Archive for February, 2011

Protea #2 Taken at the UCSC Arboretum, Feb 20th, 2011.

In follow up to: http://www.corbinstreehouse.com/blog/2011/02/plug-bug-dmv-process-registering-a-home-built-ev/ I now have the car registered as an EV! I took all the paperwork I had accumulated, in particular the BAR form saying that it didn’t need smog, and the car inspection form I got at visit #2. It took them a while, but they figured out how to enter the right codes in the computer and got it marked as an E for mode of power. I gave them my title, and I should get a new one in two-four weeks. The registration now says “E” on it. Cool! I really want a carpool... [read more]

So, I’ve been trying to register the Plug Bug as a pure EV car. Here has been my adventure so far. 1. First DMV trip. The car was registered non-op, but I drove it down there, thinking that was what I had to do to register it as operable again. It turns out that isn’t the case; they want you to pay first before you drive it at all! I guess that makes sense if I think about it. So, I go to the DMV and tell them I want to register it as an electric car. The lady says... [read more]

Currently, the car is garaged. It has been wet and rainy, and I don’t have the motor water proofed. I tested making it water proof by using some thick plastic underneath the motor area to keep it dry. I used the stuff that you can buy for under you chair when on carpet — Ace Hardware sells it by the foot. After driving home ~25 miles, I touched the motor, and it was excessively hot! Usually I can keep my hand on the motor; it is warm, but not excessively warm. I do have the motor’s over temp circuit wired... [read more]

I have the rear section finished now and can carry unicycles on top of my cells.

… a continuation from part 1. When putting on the cell boards boards on the cells I was extra careful to not let the wires touch anything or to put the board on backwards. Each board’s LED blinks 3 times when you plug it in. I had two dead boards that didn’t blink when I plugged them in, so I had to get two replacements from Evolve Electrics. One clearly had a bad solder job, but I don’t know what was up with the other one. Wiring the BMS was pretty much straight forward. Crimping was tough — I bought... [read more]

UPDATE! After 100 miles, the solder got so hot that it melted out. I asked the friendly people on EVDL why this would happen. It could be because the inrush limiter was not rated right, or it wasn’t getting enough cooling. So, I replaced it with a CL-30 instead of the CL-40. The CL-30 has a slightly higher amp rating. I also put *another* small fan on top of the inrush limiter to add in cooling. So far, I have ~150 miles and it seems okay. So, take this posting as-is with no warranty that it will work, or not.... [read more]

I’ve been driving the car for a few weeks now, and I’m behind on some blog posts about it. The car has a small problem with the DC-DC converter, so I couldn’t drive it this past week (more on that later!). I purchased the Elithion Lithiumate BMS (Battery Management System). The directions are all located in the online manual, however, some things are not obvious on what to do and it was tricky to set up. In fact, I still don’t have it dialed in quite right, as it is constantly saying I have a poor “State of Health” for... [read more]