Nov 3: Drove to Seattle (pic)

Drove back to Seattle to wait for a charger. A guy just outside of Seattle is building the charger, and we need a few more parts (that ElectroAutomotive was supposed to supply). Specifically, we need a ammeter and shunt, and a DC-DC converter. We have already purchased them from ElectroAutomotive, but I have decided to order them from someone around Seattle, get all the parts collected, then drive back to Montana and finish up the project. We'll deal with the money later. The next posting will be "driving back to Montana".



You see, this was the first big trip for the BMW since I got it running fairly well, that's why there are so many pictures of it.



It's now back in its driveway in Seattle.

Nov 2: It Runs! (pic)

Nov 2, 2007, Tasks Accomplished:

• Redid all the ground straps
• Added a chassis to frame ground
• Changed a parameter in the DMOC
  
• Got it running! (thanks to Matt, Tim, and Beth)
  
• Drove it and weighed it
• Gave rides to friends
  

My thanks go out to Matt and Tim, fellow Azure motor owners, for their assistance over email, and also to Beth at Azure for her quick support. With a few parameter changes, it ran today!

Rereading the manual for directions.



The motor actually turns now.



Pretty cool. The laptop is hooked up to the controller by a cable I ran through one of the old heater core hose holes in the firewall (just temporally). The computer then can display the motor RPM, the pedal position, the requested motor torque, among other things. It's pretty advanced! You can also use the laptop to change the parameters in the DMOC controller, which then modifies the performance of the vehicle, and which we had to do to get it working.



It left the garage under its own power. My first drive in an EV!



Yep, a few batteries.



I'm heading to Seattle tomorrow in my new racer.



We went by my dads to give him a ride too.



My dad and I driving off.



And returning.



We can't drive far, as we have no charger, even though John and Julie payed for one in the middle of August. Again, I would not recommend doing business with ElectroAutomotive. We have actually now ordered a different charger from a guy outside of Seattle, who seems to make a real good product and said he will have it finished in 10-20 days.



John drove his new car too, I just didn't get a photo of it.

Nov 1: Start Car?

Nov 1, 2007, Tasks Accomplished:

• Hooked up batteries front to back
• Started on insulating individual terminals
  
• Changed solenoid to interrupt positive
• Checked Potbox
  
• Tried to start car (didn't work)
• Copied control parameters onto computer and hooked up laptop computer to DMOC
• Got information, checked manual, and emailed questions
• Reread manual
  

Flickr slideshow