Maiden Voyage

At 9 pm I called my Regina my wife and said “Wifey, head toward the shop I want to share the first test drive of the EVSaturn with you.” Maiden Voyage Nov 22 I charged the battery for 40 minutes or so and checked again the workings of the contactors. I Shut the hood. (it…

Almost “Smell Smoke”

I woke up this morning at 5:50 with a energy and drive one gets if something special is in the air. I feel like before this day is over I will “smell smoke”. Smelling smoke is a auto mechanic term used after rebuilding and engine and you have it together enough to start it up.…

Installing Electrical Control Panel in Vehicle

So I have the basic setup of the control panel and now I tolt it over under the hood and place it above the motor/transmission. The rear of the panel will pivot on 2, half inch bolts and the front rests on a horizontal bar and bolts there in the center. So the final outlay…

Working with Plexiglass

In making this Plexiglas (acrylic glass or acrylic) shield in front of the DC-DC I learned ways not to cut, trim, break, mold or work plexiglass. This is the same 1/4 inch material I used for panel (with 1/4″ fiberglass). When cutting the plexiglass for the panel I used a Dewalt cut off saw with…

More Control Panel Work

Here I mounted the Curtis Controller on the panel above the cooling fan on top of the heat exchanger with a space for the air to flow. Electrical Panel Bottom View Almost Ready: Here you can see the cooling fan on the left and the Anderson Disconnect on the right. On top is the Curtis…

Building the Electrical Control Panel

Saturday Big EV work day. Enjoyed it. I end up spending 15 hours with the goal of getting the EV drivable and test drive around the block. Finished the day and night not near the goal but I made steady progress never the less. Main goal was the electrical control panel. Here was the first…

Electrical Control Board

The Electrical Control Board will hold as many electrical components as I can ‘jam on it’. Sounds like a hip-hop song. Started with 1/4″ thick smoked color Plexiglas 14″ X 22″ and I was given a piece of 1/4” electrical board fiberglass 13″ X 22″ to go under it. So I started with this now…

Need More Battery Pack Cables

The weekend of the 8th was busy with a Royal Ambassador hiking trip to Nathan Bedford Forrest State Park. So come Monday I returned to the long term EV Saturn project. The 50 feet of 2/0 welding cable EVAmerica sent me, to do the conversion was not enough. BTW 2/0 is called “two aught”. I…

Make Cables and Inline Fuse

Finish making all the cables. Used the big 3 foot crimper and shrink wrap the ends. Here is a view of a pair of cables before assembly with the ends stripped, 4 automotive style lugs, 4 shrink-wraps, cable cutter, hose cutter, stripper, heat gun, cable end insulators (black and red) The two cables assembled Using…