scrambled like letters of a foreign language.

The PakTrakr display unit was originally planned to be installed in a triple pillar pod next to the windshield at the driver side but I finally chose to put it just between the radio and the climate control unit.





All the BMS wires were organized nicely and the rear seats were reinstalled. Since the center rear passenger seat belt was no longer needed, I removed it. This will also help in meeting the SAAQ vehicle inspection weight requirements.

Some additional minor work was done like installing a safety spring for the pot box, finishing up the heater wiring connections, reinstalling the plastic splash panels in the wheel wells and under the front motor compartment, reinstalling the radio and weighing the car.

In preparation for the vehicle inspection, I contacted the SAAQ to get more specific details on what required to be done. In the province of Quebec specifically, there is a weight adherence that must be met which is calculated using the following formula:

weight + (70 Kg x number of seat belts) + 30 Kg <= GVWR

Therefore, the weight of the car plus the weight of passengers (70Kg per seat belt or passenger capacity) plus cargo weight (30Kg) should not exceed the Gross Vehicle Weight Rating. This is a requirement that most EV converters find fairly difficult to meet especially if lead acid batteries are used.

The equipment requirements and other information for a modified vehicle are described in this french document published by the SAAQ:
Les vehicules modifies ou de fabrication artisanale

First Road Test

Our family had been waiting for this moment for almost a year. I was itching to take the e-Protege EV for a ride but the heavy rain was literally raining on my parade.

Late Sunday afternoon, the skies cleared and the roads dried up so I went on my first road test. It was a nice feeling even though I didn't go far. You can feel that the car had serious torque and I had to hold myself back on the throttle. I took each one of the kids for a separate ride around the block since the rear seat was removed temporarily. The kids enjoyed the ride while my wife watched us and recorded the event on video (to be posted shortly).

I checked all the cells one more time after the road test and they had all come back to 3.33 volts. The total pack voltage was 133 volts. Since all this is new to me, I am still trying to figure out the expected behavior of the batteries.

Charge Verification

It's raining again today but I did get a chance to measure the cell voltages manually during a break in the rain.

First I interconnected the Pak trakr remotes to see what they had to report. To my surprise, Remote 'A' which is supposed to be the remote furthest from the display and the one connected to the series of cells at the negative most end of the pack had 'Alerts'. The alerts indicated that battery A2 and A4 needed charging and that battery A1 was overcharged. At this point I was a little worried so as planned anyway, I proceeded to verifying each cell manually to compare. My manual measurements using my multimeter contradicted the Pak Trakr making me question if it is defective. I will have to further troubleshoot this issue. The total pack measured at 141 volts. Nevertheless, my manual measurements and most of the Pak Trakr individual cell measurements did show similar discrepancies. The lowest measurement was 3.42 volts and the highest was 3.70 volts. This has me a bit concerned. Perhaps I will simply need to run through another charging cycle.

Here is a table of measurements for the entire pack:

Charging Up

Due to the unpredictable weather this past week, I spent a bit of time each evening after work to wire all the battery cells in series and connect the cell balancers and Pak Trakr BMS. This was not a very easy task because the space was tight. I connected each Pak Trakr remote separately first and all the remotes flickered ON except for one of them that stood out from the others only flickering OFF. I am not sure if this is a problem but will find out after I interconnect all remotes to the display.



Here is the spaghetti. It might look a little messy but the wires will soon be neatly tie wrapped.



Here is a look at things up front.



Today, I plugged in for the very first time to charge up the battery pack.

The charger LED light flashed red at one second intervals indicating that the pack was less than 80% charged. I started charging at 1PM and kept a close watch to see how the charger and the cell balancers were behaving. The charger heated up fairly quickly telling me that it was drawing close to max current (approx. 15-20 amps). About four and a half hours later, the charger LED light was flashing yellow at one second intervals indicating that the pack was more than 80% charged. Many of the cells (approx. 22) had reached their set voltage and the cell balancers were in shunting phase (green and red LEDs lit). Slowly but surely, more cells began to catch up and only twelve had still not reached their set voltage by 8PM. At 8:30PM, only seven cells were lagging behind. By 9PM, there were four cells left and by 9:45PM the charger LED light was flashing green at one second intervals indicating that the pack was at 100%. The cell balancer lights at this point were only green so I did not witness those last four cells' balancers go to the shunt phase. It had also gotten dark outside and the mosquitoes were biting so I called it a day.

Tomorrow (Sunday), I hope to take the car for a test drive after I pick up some power steering fluid (ATF) to top up the reservoir. I will also interconnect all Pak Trakr remotes to the display and double check the voltages of each cell manually with my voltmeter. My grin is getting bigger. More to come soon...:-)

Getting The Right Fit

This past weekend I spent time looking at different ways to get the right fit for the batteries inside the battery box as well as find an easy and safe way to fasten them down. I originally planned to insert the cells in packs of four and a while back had cut out an opening for a small door/flap to facilitate battery installation. When the batteries were shipped to me last month, they were packed in packs of five which meant that I would have to shorten the straps and reattach the ends/jigs but then I realized that I would be short two sets of ends/jigs. That's when I contacted some of my fellow EV converters and some unused spare jigs were found and soon after en route to me. When starting to place things into the box and laying out all the hardware, I decided to scrap the packs of four cells approach since I blocked off the doorway to incorporate a solid fastening system. I was feeling a bit disorganized at this point as I found myself changing plans several times while trying different setups and thinking things over.

Having all the cells side by side required that I fill in gaps around the pack inside the box so I used a combination of rigid foam insulation and wood strips. I also made my own bus bars out of copper that I found at my local metal recycling yard for connecting across the battery strings. Since each string is eight cells long (even number), two of the four cross string connections required cables. If I had an odd number of cells in each string, four custom copper bus bars would have sufficed.



Now, if the weather would only cooperate so I can continue working on the car. It's been an unusual rainy summer so far with temperatures below seasonal average. We even had a few hail storms over the last few weeks.

Back To Work

The month of June was a total write-off with no work done on the EV. I had a very busy work schedule with my job and also took some vacation time with the family. Our trip to Greece was unforgettable. We all enjoyed it very much especially the kids who did not want to leave when it was time to return home.

This weekend I plan to finish up any remaining work on the battery box and hopefully have them in place so that they can be wired up and ready for the first charge. I then need to finish up some of the instrument wiring (BMS, gauges, motor temp, etc). If all goes well, I might be ready for a test drive the following weekend.

I recently received an email from "Heritage Laurentien" inviting me to a one day event on sustainable development and green technologies where electric vehicles will be on display. This event will be held on August 8th at Parc des Rapides in Lasalle (Lasalle Blvd. corner 7th Avenue). I'd like to attend this event if possible and hope to meet other EV owners. Heritage Laurentien is a non-profit organization that promotes the protection of the environment and holds many different events throughout the year.

Home

Last Friday was World Environment Day and Yann Arthus Bertrand released a documentary film entitled "Home". The images of our planet captured in this film are amazing. While watching it, one cannot help but ask "how can we be destroying something so beautiful?". Many astonishing facts are raised like "20% of the world's population consumes 80% of it energy/resources"....."the poorest people who do not contribute to the problems suffer the most". Like many other films, "Home" focuses on over consumption and how it affects earth's balance.

HOME

Watch the entire film online

Batteries Arrived

Finally!!

It's been a very long wait. My order was made on Feb.26th and it arrived on June 4th. A whopping 98 days or 14 weeks.

Today I took a drive south of the border to pick up my batteries and personally clear them through customs. There were four wooden crates in total and one of the crates was damaged looking as if it had fallen somewhere during its long voyage. I first opened up the damaged crate to see if any cells sustained damage but they appeared to be fine aside from the straps being bent out of shape. All accessories were in order and all went smoothly crossing back over into Canada and clearing customs. I took inventory of all the serial numbers and verified the voltages of each cell for reference. All cells measured 3.3 volts. To be more precise, 39 cells were 3.33 volts and one was 3.32 volts. According to the enclosed documentation, the production date of the batteries was April 15, 2009.





Here is what the damaged crate looked like.



These are the two sets of cells with the bent up straps.



As anxious as I am to put the batteries in the car, this task will have to wait since I am very swamped with my job and some important family commitments. More to come....

Addicted

I'm beginning to think that perhaps I'm addicted to documentary films. We've all seen and heard about the effects of plastic waste on the environment. For those who don't already know, there is a mass of plastic waste floating like a huge island in the middle of the pacific ocean three times the size of Spain and Portugal put together and approximately 10 meters thick. Ships have come across this scary sight and think that they are going to hit land. Some of this waste gets into the bodies of fish and other wildlife eventually suffocating them. It's a big problem and people need to know about it.

Here is a trailer of an interesting film called "Addicted to Plastic".




Another good one is "Addicted To Oil":



Part2of5
Part3of5
Part4of5
Part5of5

Wiring, Wondering and Waiting

The weekend began with the seasonal opening of the pool. For the second straight year, the water was especially green and very foggy with plenty of algae and fine particles suspended in the water. My explanation for this is the early warming temperatures and frequent strong winds we've been having.

It was a productive weekend of work on the car. The weather was great and much of the wiring was completed. The wiring job seems endless and a part of me wonders if everything will work. I think I would be more confident having an experienced guy like Richard inspect what I have done before taking the first test drive. I'm getting ahead of myself by thinking of the test drive when the batteries have yet to arrive and no exact date of delivery.

Here is how things are looking up front with the high voltage 2/0 cable connections not yet completed.

Main fuse, shunt and controller:

Positive and negative contactors:

Pot box:

Battery charger:

DC to DC converter:

Heater relays and fuses:

Low angle shot.

Tomorrow I will again follow up on the battery order status as well as contact my insurance company to inform them that I am almost done with the conversion and discuss the evaluation of the car. This discussion will obviously raise my insurance premiums but after working so hard and spending a lot of money, this is a necessity. At some point, I will also schedule a vehicle inspection at the SAAQ (provincial motor vehicle authority). Not sure what this will cost or what to expect especially after hearing stories from other converters getting the runaround. Speaking of cost, this project has surpassed all my projections with all the little things really adding up. The scary thought is that I'm even thinking of how some things could have been done better and already planning future modifications (more $$$).......

The other day I watched yet another very interesting episode on renewable energy called TheGospelOfGreen on CBC's Fifth Estate television program. Watch it and see who is becoming the world's largest and leading producer of Photovoltaic Cells.

Rear Suspension

Today I finally got around to removing the rear suspension in order to replace the stock mazda coil springs with the stiffer ground control coils. The top of the suspension is not visible from the trunk so I had to look through the shop manual. In order to expose and get to the three nuts that attach the top of each suspension assembly (shock & coil), you need to remove the rear dash panel and seat belts. The instructions and illustrations in the manual are fairly good for removing and installing the suspension. It was the first time I ever attempted this and I was slightly intimidated at first but things moved along smoothly and the job ended up being straight forward.

To slide the rear dash panel down, you need to slide the seat belts through the slit ends of the panel, remove the child safety harnesses and remove a few clips from underneath (trunk side).







Now that the upper suspension nuts are exposed, the seat belt assembly needs to be removed in order to gain better access to remove the three nuts.





It is important to remove the clip that holds the brake line to the shock absorber assembly.



Then the bolts holding the bottom of the shock absorber assembly are removed.



The stabilizer link bar also needs to be detached at the bottom of the shock absorber assembly.



The whole assembly is now ready to be dropped after the three top nuts are removed. I used plenty of WD40 to clean and help loosen the nuts and bolts. My hands were grimy and blacker than asphalt.





Now it was time to disassemble each unit. I borrowed a spring compressor kit from Canadian Tire. They basically charged me the full price of the kit but will refund me when I return it.

You should never attempt to take apart your suspension without first compressing the coil spring. Once the coil is compressed to the point that it is loose inside the assembly, you can then loosen and remove the piston rod nut to slip all the components apart.





The instructions for the ground control coils call for cutting the the original bumper stops in half and discarding the bottom half. The dust boot is also removed and discarded.





These coils are typically used as part of lowering kits but are height adjustable using a threaded aluminum sleeve at the bottom. In my case, I do not want to lower my car so I set it to the highest possible position hoping that it will give me the same height as the original coils.



When everything was reassembled with the new coils in place, the top of the suspension hung loose with a gap. Dimitri, a fellow EV converter told me that this is apparently normal and that they will sit properly in place when the car is sitting on it's wheels.



I could sure use a massage right now.

Parts For Sale

In order to free up space, the removed and no longer needed ICE parts are up for sale. I have posted an ad on kijiji for anyone looking for Mazda Protege parts.

Ad posted on Kijiji:

Kijiji

Progress Report

The past three weeks have been quiet with just occasional work being done on the car. The weather has gotten really nice much sooner than usual so things like raking and preparing the vegetable garden took priority. On the rainy weekends, I was confined to indoor work only since the car is now outside in our driveway making it hardier to work on in bad weather.

On May 5th, I received several more parts like the ground control coil springs, the PFC3000 charger and some additional 2/0 cable that I will need for the battery connections. The Pak Trakr and batteries are still pending delivery and are the last pieces of the puzzle. Hope there won't be any more delays with the batteries.

Before purchasing these springs online, I shopped around locally and tried really hard to find a good deal. I only needed two springs for the back but this set of four was the best choice out there for the money. They were ordered with 500 LBS of total spring rate added to the rear coils (250 LBS per side) for the additional weight of the battery pack.



Here is the PFC 3000 charger which came equipped with a non-standard 30 amp 250 vac rated three prong plug (two hot wires and a ground, no neutral wire) as well as an SB-50 anderson connector (male/female set) for the DC side. There is a charger interlock connection but I am not quite clear on how this is to be connected yet.



Here is a closeup of the charger status LED indicator.



The charge interlock wire is shown below next to the SB-50 connector that connects to the battery pack.



This is a closeup shot of the seven pin connector that I believe is used to interface with the charger in order to upload/program charging algorithms. In my case, the actual programming of the unit was done by the vendor.



Below is the actual charging profile used for my battery pack. The algorithm used is Alg312, therefore, nominal 3.2V/cell or 128V total, charge to 3.6V/cell or 144V total, max. 3.8V/cell or 152V total.



To catch up, here is what's been happening lately. I mounted the Curtis Controller onto a large heat sink and then made a mounting unit for the fan that will help keep the controller cool. I used aluminum sheet metal bent at both sides and attached it to the heat sink with four small bolts, lockwashers and nuts then mounted the fan to the sheet in a similar fashion but with longer bolts.





The motor compartment needed a bit of cleanup so I wiped it down nicely and began to organise the wiring before preparing to mount the control platform. I dismantled the main wiring harness to identify the wires I wanted to keep and separated them from those I did not need anymore but kept them just the same in a tie wrapped bundle off to the side under the stock battery. I basically kept the ECT sensor and CKP sensor wires from the main wire harness. I found that it was easier to get this done by jumping right in with both legs and arms.





Here is the CKP sensor and what I thought was the ECT sensor. I recently got this off another car but it was brought to my attention that I mistook the Knock sensor for the ECT sensor. I plan to return for other parts soon and will try to get the right part next time around.



Then came the mounting of the control platform in the motor compartment. The platform was already prepared about two months ago but I did not want to install it until I finished the controller fan unit and knew which charger I was finally going to use. The PFC3000 charger that I settled on is fairly large (about 7" tall) so I had to make sure that it clears the hood allowing it to close. When planning for the mounting of the control platform, I also wanted to ensure that there was a good enough slope to the platform in order to evacuate any water that might find it's way in. I made two mounting brackets out of 1/8" thick aluminum (recycled rulers) and also used part of the existing stock battery mounting bracket to support the controller platform.



This is a shot of the throttle cable and a mounting plate I made using aluminum sheet metal. To get the nice square cut out in the middle, I borrowed a nice little tool called a "nibbler" from a friend of mine named Benny. All I had to do was drill a hole in the middle and then nibble away around the hole making straight cuts until I got a perfect square opening for the throttle cable clip to fit in.



On a rainy day, I finished installing some remaining components like the small heat sinks and terminal wires on the cell balancer boards. Each unit was continuity tested at the battery terminal wires to ensure there are no shorts.



I also tested the boards with 3V (green LED lit) and 9V (green + red LED lit) and all checked out well.



In the rear, I installed steel T-bars on the inside of the trunk floor to keep the battery box well supported and in place. I drilled a few self-tapping metal screws to fasten them to the floor. I also drilled two holes through the side T-bars and the floor and fastened two threaded rods (one on each side of the battery box). These rods will serve as a tie down for the battery box with a flat aluminum bar across the top. I wrapped this bar with a layer of electrical tape and duct tape for safety reasons in case it where to accidentally slip into the battery box and make contact with battery terminals. I have since painted the T-bars silver to match nicely with the stock silver color.







A small door was added to the battery box to allow the batteries to be placed inside easier when the time comes.

Next task is to install the rear coils, mount all components on the control board and finalize the connections. I'm probably forgetting something.....More pics to be posted shortly.

Choosing A Charger

Just when I thought I was decided on a charger, a new charger on the market is complicating matters for me. Now I'm having a tough time deciding which one to go with.

While I was in contact with the Zivan distributor to purchase the NG3, I was asked if I was sure that I really wanted to go with a 120 VAC charger and was reminded that it would take approximately 15 hours to charge my battery pack. This is when I was told about the PFC 3000W charger. This new charger has dual voltage capability (120VAC & 240VAC) and has selectable algorithms for a user to program various types of batteries. The price is also exactly the same as the NG3 ($1029). It is however bigger and heavier and cannot be mounted in certain orientations. It also appears that the PFC 3000W does not have a built-in interlock relay for AC mains. It also does not incorporate fans for cooling but instead has heat sinks on both sides of the unit. On the other hand, it is probably not as noisy as the NG3 which is equipped with two fans.

Charging Times for 160AH capacity:

NG3 @ 120VAC = 9A / 15-17 hours
PFC @ 120VAC = 12A / 13 hours
PFC @ 240VAC = 20A / 8 hours

This is the PFC 3000W.



This is the Zivan NG3:



I like the idea of having the flexibility for dual voltage. On the other hand, I planned to mount my charger in the trunk in an upright orientation since the space is quite crammed with the battery box installed on top of the existing trunk floor which was not cut and sunken down. I am actually trying to find a good spot for my spare wheel since the spare wheel well is no longer accessible. Going with the PFC would mean that I would have to mount the charger up front where there is space but would require running additional cable and conduit. Also, since this is a new charger, it does not yet have a track record.

With my batteries delayed for several more weeks, I still have some time to contemplate things but want to decide soon so that I can install the charger and be ready for when the batteries arrive.

If anyone has any useful information or comments, feel free to voice them.

Jim

Serious Battery Delays

Today I contacted the battery vendor with whom I placed my order at the end of February. Five weeks had past and I wanted to get a status and estimated delivery date. Since my follow-up email was not answered within a couple of days, I decided to call and finally got through after getting voicemail on earlier attempts. I was shocked when I heard that I would not receive anything for at least another five weeks. Apparently, the supplier in China is behind on orders and for the supposedly the first time, all orders are badly delayed. I had heard from other buyers that delays between 6-8 weeks were normal but I never expected to have to wait eleven weeks. I hope the container coming from China by sea isn't on that ship that was hijacked by Somalian pirates......

The Old School Approach

Over the past few months I have been following other conversions and in the process making acquaintances with people who have been very kind and most helpful. What amazes me about some of these people is that they not only have sharp technical skills (mechanical, electrical, electronic, computer, etc) but they are also innovative and "old school" in the way they approach things. By "old school" I mean simple. This is rarely seen nowadays. Let me give you an example of the simple "old school" approach. I have been wanting to use my car's stock tachometer and had researched and shopped around for equipment to attach to the motor shaft (shaft sleeves, sensors, etc) which were quite expensive and not compatible with my stock tachometer requiring additional equipment and obviously additional expenses. Having a working tachometer can be very useful since the electrical motor is very quiet and it would be hard to tell how fast it is spinning in order to shift at optimal speeds/revolutions. While following the conversion of Dimitri's eProtege5, I realized that here was a very simple solution. I thought to myself, this is so simple that it gets overlooked. It doesn't even cross one's mind. We all seem quick to shop around without considering the obvious. So, this in my mind is "old school" and the ideal solution. After all, it is the stock equipment sitting right there in the old ICE.

In the case of the Mazda Protege, there is a Crankshaft Position Sensor (CKP sensor) located close to the crankshaft pulley at the front lower left side of the engine block as you face the front of the car. It is mounted onto the block with one bolt. The idea is to recuperate this sensor and mount it somewhere near the CE motor shaft after mounting a custom made metal strip (180 degrees) that is pointed at each end somewhere on the motor shaft. The pointed tips of the rotating strip need to be lined up with the CKP sensor with a 2mm gap. For each rotation of the motor, the sensor will generate two pulses. My understanding is that you would also disconnect the wire between the ECU and the tachometer (at the instrument cluster for example). The tach signal is generated by the ECU and wired into the instrument cluster. Pin 48 from ECU goes to instrument cluster via VW ( violet-white wire ). Since the final solution is still being tested as I write this, I must mention that other steps might need to be implemented.

Here is what a CKP sensor looks like.


Here is where the CKP is located on the ICE.



Here is the crankshaft wheel on the ICE.



This is a shot of Dimitri's eProtege5 DIY implementation of a tach sensor using the stock ICE's CKP sensor and bypassing the ECU.



When the ECU cannot be bypassed, the original crankshaft wheel or a DIY crankshaft wheel can be used. Photo below is courtesy of Dimitri.



Another useful gauge to have in an EV is a motor temperature gauge. The Warp9 comes equipped with a motor temperature switch but this does not give the driver a visual status of the motor temperature. Once again, as pointed out to me by Dimitri, the car's stock temperature can be used with a little DIY work.

First you need to recuperate the stock ICE's engine coolant temperature sensor (ECT sensor) which is located at the rear side of the ICE under the intake manifold. The next step is to epoxy it into one of the lift holes of the Warp9 motor. The ECT sensor is basically a thermistor. Since the ICE heats up much more than an electric motor, a resistor would be required to allow the gauge needle to move in a suitable range for the electric motor essentially making the thermistor (temp. sensor) more sensitive.

Here is what the ECT sensor looks like.



This is where the ECT sensor is located with its specs.

Cell Balancers Assembled

This weekend my wife and I started assembling and soldering the cell balancers while the kids were attending a birthday party. Elizabeth mounted the components on the printed circuit boards while I soldered away. We completed most of the work over two days devoting about five hours each day. The kids were very curious and asked many questions but lost interest fairly quickly preferring to go and play with their toys and games. After the 36th board, I ran out of solder so there will be four more remaining to do plus a couple of spares just in case. I'll surely finish up in the coming days.

The Battery Box

On Friday night March 28th, my friend and colleague Riccardo stopped by the garage to bring me the battery box that his cousin Alessio so kindly built for the e-Protege. Alessio and his brother Lino run a family business making ventilation ducts and the box they built turned out just as I expected. Since it was past midnight, I waited until Saturday morning before putting it into the trunk.



I knew it was going to be a very tight fit. I actually had to slightly cut/grind and file a couple of corners inside the trunk in order to gain a bit of space for the box to be angled and slid into place. The fit is so tight that the cover for the box does not quite fit in all the way. I am now thinking of using a piece of clear plexiglass as the cover but will give this more thought in the coming week.

This weekend is my last weekend at the garage as I will have to move out to make way for John and Tom who are renting the space and want to get setup starting April 1st. The snow is almost all melted and temperatures are warming up nicely. Saturday was such a nice day that Elizabeth and the kids took a three mile bike ride from home to pay me a surprise visit. When they dropped in on me, I was in the process of installing the AC power inlet in the place of the old gasoline filler pipe. The kids took this opportunity to pose for a picture and reminded me about Earth Hour tonight.



As they posed, Theo said "That's the future".

The inlet that was installed is a Hubbell HBL2315 (125 VAC - 20 AMP) twist locking male receptacle (flanged inlet).

Jim

The Volt Blochers Have Arrived

Today I received the "Volt Blocher" cell balancer kit that Brian sent me for my lithium battery pack. There are a total of forty boards to assemble and solder and I am hoping to get Elizabeth and the kids to pitch in and help. I'm thinking the kids will get a real kick out of it. These units will help my cells stay more equalized (stay as closely balanced as possible) and hopefully maximize their lifespan. Although Thundersky rates their sells at 3.2 volts nominal and 4.2 volts peak, it is best to keep the charge to voltage below 4.2 volts to minimze the possibility of overcharging and damaginng the cells. The cell balancer circuits essentially monitor cell voltage and begin shunting voltage at 3.6 volts when they are charging.



If anyone is interested in purchasing a kit of their own, you can get it here.

Jim

Installing Pumps and Cable Conduit

It's been a rough week. The kids and I all came down with a nasty cold/flu virus which knocked us out with fever. I missed three days of work and the kids missed school. Luckily for me, I was feeling much better by the weekend and got back to working on the car. While I installed the expansion tank for the vacuum pump, Evan who had recently returned from Florida focused on installing the power steering pump.

As seen here, the aluminum plate motor support provided plenty of surface to mount the power steering pump. A sleeve approximately two and a half inches long was cut from a metal electrical conduit pipe and used to feed through the long mounting bolt. The only thing left to complete this installation is to have the belt adjustment bracket milled a bit so that it can rest flush with the motor support. I will also need to shop around for a smaller/shorter belt since the original belt is now too long.



Below is a shot of the vacuum pump expansion tank which is made of three inch diameter ABS pipe approximately two feet long with end caps. On one end cap, three holes were drilled and tapped for two hose connectors and one vacuum switch. The tank is mounted to the front splash plate located behind the car's front grill by large hose clamps that are drilled right into the aluminum splash plate with self-threading metal screws.



Here is a shot of the vacuum hose connection to the brake booster. This hose also has a check valve attached (lower right hand side). I had forgotten to keep the original check valve before selling the ICE so I bought one from a local automotive scrap yard ($10).



The vacuum pump was then mounted on the aluminum motor adapter plate which also had just enough spare surface to fit it mounted at an angle. The reason I prefer mounting the vacuum pump here as opposed to the car chassis or firewall is due to the vibrations created when the vacuum pump runs. These vibrations will now be absorbed by the cars original three motor mounts (one of the many things I learned from Richard Lane).



It was time to also install the flexible 3/4" electrical conduit that will house the 2/0 main power cables running from the trunk of the car to the front motor compartment where the control board will be located. I wanted to keep as straight a line as possible between the front and the back of the car in order to facilitate fishing the cables through. I used the path of the old exhaust pipe which runs right across the middle of the car's underside (hump) leading straight into the spare wheel well. Using a one inch metal drill bit, I drilled two holes next to each other and attached two pipe connectors (females) specially made for the type and size of conduit I was using.

Here are two pictures taken from the top side of the trunk.

Here is a picture taken from the underside of the trunk.



I then fastened the conduit underneath the floor inside the hump or old exhaust pipe path using one inch metal and rubber clips with self-threading metal screws.



In a few spots, I used tie wraps to keep both lengths of conduit closely held together. Below is a shot of the conduit ends at the front motor compartment just underneath the area where the control board will be mounted.

Jim

Control Board Layout

This past week I picked up several types of electrical crimp connectors, wire, and flexible conduit so I can get started with the main wiring. Yesterday, Richard drove down from Ottawa to bring me a few remaining parts and to spend the afternoon helping me with the switched 12 volt tap on the main fuse box and component wiring. When the battery was disconnected and we probed/tested our selected circuit relays for continuity, all appeared good. However, when the battery was connected, we did not get the 12 volts everywhere we expected. We originally identified two circuits (Cooling Fan and Additional Fan - 30 Amps each) but it seemed that the car's computer or something else was cutting out the 12 volts on one of the circuits. Although I had the service manual for the car, there were few wiring diagrams which were not detailed enough to answer our questions. After spending more than an hour and a half troubleshooting, we settled for one 30 amp switched circuit to power the vacuum pump and the other low current 12V equipment.





Next came the control board positioning and layout. Since there are no longer any plans to have pack batteries in the front compartment, there is plenty of space for the controller, pot box, main fuse, shunt, contactors, heater relays and fuses, vacuum switch control, DC-DC converter, 12v relays, and 12v fuse block (for vacuum pump and gauges). I cut out a template out of bristol board and Richard recommended a good layout. I then used that template to cut a piece of plywood that will be tested for proper mounting then trimmed again and cut for suitable openings (controller, wire feeds, etc). This board will be painted and mounted at a slight angle forward to allow any water to drain off should it get wet.





Below is a hand marked trace diagram of the control board wiring.

Here is the neater version of the above done using Visio on the computer.

Jim

Climate Control Unit Re-Installed

After putting the dash back in the car, I proceeded to mounting a rotary switch on the climate control unit and wired it to operate the two electric heaters. The switch was mounted in the temperature control slot and uses the original knob. This maintains the nice look of the stock equipment. There are three positions on the switch (Off, Low, High).



The orange wire for heater #1 and the grey wire for heater #2 are fastened to the plastic frame and will lead out to the motor compartment firewall where the heater relays will be mounted (one relay for each heater). These are low voltage (12V) 18 gauge wires that will trigger the relays sending the high voltage (120+ V) to power the heaters through 10 gauge wires. The second standalone orange wire which is also tie wrapped to the plastic frame breaks out to four wires each with a 50V 3A diode connected to it. Each one of the four wires will tap onto a 12V fan wire which terminate at the fan resistor located on the cooler unit.



Note: The striped end of the diode must be connected to the switch side and the other end of the diode (with no stripe) to the 12V supply coming from the fan.



The green, yellow, brown and white wires below are the ones that will tap onto the fan wires. The diodes are covered in shrink tubing in line with each wire which then connects to the orange wire delivering 12 volts to the heater switch whenever the fan is on.



When I finished mounting the climate control unit, I decided to see if my Westach voltmeter and ammeter gauges would fit in the slot between the climate control unit and radio. I already have a driver side pillar pod on which I originally planned to mount my gauges. Now, I'm reconsidering but the decision will be made after I determine how much space is also required for the PakTrakr module. This is an ideal location for the PakTrakr. If it fits in between the voltmeter and ammeter, I think it will be perfect.



I cut out a rectangular piece of plastic that Richard gave me when I visited Ottawa a while back. This will cover the slot nicely and serve as a mount for whichever gauges I decide to place there.

More pics will be posted shortly.

Jim

New Approaches & SAAQ Inspection

Today I received an email from yet another potential EV converter in the province of Quebec named Sylvain. He had some questions and also sent me many EV technology links, some of which I already knew about but there were some things that I had not seen or heard of before. It appears that many EV converters are using new approaches to obtain or extract and use A123 nanophosphate cylinder cells (ANR26650) from cordless tool battery packs like the DeWalt DC9360. For approximately $150 Cdn including shipping, one of these batteries can be purchased on ebay and elsewhere. Each battery contains one string of ten A123 cells (33V @ 2.3 AH). Read all about it here.

Repackaging A123 cells from DeWalt DC9360 batteries

A similar comparison with built-in BMS is Valence.

While browsing from page to page going off on tangents, I came across several interesting articles including one about the competition heating up in Lithium battery technology.

The Electric Car Battery War

I also recently got some usefull information from Nick on the SAAQ inspection guidelines and requirements for EV conversions in this province. Here are a few links:

Les Vehicule Modifies ou de Fabrication Artisanale (French)

Modifying Your Car (English)

Best Practices In EV Design

Jim

Batteries Ordered

After much research and taking many things into consideration, it was time to make a decision on batteries. The order has finally been made and it will be a few weeks for delivery. Like many of my fellow EV converters, I am going with Lithium. The pack (40 cells) will be approximately 20 kW of capacity (128 Volts - 160 Amps). I am also joining Dimitri and Brian on a DIY cell balancing solution. Hopefully this will work well on the LFP160 cells (mods and tests pending).

My charger will likely be the Zivan NG3 and the BMS (for monitoring only) a PakTrakr. I had a few exchanges with Dimitri and I am in agreement with him. I like the way he thinks and does things.

Zivan NG3



Here is a great diagram that shows the PakTrakr monitoring 40 cells (exactly the same layout that I am planning).



Jim

No Clean Energy Incentives for BEV Conversions

I've been getting quotes on the Thundersky batteries to compare prices when purchasing directly from China, the US or from Canada. The only Canadian vendor I have come across is actually affiliated with a Phoenix, Arizona based company named Elite Power Solutions. If I where to buy from outside Canada, the cost adds up with the US currency exchange rate, customs duties (7%), GST (5%), and PST (7.5%). I contacted BIS (Border Information Service) to confirm the taxes and duties applicable to batteries manufactured outside North America. It seems one has no choice but to purchase from outside of North America (example China) because most if not all of the manufacturers making similar batteries in North America do not sell to individuals like me. Even companies in our own backyards are turning away people preferring to deal only with large automobile manufacturers.

I came across a battery pack maker named Tek Battery also known as ev-battery based in California who use the A123 high energy density Lithium Ion batteries (cells are made in China) as well as other similar OEM batteries soon to come.

I spoke with a fellow named John who was very courteous and provided interesting insight during our recent telephone conversation. I was told that it takes approximately 3 lbs of these cells per mile of range. Example; 40 miles of range x 3 lbs = 120 lbs (2 strings or 124 volts / 4s6pev model). If I remember correctly, this is 20 batteries per string. They are guaranteed for 5000 cycles and can be completely discharged without harm. They also include built-in cell balancing/BMS. At first I thought these packs were more affordable than the Thundersky batteries but I was mistaken. A decent pack would run between $22,000-$24,000 US. This is way over my budget but I do admit that this is probably the best type of battery solution out there right now. I have to be very careful not to get carried away and remind myself that I am the sole bread earner in a family of four and must be very prudent with our finances.

So what about tax credits or clean energy incentives or subsidies?

Well, there are none that I can take advantage of in my area as a Battery Electric Vehicle converter.

It is disappointing and even embarrassing to know that there are absolutely no incentives whatsoever in Canada if you use clean battery electric energy for road transportation. I looked high and low only to find two programs that apply to road transportation.

1. Excise Tax Exemption for Ethanol and Methanol
2. Provincial Sales Tax Exemption for Hybrid Vehicles

The tax Exemption for Hybrid vehicles is called the "ecoAuto Rebate Program"

QST rebate for hybrid vehicles

Environment Canada's Incentives and Rebates Search

Natural Resources Canada Personal Vehicle Initiatives

Government of Canada ecoTransport

To be eligible, you must purchase a new car or "Prescribed New Automobile" which is defined as follows:

"A prescribed new automobile vehicle powered by the combination of a heat engine and an electric motor. The vehicle's fuel consumption on the highway or in the city is six litres or less per 100 kilometres".

That's all for now....going out to buy a lottery ticket.

Jim

Heater Wiring

The final heater solution I am going with uses two separate ceramic heaters. The main or primary heater is located in the heater unit and the auxiliary or secondary heater is located in the cooler unit. They will be controlled by a 3 position rotary switch mounted on the climate control unit where the original temperature control dial resided. The first position is OFF followed by LOW which powers up the primary heater and then HIGH which powers up the secondary heater while keeping both heaters working together. The rotary switch will get the 12 volts from the fan resistor that is located on the cooler unit allowing the heaters to operate only when the fan is running.

Here is a wiring diagram for the heating system:



The next step is to reinstall the dash and properly secure the heater wiring as well as mount the heater relays in a good spot.

Jim

Battery Range

In the last few days I have been thinking about the kind of battery range I will need given the fact that I will not be able to Plug-In at work in the near future. Once again, I am gravitating towards the Thundersky lithium batteries and I am reading about many other EV owners taking this route. I calculated that 40 TS-LFP160AHA batteries would work out nicely. I would be able to either place the entire 40 pack in the trunk or break up the pack into two and place 30 in the rear and 10 in the front. The overall weight of the car would remain low (same or less than the original weight). According to certain vendor specs, 40 of these batteries could give me an approximate range of 100 km at a cruising speed of 60 mph which would be great and I would only need to charge once at home overnight.

Here is a sketch of a 40 pack of TS-LFP160AHA:



Last night I was watching CBC Television's "The Nature Of Things" program. The episode named "The Suzuki Diaries" about sustainability showed how different countries are harnessing nature's free energy while creating healthy economies and cleaner environments. If you have a chance to watch this, it is very interesting.




Jim

Plugging In At Work

I work for a large international telecommunications company and on January 12 2009, I decided to inquire about the possibility of plugging in my EV at work this coming Spring/Summer when my project will be completed. I was not sure what kind of a response I would get but was hopeful especially since the company already had a well developed green program within the organization and always seemed to be receptive to employees. To ensure that enough of an advance notice was given should work be required to provide an electrical outlet, I sent the following email to the department of Facilities.

Dear Colleague(s),

I own an electric vehicle that runs on batteries and is solely and fully electric. I plan on commuting to work with it starting this coming spring/summer (2009). The commute from my home to the office is 23 km. Traveling this distance is expected to drain approximately 60-70% of the charge. In order to replenish the batteries for the commute back home, I will need to recharge during working time while my car is parked, hence the need to Plug-In.

I would like to know if it is possible to arrange for a designated parking spot that is next to or near a 120 volt AC power outlet?

My batteries are charged using a 120 volt AC circuit (15-20 amps). Preferably, the power outlet should handle a 20 amp load. Charging is expected to consume very little electricity. If the cost of electricity is of concern, I am willing to pay for whatever is consumed. For more information, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I hope that you can accommodate me in the near future and encourage yet another green initiative.

Sincerely,
Jim Karamalis

On January 19 2009, I received a reply from the local Facilities Manager with the following response.

Hello Jim,

I am responding to your request made via the Facilities helpdesk where you were inquiring about the use of an electrical outlet for your new electric vehicle.

Your initiative in acquiring this vehicle is to be commended, however at this point in time ******** will be unable to support your request.

First and foremost, we do not have readily available outlets to be used for this purpose, nor is there any immediate plan to invest in their installation.

More importantly, we would prefer to see what commercial infrastructure solutions will be made available, both to the public and for businesses like ourselves to support the introduction of vehicles like this. At this point in time we are not prepared to embark in a single instance solution without taking the time to understand what long term direction we should be taking as a company. Rest assured this is a subject of interest, and we will monitor developments in the future.

Best regards,
*****
Director, Sourcing, Real Estate & Facilities Management.

Reading the response was disappointing. I was really looking forward to commuting to and from work in my EV. Many ideas are running through my mind right now like better batteries to extend my range or another location nearby to plug-in. New frustrations are setting in. Maybe a positive development between now and this spring/summer will permit me to plug-in at work........who knows.

Today is day one of the Barack Obama era (Inauguration Day for the 44th US President). Positive change and better times are ahead us folks.



Inauguration Speech (Part 1)



Inauguration Speech (Part 2)




Inaugural speech (in text)

Jim

Winter Heat Requirements

Our winters in Canada can be quite cold with icy conditions like ice pellets and freezing rain. Not having any experience driving an EV in such conditions, I wasn't sure if a single 1500 watt electric/ceramic heater would be enough to keep the windshield clear and the car interior warm enough. I decided to ask Richard Lane who gracefully continues to answer my occasional questions. From reading his answers to my emails, I now realize that one heater might suffice for keeping the car warm but might not be enough for bad weather like freezing rain. Richard has done many conversions over a period of approximately 15 years in Ottawa so if anyone knows it is certainly him.

The space in the heater unit of the Mazda Protege does not permit me to fit two ceramic heaters so my next option is to use the space occupied by the A/C evaporator inside the cooler unit. I dismantled the cooler unit and removed the evaporator. Inside, there was some debris (pieces of leaves) and dirt (mostly dust) as this is the first unit in the air path after the fan/blower so I vacuumed and wiped the inside of the cooler unit clean and will prepare it for an additional heater. I am also wondering if it would be wise to place a screen inside the cooler unit on the fan side to prevent debris like leaves from coming in direct contact with the heater.

Here is a shot of the cooler unit (right), A/C evaporator (left) and electric heater (center). I will have to obtain a second heater and adapt it to fit in the place of the original A/C evaporator.



In the meantime, I built a support for the heater that will be housed in the heater unit. I visited the local metal recycling/scrap yard again and picked up a nice piece of aluminum sheet and angles for a bargain $4. I also cut out some spacers made of 3/4" plywood.



I then folded up the upright front and back parts of the support followed by the slightly curved shallow folds on the sides. With a pencil, I marked the outline of the electric heater mount.



Here is the electric heater placed in the center of the support in order to determine the cutout area that will permit air to flow through the new heater.



The first electric heater that I purchased is a DBK HR01-C, 10/22, 100...120V (1500 W). It will be placed in the heater unit replacing the original heater core:

The second electric heater will be placed in the cooler unit replacing the original A/C evaporator (no cooling) and will likely be purchased from Canadian Tire (brand and spec not yet known).

Jim

Getting to the Heater Core

Back in September and October 2008 during the big dismantling phase of the project I had started the task of getting to the heater core in order to plan for it's electric replacement. I kept putting this task aside because of other higher priority work and also because this was a fairly lengthy and slightly complex task as it involved removing the entire dash. This is where the vehicle shop manual came in really handy.

First I removed the glove compartment and passenger side airbag, then the driver side airbag and steering wheel paying special attention not to disturb or spin the clock spring mechanism. Then I removed the center console and several lower panels/walls as well as pillars that are part of the interior trim. Afterwards I removed the instrument cluster that contains the vehicle gauges, speedometer, tachometer, etc followed by the climate control unit and radio. There were many wire connections to disconnect and also the cables between the climate control unit and the vent dampers. Just as I thought I was done, I realized that I had forgotten to lower the steering column. There is a steel ring that holds up the steering column which is part of the dash structure and I discovered that it is easier to detach the bottom of the column near the floor at the universal joint and slide the entire shaft through the ring rather than undo the ring.

Here is a shot of the dash almost ready to be removed from the car.



Here is a shot just after the steering column and entire dash was removed (lots of space to move around).



Below is a shot of the heater unit (left), cooler unit (center), and fan/blower unit (right). The cooler unit (center/black) must first be removed before removing the heater unit (left/white). These units are very easy to remove.



Here is a closer up shot of the heater unit which actually includes the large vent ducts (in black to the left).



Here is a view of things after the cooler unit and heater unit are removed.



On the workbench, the heater core was then removed from the heater unit (accessible from the rear side that faces engine compartment). On the right is the heater unit, to it's left is the vehicle's stock fluid heater core, and at the extreme left is the smaller electric heater core.

Next is the task of building a case/housing that will support the new electric heater core while adapting it to fit into the space of the old fluid heater core. Here is a preliminary rough draft drawing I did on google sketchup.

Jim

Battery Placement

In the past two weeks it has been hard to keep a good steady pace of work on the EV with the holidays amongst us. It was time to start considering battery placement so I decided to make replicas of lead acid batteries made out of bristol board carton to get an actual visual idea of how the batteries can be laid out. In the basement of our home, I used the kids' arts & craft table to cut out and assemble the battery replicas (dummies). I took the average dimensions of lead acid batteries (13.5" long, 7" wide, 10" high) with a bit of added room, marked the bristol board to maximize coverage, cut it, folded it and applied the kids' school glue along with scotch tape to attach all edges. The replicas where then placed in the trunk of the Mazda Protege in different orientations to see which might be the best or preferred fit.

Eight batteries in the back (trunk):

Four batteries in the front:

I also went back to reading up on those much desirable LiFePo batteries which are selling for about $0.50 per Watt Hour in today's market. This is still a pretty penny especially if you are planning for a capacity of 15,000 watts or more. With the downturn in the economy and the increased competition in the Lithium battery market, one can only hope that prices come down considerably. The question is always when and how much. If the price were ever to come down to around $0.25 per Watt Hour, I would not hesitate to give these batteries a try.

When I looked over the specs of such batteries, I also wanted to make a carton replica of a typical or mid class LiFePo battery and realized that the dimensions of such a battery where almost identical to those of a cereal box. For example, the Thunder Sky LFP160 AH model measures up almost exactly to a box of Bran cereal like the one in the first picture above.

I am now contemplating whether or not I should actually cut the trunk floor or keep it simple for now and hold off. I started making a 3-D drawing of my trunk/rear battery box using Google Sketchup and in a very short period of time, I managed to gain enough knowledge to make some decent drawings. I encourage anyone to play with this wonderful software tool. Here is a sample of one of my battery box drawings.



Happy New Year to all.

Jim

Motor Test

It's getting dark around 4:30-5:00pm, the snow is beginning to fall and the neighbourhoods are lit up with Christmas lights. In the US, Barack Obama of the Democratic party was recently elected and will be the first black president in America's history. The Bush era is finally over. Gas is at it's lowest price in about 5 years (approx. $0.80 per litre), the signs of recession are everywhere while the world is experiencing an economic crisis and the Canadian parliament was suspended after the opposition parties formed a coalition to force a non-confidence vote. With all this and our busy schedules, I still feel very motivated and continue working with the ongoing help of my father-in-law Evan.



Even though Evan has been very busy, he manages to find the time to drop in on me to lend a hand with many things. Today, we made some modifications to the clutch cylinder pipe to free up space and did some initial clutch tests. We also reattached the axles and control arms to the front wheels. Finally, we put power to the motor using the car's 12 volt battery and the Warp9 motor spun up beautifully. Evan and I both looked at each other with smiles on our faces.

On the day of the very first motor test, I was out of videotape but here is a short video recording of the motor test repeated a week later.




Jim

Power Steering

Evan recently took the pulley off the donor car's A/C compressor in order to adapt it to the commutator end shaft of the motor which happens to match well with the power steering pulley. The original grooved flat belt will be used when running the power steering off the motor.

Here is the power steering pulley welded onto a weld-on hub that fits the commutator end shaft of the motor.



The exact placement of the power steering pump is not yet determined since I need to give more thought to how things will be exactly placed in the front motor compartment. My main concern is that the power steering pump might interfere with the front battery box which will be insulated and contain four lead acid batteries.

Jim

Motor Mounts Completed and First Cable Made

It's amazing what you can find at a metal recycling yard. I browsed around again recently and found more half inch aluminum plate to make the Warp9 CE (commutator end) motor mount. I was also lucky to find some loose short pieces of quarter inch to half inch thick aluminum angles (90 degrees) that were used to anchor the plate to the chassis motor mount.

Here is a shot of a pile of aluminum to be recycled at the yard I visited.



Below is the half inch aluminum plate mounted to the commutator end of the motor and a 90 degree aluminum angle held in place to the stock chassis motor mount for hole markings and drilling.



Once the top bolts were fastened, a clamp was used to keep everything flush and in place to mark and drill the side holes.



Here is a side shot showing the side bolts of the CE motor mount plate. Notice all the aluminum cuttings after drilling the holes. This is why one must always make sure to tape up and cover the motor venting screens/grills in order to prevent unwanted debris from getting inside the motor.



I have been very anxious to do a motor power test so I proceeded to making my first cable. After much reading, I noticed that most people were simply crimping the cable connections and others simply soldering. Since I was not sure which way to go, I decided to first crimp my connections and then solder them. I used a hack saw with a 32 tpi blade to cut my cable since I did not have a big enough cable cutter. Don't kid yourself, this worked just fine. I recently purchased a hammer-on crimper on ebay and found that it did a pretty decent job crimping. I left a bit of space between the lug and the cable shield/jacket in order to allow just enough room to apply resin and solder for soldering the connections. After the soldering was finished and the lugs had cooled down, I attached two layers of heat shrink tubing (a short piece first followed by a longer overlapping piece). Considering this was also somewhat of an experiment, I think the cable turned out good enough for me to feel confident with this approach for the rest of the heavy large gauge cabling.

Here are the tools and parts that were used to make my first cable (2/0 welding cable, lugs, three quarter inch heat shrink tubing, lead free silver solder for electrical use, resin, hammer-on cable crimper and heat gun).



Here is a closer up shot of the hammer-on crimper.



This is the final result of the short cable that interconnects the A2 and S2 terminals of the Warp9 motor.



The next thing to do is a 12 volt motor power test but I will need to borough a battery charger and/or charge the donor car battery.

Jim

More Adjustments and Rear Mount Sizing

When attempting to mount the clutch cable cylinder assembly, we noticed that the adaptor plate was in the way so we had to cut a notch off the plate. This time we used a grinder with a thin cutting blade/disc to easily make the notch in place without dismantling or removing anything.



We then proceeded to size up the required aluminum plate that will be used to support the other end of the Warp9 motor to the last chassis motor mount. We also plan to use some angle iron to make the mount. At the same time, we fetched the original stock power steering pump to determine the best placement for it. The power steering pump uses a flat belt and I am hoping to find a weld-on flat belt pulley to attach to the hub we picked up for the smaller shaft at the commutator end of the Warp9. The outside diameter of this pulley will have to be approximately 5-6 inches in diameter to match the original vehicle design.



Here is Evan and a friend of ours Henrik exchanging ideas about the power steering pump placement.



Below is a shot of the center axle supported to the motor housing.



This is a shot of a thin piece of aluminum plate mounted in the place of the old air conditioning condenser at the front end that will act as a splash/debris plate to keep unwanted water and other things out of the motor compartment. This was done now that the motor compartment is less crowded and easier to work in. The plate will be painted black at a later date.

Here is a shot of the front wheel drive axles which where fitted back on to ensure proper fitting and clearance.

Tomorrow or early this week, I plan to visit the local metal yard to pick up some half inch aluminum plate and angle iron as well as shop around for that much desired flat belt weld-on pulley. If I don't manage to find the pulley, I might be able to do something with a similar pulley on the old air conditioning compressor. Deep down inside, I prefer finding a buyer for the compressor rather than sacrificing it just for the pulley.

Jim

Motor and Transmission Mounted

A month has past but the motor and transmission are finally mounted. Evan managed to find some half inch and one inch aluminum plate at a nearby metal recycling yard to make the adapter plate as well as the spacer. He worked hard at machining the aluminum to the correct size and shape. The adapter plate was purposely not completely cut down to the shape of the transmission in order to allow for the possibility of mounting other equipment.

A template of the transmission was traced onto bristolboard in order to precisely mark the center, guide pins and bolt holes. Here is a picture of the transmission template.

Here is the Warp9 motor sitting upright resting on two by threes with the motor coupler keyed and fastened onto the motor shaft. We used loctite on the two pilot screws and tightened them with an allen key.

We then placed the one inch aluminum spacer onto the motor face with the holes lined up and the correct orientation for the guide pins/dowels to match the adapter plate.

The adapter plate came next and was also lined up and correctly positioned to be fastened onto the motor with the spacer sandwiched in between.

Here is Evan tightening down the four countersunk bolts holding the adapter plate and spacer to the motor.

The flywheel was then bolted onto the motor coupler and once again we used loctite on the six bolts.

Next came the clutch disc and pressure plate. The disc was held into position with a splined plastic guider shaft/pin and then the pressure plate was placed into position and screwed onto the flywheel with the original six bolts and lock washers.

Lastly, the transmission was placed onto the adapter plate nicely lined up with another set of guide pins/dowels. We then bolted the transmission and adaptor plate together using some of the original bolts as well as some newer shorter bolts, washers and nuts.

The mounted motor and transmission was put into position to be hoisted up and placed into the car.

Here is the motor and transmission sitting in the place of the old internal combustion engine. After dropping it in, we noticed that some minor adjustments were necessary for proper placement onto the chassis. The bottom of the adapter plate towards the front of the car needed to be trimmed off a little because it was rubbing up against the bottom frame rail not allowing the transmission to line up properly with the chassis mounts.

I later noticed that the adapter plate will require just a little more trimming near the front chassis mount in order to allow clearance for the front mount bolt. This will be easy to do but will require one more removal of the motor & transmission so that I can apply the jigsaw to trim the plate.

Jim

Preparing for the Adaptor Plate

I have been caught up with many things since my last post but finally got back to work on the motor to transmission coupling. The motor coupler is now finished after making minor machining tweaks and tapping the six holes for the flywheel attachment. In order to prepare for and size up the adaptor, we mounted the clutch onto the transmission side of the flywheel then mounted the coupler to the motor side of the flywheel and carefully slid the transmission onto the motor shaft. Once this was done, we made sure everything was level using wood shims to ensure we had equal distances in the space between the motor face and transmission housing. This gave us an accurate measurement for the thickness of the aluminum adaptor plate.

Here are two views of the Warp9 motor coupled to the transmission (with clutch):





We also decided to design a coupler for a clutchless setup as a backup plan in case things get too tight in the car's motor compartment or in the event that we simply change our minds and remove the clutch alltogether to go clutchless.

While trying to sell some of the ICE parts that were removed and no longer needed, I met a person named Jean who was interested in buying my catalytic converter. Jean drove over from Boucherville only to realize that I mistook the resonator for the catalytic. I felt bad and apologized for making him come for nothing. Jean arrived around 8pm and left around 11:30pm. It turns out we had much in common and a lot to talk about. Jean had also converted a Firefly about a year ago. I plan to meet with him again sometime in the near future.

On my limited spare time I have begun dismantling the dash and hit a bit of a wall. When removing the steering wheel, one must first remove the driver side air bag which is secured with two safety bolts. These safety bolts have a special head and require a special tool to be removed. I will have to get a hold of this tool to proceed further. I have also begun to inquire about batteries and I am coming to a sad realization. I recently spoke to a reputable battery and charger dealer in Montreal who questioned why I was considering using sealed batteries. He went on to tell me that he has sold batteries to EV converters in the past and most if not all of them were disappointed with the performance and longevity of sealed batteries used in this application. He informed that "initial current drop" is a factor that few people take into consideration. He also said that much of the information provided (specs) are falsified and he encouraged me to speak with others who have made costly mistakes in the past and have now switched to flooded/wet lead acid batteries. My original idea was to go with flooded golf cart batteries which have always been highly recommended by many people. Some experienced EV converters have stopped driving EVs because the quality of batteries has drastically deteriorated over the years. This makes things very complicated when one is trying to select the best possible battery. This is going to be the toughest part of the project.

Let me share some words of wisdom I received from Richard Lane:

"All batteries are very sensitive to temperature. Poor charging and high currents cause heating and short life.

Flooded: Will have the highest amount of power available. Cycle life is questionable depending on battery quality, temperature and charging. Drawback is venting and watering. Subject to sulfation if left undercharged.

AGM: Can deliver high current. Cycle life is similar to lead acid but they do not like to be very deep cycled.

Gel: Gel electrolyte will slow the output current causing voltage drop. Three times the cycle life in deep discharge applications of the other types. Charge voltage must be kept below 14.1 volts."

Well, as they say, the batteries are the heart of the EV so I will have to take my time researching even more before making a final decision and hopefully the right one.

Jim

The Motor Coupler

The work on making the motor coupler started about two weeks ago. We purchased a 1 1/8" weld-on hub then we drilled and welded a piece a steel onto the smaller recessed diameter of the hub. This will now be the larger diameter of the new one piece coupler. We then had the one piece coupler turned on a lathe at a local machine shop (Sami Precision) by a family friend named Milto. The part of the hub that attaches to the flywheel was precisely machined to the exact size of the slightly recessed center of the flywheel. This will help to center the coupler onto the flywheel and also make it easier to drill and tap the holes for the bolts that will be used to secure the coupler to the flywheel.

Here is a view of the coupler and the front face of the flywheel:



Here is the coupler sitting perfectly centered on the flywheel:



Here is a view of the rear face (clutch/transmission side) of the flywheel with the coupler underneath. We will drill and tap into the coupler to match the six flywheel holes for fine thread (20 threads per inch) 1/2 inch bolts that are 1 1/2 inches long. The plan is to make a half inch center punch to mark the center of each hole, drill and tap the first hole, attach a bolt to the first tapped hole, then drill and tap the remaining five holes:



Here is a view of the rear face of the flywheel with the bolts and lock washers sitting in the holes of the flywheel. On the left is the half inch tap and on the right is a drill bit:



The next step is to mount the coupler and flywheel onto to the Warp9 motor shaft at one end and the transmission at the other end to take measurements for the aluminum adapter plate. At that point, we will decide if the adapter will be made as a one piece milled unit or two piece unit (plate and separate spacer).

Recently, a colleague sent me a link to another interesting video clip on the internet called "The Story Of Stuff". It is about twenty minutes long and very good. This is another one of these "must see" videos. Watch it and visit the web site:

We can all do more with less!

by Jim

The Battery Dilemma

All the trunk interior panels and spare wheel were removed to completely expose the trunk floor for the eventual floor cutting to fit the main battery pack box which is to be recessed partly below the floor. I was under the impression that the spare wheel compartment was centered in the trunk but it turns out that it is not. This will make things more complicated. I was envisioning cutting a square or rectangular shaped opening in the floor but now it may have to change to a beaker shaped opening with additional angles.

Here are two views of the trunk floor:




After measuring the available trunk space for cutting and taking into account the average dimensions of 12 volt lead acid batteries, I estimate that I will be able to fit eight batteries in the trunk box. I also estimate that I would just barely fit forty lithium batteries like the Thundersky TS-LFP160. I did this extra calculation with future expansion in mind. The average weight for twelve 12V PbA batteries is 900 lbs versus 600 lbs for forty 3.6V lithium-ion batteries. For obvious reasons, I am leaning towards 12 x 12vdc @ 100 AH sealed lead acid batteries (Group 31, GEL or AGM type). This would give me 144 vdc and 14.4 KWh of power. Hope I get the range I want. We'll have to wait and see. Just to compare, the 40 x 3.6vdc @ 160AH lithium batteries would also give me 144vdc but 23 KWh of power.

Here are some of the PbA batteries I am considering:

PowerBattery (MRG-31)
TrojanBattery (31-GEL / 31-AGM)
Deka (8G31DTM / 9A31)
OdysseyBattery (PC2150)
DiscoverEnergy (EV31A-A)

Batteries have always been the Achilles heel of electric vehicles causing much frustration for EV converters. The battery dilemma will not go away until advanced battery technology is proven and more affordable. Speaking of affordability, Thundersky quoted me $240US per battery not including shipping and accessories which amounts to $9600US. Everspring quoted me $281.60US for the same batteries. Another important thing to keep in mind is that Lithium batteries require a sophisticated BMS (Battery Monitoring System) to keep every cell in balance and preventing over charging/over discharging.

Thunder-sky (TS-LFP160)

More to come regarding the battery system.

by Jim

Gasoline Fuel System Removed

The last of the ICE parts were removed when the gas tank and gasoline filler pipes/hoses were removed. This took a bit longer than expected because of one stubborn bolt which ended up getting stripped making it difficult to remove. For safety reasons I did not want to use a metal grinder anywhere near the tank. Well, I won't be needing this anymore. No more gas!

Here is the removed gas tank:



This clutter is the array of pipes, hoses, filter and what not where the gasoline pump nozzle delivers gas to the tank:



Now it's time to expose the entire trunk floor to plan for the battery box.

Jim

E=mc2

Following the removal of the internal combustion engine and related parts ten days ago, only the gas tank remains and will be removed very shortly. Once this is out I will measure up the space of the trunk floor (spare tire storage area) to plan for the main battery pack placement. In the meantime, I have been waiting for some parts to arrive in order to build the coupler that will interface between the electric motor shaft and manual transmission. Richard Lane of REV Consultants in Ottawa has been very helpful in recommending several approaches in going about this task. His kindness and support is much appreciated. My EV parts order with EVA in New Hampshire has been well taken care of by Bryan and Bob. I must also acknowledge their kindness and good service. Cheers Richard, Bryan & Bob!! It is a pleasure dealing with all of you. I also purchased a new clutch (complete kit) from an auto parts supplier in Verdun. The old clutch had considerable wear and replacing it at this stage just makes sense now that the transmission is already out and sitting on the shop bench.

On a different note, Elizabeth recently watched a very interesting program on TV and recorded it for me. It was a PBS Nova program named "Einstein's Big Idea", the story behind the world famous equation E=mc2. I wish programs like this existed when I was a kid. It was very informative and educational. Watch it if you ever get a chance.




by Jim

ICE Removal

The good news was received Thursday evening Sept. 11th when Richard Lane of REV Consultants informed me that my motor had arrived and was ready for pickup. I was really happy about this because I was beginning to think that I might not see anything until October or later because of the production backlog at Netgain. At this point I arranged to pickup the motor in Ottawa on the upcoming weekend. The only other part delay is the Curtis Controller. After speaking with Bryan from EVA, I was informed that Curtis was also experiencing production delays. I am hoping this delay is not long.

On Saturday Sept. 13th, it was the "EV of Destruction" as they say. I mounted my video camera on a tripod and kept my digital photo camera close by to record the work. It was time to get our hands dirty. With the much appreciated help from my father-in-law Evan, we removed the hood, put the car up on stands, drained all the fluids, disconnected a bunch of mechanical components and removed the gas engine (with clutch and transmission attached), exhaust, muffler, radiator, A/C and cruise control. After the engine was out of the car, we removed the transmission from the engine as well as the pressure plate, clutch and flywheel which are to be retained for future use with the electric motor. We also removed the ring gear from the flywheel which was very easy. I must say that everything went nice and smooth. Having lots of space to work, useful air tools and an engine hoist sure helps. Of course it also helps to have a pair of experienced professional hands like those of Mr. EV (those are actually his real initials, what a coincidence!!).

Here he is in action (hard at work):



Underside view (from front):



Underside view (from rear):



Views of engine compartment after ICE removed:




View of engine block crank shaft after transmission, clutch, and flywheel removed:



Here is a side view of engine block and crank shaft face. An important precise measurement needs to be taken between the engine block face and crank shaft face using a straight edge. I believe this will determine the depth of the spacer between the electric motor and transmission.



View of transmission while measuring for the size of aluminum plate that will be required to make the adapter plate:



I will need to clean many of the removed parts as well as the engine compartment in the coming days. The clutch will be replaced since it has a fair amount of wear. I will also have to make a template for the adapter plate and shop around for half inch aluminum plate. The next big challenge will be to have the necessary adaption parts machined.

On Sunday Sept. 14th, we took a drive to Ottawa with Elizabeth and the kids to pickup the motor and visit family. I had a chance to chat with Richard in person once again and I also had a look at some the amazing work he does. He was in the process of converting an automatic 2000 Volkswagen Jetta. Although he had not yet finished the conversion, one can easily get a good sense of what it was going to look like. Very impressive, a work of art!

Here is the the Netgain Warp9 motor:

by Jim

The Waiting Game

Eleven weeks and still waiting for the Netgain Warp9 motor I ordered. After speaking to Richard Lane the authorized distributor with whom I placed my order, I was informed that Netgain has been especially overwhelmed with orders since May. They (Netgain) indicated to Richard that my order as well as other orders were due to ship any day now. The waiting game is killing me.

In the meantime, I placed a large order of parts with Electrical Vehicles of America and awaiting shipping confirmation and tracking number. I have also been reviewing my project plan giving more thought to things like motor speed/rpm sensor, instrument placement, battery box, and tires.

I will look into integrating a speed/rpm sensor for the Warp9 motor but first need to get some advice from the pros. I want to retain the use of the vehicle's stock speedometer and tachometer after the EV conversion.

Zolox Speed Sensor To WarP/ImPulse Motor Adapter (scroll down a bit)

Zolox Motor Speed sensor Kit

I am considering a Triple Pillar POD similar to this one on which to mount the voltmeter, ammeter, and SOC (state of charge) gauges.

Mazda Protege Triple Pillar Pod (this still requires the original pillar underneath)

I will either build my own battery boxes or ask a friend and colleague to assist me in getting an expert built box.

I found a good online tire size calculator to come up with tire & rim size combinations.

Speaking of tires, a friend recently forwarded to me an ABC News report on Tire Safety called "Aged Tires: A Driving Hazard?"which I encourage everyone to watch. It could save lives and is a must see video.

Jim

Getting Ready

Early this morning I took the car for a rustproofing treatment since next weekend I plan to do the ICE removal. I took some pictures of the engine compartment and odometer in order to post a for sale ad to sell the ICE parts. If a buyer is interested in the engine, there will be about one week left to actually see the motor in operation if so desired.

Before ICE removal:

I also put a list together of work or known issues with the car in an effort to remain organized and remember what still needs to be done besides the actual conversion:

• Check manual transmission for leaks and inspect shifter bushings which might need changing or lubrication.
  
• Inspect clutch and make any necessary repairs.
  
• Look into why ABS brake indicator is lit on instrument panel.
  
• Will need rear drum brakes job.
  
• Will need rear link bars.
  
• Will need tires (winter & summer/all season).
  
• Rear passenger electrical door lock malfunction.
  
• Front passenger door speaker malfunction.
  
• License plate lights malfunction.
  
• Interior cleaning.
  
• Perform minor touch-ups on exterior.

The place where the work will be performed is very spacious and I have already set-up temporary work benches. I have access to a commercial grade compressor for the use of air tools. I will be borrowing many tools from my father-in-law.

Here are a few pictures of the garage:

Jim

Registered and Insured

Last night we went to the SAAQ office in Longueuil to transfer ownership and register the vehicle. The 2000 Mazda Protege is now officially ours, parked in our driveway and waiting for work to get under way.



The e-Protege on EV Album

Today the kids were a little excited and wanted to go for a ride so we decided to go to Ile Ste-Helene to spend a few hours. The kids enjoyed playing in the park as Elizabeth and I snapped some pictures of them. We then made our way over to the Biosphere which was just a short walk away. We felt like tourists in our own city. The Biosphere, a huge metal sphere structure is a very interesting place. It houses several exhibits about our Canadian environment as well as the global environment. There are interactive activities for kids (much like the science and technology museums). We visited an Ecological House on site which was quite amazing. It was a home designed by university students from several local universities which was entered in a contest for sustainable living held in the United States last year. The home had a very basic layout but was loaded with the latest technologies like solar PV panels, solar thermal panels, triple pane windows for natural light, efficient energy star appliances, and an induction cook top. It featured radiant floor heating that used hot water heated by the solar thermal panels. This design was made to house two people but one can easily imagine a similar design but a little bigger to house a family of four. The power generated by the solar PV panels is stored in battery packs and the inverters convert the dc electric power to low consumption ac electric appliances and lighting fixtures. The water used for the toilet is recycled rainwater that is captured and filtered through a green roof portion of the house. The complete package was very cool. Makes you wish these homes were readily available for purchase.

Biosphere
SolarMontreal

While we were visiting the Ecological House, I received a call from the insurance rep I was speaking to yesterday. Her name was Tracy and she had good news. I got word that the insurance company would indeed insure our car after the EV Conversion was completed. I was simply told to call back the insurance company when the work is finished with the total investment/value so that I can be quoted with a new premium for the adjusted value.



Afterwards, we went back into the Biosphere and took the elevator up to the 5th and 6th floors where we saw even more interesting things and got a great view of the Montreal skyline from within the metallic spherical structure. To our surprise, we came across a ZENN electric car. We were able to touch it, look at it up close and take more pictures. We learned about Bucky or Richard Buckminster Fuller, the creator of the Biosphere. He was truly a man ahead of his time with great ideas on sustainable development. His motto was "Do more with less".



Jim

Insurance

In preparation to take ownership of the car this evening, I called my insurance company to advise them of my purchase. For just a few more dollars per year, I was able to get a zero deductible policy. I also advised them that I was intending to convert the vehicle from gas to electric. The rep asked me a series of questions and then informed me that she would refer my file to another department and that they would get back to me within 48 hours with more questions and/or a decision on whether or not they would insure the EV. Elizabeth and I both have long standing excellent driving records so I am hopeful that the insurer will have a positive answer. Most of the questions asked pertained to the type of modifications made to the car and whether it would have more power. I answered honestly and stated that there would be no major modifications made to the car but that many ICE (internal combustion engine) parts would be removed. I also told them that the car would actually have less power and a limited range. The last question I was asked was "Why are you considering doing this electric conversion ?". I quickly answered that our family has done a lot lately to be more energy efficient and environment friendly. I also added that we want to reduce our vehicle maintenance and operation costs on things like the gas engine and related parts and obviously reduce our dependency on gasoline (a polluting and expensive resource). The rep reminded me that our conversation was recorded and thanked me for my answers.

Here is a quote from a book I've been reading named "Smart Power" by William H. Kemp:

"Family budgets are strained from the rising costs of living: taxes, mortgages, car payments, and energy bills for homes and vehicles. As a society we rarely consider the source of these costs. People hop on the bandwagon of the middle-class dream fueled by two incomes that make it happen. Large homes in the suburbs require enormous amounts of heat, light, and air conditioning, and many have two cars to get to distant jobs. All of this eats away at our precious discretionary income and our free time".

Jim

EV Components

Yesterday I received verbal confirmation from the seller as well as the creditor that the outstanding loan on the car was paid out. The RDPRM (Quebec Title Registry) has not yet received the official notice of clear title yet but it should get there within days. I went ahead and scheduled a vehicle inspection for Wednesday of next week. I also went over my list of EV components to be ordered except for the batteries, dc-to-dc converter, and battery pack charger. The final decision on the omitted parts will be made later. The motor (Netgain Warp9) was ordered 8 weeks ago and is expected to arrive shortly. The motor adaptor/coupler and mounts will be custom made. If any additional parts are required, I will post them later.

Here is a nice graphic I found which helps to better visualize the EV components:



Here is my current list of parts to be ordered:

DRIVE SYSTEM

• 1 Curtis Controller 1231C-8601
• 1 Aluminum Plate/heat sink compound/12 V fan
• 1 PB-6 Curtis Potbox
• 2 Albright Contactor SW-200 (12V coil)

BATTERY SYSTEM

• 25 ft of 2/0 Cable - Black
• 25 ft of 2/0 Cable - Red
• 40 2/0 lugs - Magna lug (includes 6 90 degree)
• 5 ft of Heat Shrink with sealant

INSTRUMENTATION

• 1 80-180 Voltmeter (Westberg 2in Black)
• 1 0-400 Ammeter (Westberg 2in Black)
• 1 50mV Shunt - 400A

POWER BRAKES

• 1 Vacuum Pump (12V)
• 1 Vacuum Switch
• 1 In-line fuseholder with 20 Amp Fuse

SAFETY

• 1 Littlefuse L25S-400
• 1 Littlefuse holder
• 1 KLK fuse & holder - HV Control Wiring
• 1 Pair Anderson connectors SBX-350 (Red)
• 1 Fuseholder (4) - Control Board
• 1 First Inertia Switch - Auto Shutoff (12V Sys)
• 1 Electric Heater Components (Heater, mount, contactor, Anderson SB-50 connector, fuse)

Jim

One Step Closer

On Sunday August 17th I signed a purchase agreement and put a down payment on a Silver 2000 Mazda Protege LX. The purchase is conditional to the vehicle obtaining a clear title and a 41 point vehicle inspection. It has just over 200,000 km on the odometer but the car's body is in very good shape considering it is almost 9 years old. It has a couple of minor scuffs and small spots of surface rust here and there which can easily be touched up. I am hoping to finalize the deal in the next week or so. Once the vehicle registration is transferred, I will start with the removal of all the internal combustion engine (ICE) parts. The stock transmission and clutch will remain. I am also hoping to put all the ICE parts up for sale and if anything remains I will take them to the metal recyclers.

by Jim

Persistence

There seems to be no shortage of Proteges on the used car market. I found another one last Sunday and was ready to finalize the purchase the following day. I had a contract drawn up and made an appointment to have it inspected. I also remembered to perform a verification to make sure that the car's title was clear. That's were things got dicey. In Quebec, buyers should always consult the RDPRM using the car's VIN and/or owner's name. When I checked this one out, the loan was still outstanding. No matter how honest the owner seemed and no matter what he intends to do, you are always best advised to beware and only proceed with the purchase after everything is settled and the title is clear. The owner made arrangements to pay off the outstanding balance owed on the car but this can take up to 10 business days provided there are no other complications. Even though I am hopeful we can finalize a deal, I am still keeping a lookout for other deals. Persistence will hopefully land the right deal.

Jim

Let down

Well, it turns out that Nicolas' Green Protege was a major let down. During our conversations he failed to mention that the car was covered with small dents after a hail storm hit the areas of Mont St. Hilaire and Otterburn Park. The car also had several other dents, scrapes and rust that did not help matters. I was looking for a clean car and this was far from it. The search continued and I spotted another Protege. Since I don't want to jinx this one, I will wait until things progress a little further before I comment on it.

Jim

Nicolas' Green Protege

On Friday August 1st, 2008 I inquired about a 2000 Mazda Protege for sale. The ad did not provide any description about the car or the asking price. At approximately 10pm that night, I decided to call the number on the ad even though I was a bit hesitant because it was a little late in the evening to be calling. A man named Nicolas answered and immediately passed the call over to his wife. She was very polite and explained that Nicolas was driving and that she was not able to provide all the details about the car. She took my name and number and asked me to call back the following morning anytime after 8am to speak with Nicolas. The following day (Saturday), Nicolas called me just as I was getting ready to call him. He explained that he was calling from a beach in New Jersey where he was on vacation with his family. I realized then that when I called him the night before he was on the road travelling to Jersey. Nicolas provided all the details and more about the car which he owned since 1999-2000 (original owner). He stressed that the car was in very good condition and that the car had to go because there are three cars in the driveway after they purchased a new Volkswagen. He offered me an appointment to see the car on Saturday August 9th, 9am at his home on the south shore of Montreal and I accepted. Although I did not yet see the car, Nicolas sounded sincere and the car gave me a good vibe. So, my plan was to go see the car prepared with my budgeted cash on hand and previous car's license plate with a serious interest and intent to buy the car on the spot. Elizabeth and the kids would have to drive me out there since there is only one car to commute with.

On Thursday August 7th, while riding the bus from the south shore to the island of Montreal, my cell phone rang just as the bus was crossing the Champlain bridge. It was Nicolas calling to confirm our upcoming appointment and to make sure that I was still interested. I obviously was and indicated that to him. Nicolas went on to say that he had since received several calls from people interested in the car and that he would have to move our appointment earlier to 8am if I wanted to be the first to see the car. He also mentioned that his asking price would be less negotiable now that there was more interest in the car. I accepted the 8am rescheduled appointment and asked Nicolas to provide the VIN of the car so that I would be prepared for Saturday. Inside myself I thought and pictured what it will be like on Saturday. Although I cannot be certain, It sounded like Nicolas wanted to schedule visits one after the other and take the highest offer. This did not exactly sit well with me but I had no choice at this point. I can also understand his point of view. Well, as my wife would probably say, "What's meant to be will be...". I must keep reminding myself that I have taken on an expensive project that will see an investment of approximately $12,000 (not counting the cost of the car purchase). I have to stay on budget. I want to pay a fair price for a car without overpaying. I consulted VMR Canada online and got the car's wholesale and retail values and my goal is not to pay more than the retail value. This car will not be an ordinary car after I am finished with it. It will not depreciate like all other combustion engine cars. It will turn heads and arouse curiosity. It will inspire others and encourage change for energy efficiency and less pollution. In a couple of years from now, when more and more electric cars are roaming the streets, it will all make more sense.

Will it be Nicolas' Green Protege?

Jim

Good-bye Mazda 3...Hello Public Transit

When I was 6 months pregnant with our twins (2001), Jim and I decided that we needed two cars. Being a stay at home mom for the first time, it made sense and was essential. We bought a Honda Odyssey minivan and Jim drove our already aging 1990 Acura Integra to work every day while I drove our brand new van everywhere with the twins in tow.

Flash forward to April 2007. Jim finally ditches our 17 year old Acura and buys a 3 year old Mazda 3. Jim takes care of this car as he did with every other car he ever owed. He washes it regularly, waxes it, and buys new wheels and tires for it. In the meantime, talk of rising gas prices has become more common, Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" is the hot topic, and Jim finds himself home sick one day in April 2008 and watches a movie called "Who Killed the Electric Car?". Suddenly the Canadiens hockey games have become somewhat less important and Jim is reading in the evenings after the kids have finally gone to bed....and he's not falling asleep!!! I love to read and would often stay up late curled up on the couch with a good novel, now I had company! But they are not novels, Jim is reading books like "The Zero Carbon Car" by William H. Kemp and "Build Your Own Electric Vehicle" by Bob Brant. By the end of May Jim has his mind and his heart set on building an electric car and he's managed to get the kids excited about it too (an easy feat considering how crazy they are about cars or anything on wheels). I ask Jim one day in May 2008 how he plans to fund this project and he simply replies..."I'm going to sell the Mazda". I wasn't sure that I heard him correctly so I rephrased the question and got the same response. Well, I must say I was somewhat excited about the electric car idea until that moment when I realized that we'd actually have to "share" our minivan after 6 and a half years. Suddenly I wasn't so sure about this project and how long it could take. Nonetheless I think I've been quite supportive. For Father's Day I got Jim a journal so that he could keep track of all his notes and details about the car he will build. On August 1st 2008 Jim sold the Mazda 3 that he bought 15 months ago.

The environment and the future world our children will live in has become such a common topic in our home over the past year or so, we are doing things differently, thinking of ways to consume less, recycling as usual, composting and planning a vegetable garden in our backyard next summer. The electric car project fits right in with how we are thinking. We were both in such a different frame of mind a year ago. Sometimes you just have to rethink the things that seemed so important at one point in your life. Jim has been taking the bus and metro to work this past week and will continue to do so until the electric car project is completed. It feels good to think that we have one less tank of gas to fill from here on.

Elizabeth

An Adventure To Remember

My search for a vehicle chassis also known as a donor car got into full gear in mid July. During time off on vacation, I decided to take a ride up to a community named St. Lin (80 km away from my home) to see a Ford Ranger pick-up truck that was for sale by a young man named Patrick. Deep down in my heart I did not really want to convert a pickup truck because it only seats 2-3 people and I really wanted a car that would seat 4 (myself, my wife, and our twin boys). I remember driving up there and thinking to myself "why am I even waisting my time....". Nevertheless, I drove out there, saw the car, and was not very impressed by its condition. It looked much better in the picture posted on the for sale ad. As I prepared to leave, Patrick asked me in french what I was going to do with the car. I hesitated, smiled at him and said "well, you'll probably laugh if I tell you" and he replied "no, no, not at all....." and so I answered "it is to be converted to electric". At that moment Patrick replied with excitement and said "want to see a car converted to electric by my brother-in-law ?". He called out his brother-in-law to tell him that I was looking for a car to convert to electric. We walked down the driveway towards the back of the house where I met Sylvain. He was fiddling around with a paraglider motor that needed repair. There was a bunch of stuff lying around everywhere (used golf carts, mechanical and electrical parts, etc). It looked like Sylvain was a mechanic of some sort working on various projects at the same time. Sylvain shook my hand and showed me an old Volkswagen Passat that he was experimenting with. He put in an electric motor that he bought on ebay which was connected to a Kelly controller and foot pedal accelerator. He had removed the clutch alltogether and adapted the motor directly to the transmission. He was using a series of used 8 volt Trojan batteries commonly used in golf carts. We exchanged thoughts about different EV parts and then Sylvain decided to start reconnecting some wires to power up the car. It was like something out of a movie. I never expected to stumble into such a situation. I could'nt wait to tell my wife and kids about this adventure. Sylvain had forgotten to tighten down some battery connections and we saw a lot of sparks and smoke a few times when he attempted to power up. He even melted one of the battery posts during this whole process. Finally, he managed to power up the electric passat and back it out of the driveway. He asked me if I wanted to go for a ride and I accepted. I entered the vehicle and cautiously sat in the passenger seat. There was an emergency cutoff switch with a huge red button/nob sitting between the driver and passenger seats next to the hand brake. St. Lin is a rural area and Sylvain took us for a ride on a quiet partly gravel road. I was amazed. It was my first ride in an electric conversion car. Even with a sub par motor, old batteries that were not fully charged and running at approximatley 72 volts, the car was able to reach 60-65 km/hr in third and fourth gear. Wow!! I thought to myself, perhaps I really was destined for such a project. Sylvain told me that his dream was to someday drive in an electric car along with his wife and kids to the cinema to watch a movie. I exchanged contact information with Sylvain and told him I would keep in touch with the progress of my car conversion. A few days later, I sent Sylvain some documentation by mail about the motor that I purchased with a note thanking him for the ride in his electric car.

The search for a car continued and I inquired about many different cars in the compact category until I finally settled to target a Mazda Protege. I liked this car because it was small yet had a very roomy trunk with decent space in the engine compartment and could comfortably seat four people. A good friend of mine Chris introduced me to an independant car dealer named Jimmy who very generously assisted me in searching for a car. He went as far as allowing me to accompany him to a local Montreal car auction held weekly only for dealers (not public). We came close to landing a good deal a couple of times but came up short. Nevertheless, I remained confident that I would find something soon so that the work can get started.

Jim

Inspiration

Let me begin by saying that in the past year I have learned many things about the history of the automobile. Like many others, I saw the documentary film "Who Killed The Electric Car" and found it fascinating and inspirational. In addition, the films "An Inconvenient Truth", "The 11th Hour", and "The End of Suburbia" have put many things about the state of our world into perspective for me. The insight from these films was like a wake-up call for me and my family as well as many friends. Our family was always conscious and respectfull of the environment but I must say we are much "greener" today than ever before.

Our children learn from our habits just as we learn from our childrens' innocent curiosity about life and the world we live in. As adults, we can really learn a lot from kids. It amazes me how simple and natural they are and what a great imagination they can have. Life is simple and the solutions to many of the world's problems are simple but as humans living in a complex society we have managed to complicate things way too much. I often find myself saying "It's so simple that it's complicating" when I have discussions with people about certain topics.

In an effort to live an even greener life and to limit my dependancy on gas/oil, I decided to convert an existing internal combustion engine vehicle to electric. This project began in June 2008 when I went ahead and purchased an electric motor. I had done a lot of reading and research on the internet in order to understand what was involved as well as the pros and cons. I even drove to Ottawa from the Montreal area to see the EV Expo which was held on May 31st, 2008. I met and spoke to many people who were owners of electric car conversions, factory electric car prototypes, and experienced entrepeneurs in electric vehicles and/or related products and technologies. I was really serious about this and my wife and kids knew it after this trip. In July 2008, I managed to secure a place to perform the conversion work. My father-in-law who is a retired auto mechanic owns a commercial property with three garage style locals. I was very fortunate that one of those locals was tempoarily vacant and it was offered to me for my EV project. I will have to get moving, however, because a new tenant is expected to move in by the end of this year.









Electric Car Timeline

Jim