Rear Cambers

I have the opportunity to have the use of my neighbors garage for the next month so I started this weekend by installing new adjustable rear cambers.

This picture is a little fuzzy, but here is the new camber installed in one of the rear wheel wells.

And here the old next to the new. It was pretty quick installing these, although I have not done a proper alignment yet. I took a good guess at how far out I should be and I think I did pretty well. 

And this is what the wheel looks after the new cambers. Before it really did look like there was 600 lbs in the trunk and the wheel was bent in considerably. 

I probably will adjust the cambers again towards the end of the week bu for now I am happy. I also installed the stock splash shield and did an efficiency test.

For the past month my driving styles have yielded a consistent 302 Wh/Mi figure from the wall using a KillAWatt meter. Well my last test showed it is now down to 291 Wh/Mi! I usually have a 16.7 mile commute which is 75% at 40-45 MPH and the rest is stop and go with 30 MPH tops if I'm lucky. I still need to add more air to the tires, I found 38 PSI+ for my last EV showed improvements in efficiency.

To put it into perspective, my previous 96v lead EV was 450 Wh/Mi from the wall!

Heat!

My EV now has working heat!

Last weekend I got my heat running just in the nick of time. We had a small snow storm this week which the EV did great in. I did find that I need to insulate the heater piping in the engine compartment, when I am at 45+ MPH the heater has a hard time staying hot with the air going right over it.

I now have access for a garage for the next month so I will be working a lot on my EV. I have a lot of small things to do, but I will be kept busy for a while. Once I get my heater insulated I'll make a video that shows the temperature of the vents and how easy it is to turn my heat on!

Fixing the Bugs

Like every project, you find bugs and problems every so often. I now have over 650 miles on my EV and one of my new rear springs seems to have failed! Its completely compressed, and it shouldn't be even with the battery weight!

So this Friday I am going to replace the spring, take the control tray out to fix the clutch cylinders and get the heat working. It's a good amount of work to do, but I now have time to do it this Friday. Last year, on Halloween, we had a nasty snow storm so I want to make sure my EV is fully running with heat and proper suspension before we get any surprises.

Loading Up the Miles

I now have over 450 miles on my EV! I have been commuting with it everyday since getting my new plates, and I am not worried about range at all.

However, I have blown out the master clutch and slave cylinders. I have new ones I picked up from Honda, but I was sick all weekend so nothing got done. I also have to finish up my heater by wiring in the last relay, then fill the system with antifreeze. The weather has been cold recently, we have our first frost yesterday!

I am also waiting for a new volt meter, then I will setup my volt and current meters so I can properly monitor my battery pack.

My New EV Plates

Today I finally was able to get my new plates for my EV!

It was quite a production getting these new EV plates. The RMV said I the first one to get these new EV plates, they had no idea what to do or where they even were. These plates came out this past March and they had just opened the box they came in for me, so I got to choose the plate number!

It took a few phone calls to figure out what do to, but in the end I have my new plates and I got it inspected so I am ready for commuting!

Tomorrow I am going to put the splash guard back on and get the heater running, its been in the low 60s during the day and low 40s at night so heat would be nice in the mornings.

Charger Plug

I installed the charging plug on my EV today!

I also went on a few drives today to collect more data and figure out what to do next. I have figured out how I am going to wiring in my heater, but next is getting the new EV plates. Once I get the new plates I am going to get an alignment and my rear suspension adjusted. I will also need a new inspection, so for fun I am going to bring it down to the Honda dealer and see what they do!

I am expecting to start full time commuting in the EV next week, or even this week if I get the new plates and heater running tomorrow.

I still have small things to do on the EV, like a proper AH counter, but for now I am extremely pleased and can't wait for full time commuting!

It Drives!

It drives!

Today I fully charged the pack without any problems that I could find. It did end with a lower voltage ending than I was expecting, but later I found that was a volt meter problem.

Here is a video of the first real drive:

I have charged with both 120v and 240v, with 240v being much better. I have put on 18 miles with the first charge, drove up and down massive hills, hit 45 MPH all with ease. I have the Zilla Z1K-LV set to 520 motor amps and 360 battery AMPS, or 2C, so way under specs. The EV drives better than it did with the 127 HP Honda engine in it!

Now I have to hook up the tachometer to the Hairball and get the heater running. I did use Rain-X to clean the windshield and their new anti-fog cleaner on the inside to see if it helps at all. I don't mind not having much heat as I do have heated seat cover but I do not like fogging.

So far I am extremely impressed, it far outperforms what I have been hoping for and I'm not even close to maxing out my settings.