Electric conversion: Project ForkenSwiift

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Silveredwings

I wonder if there is a worthwhile way to "recondition" them. I've read of some rejuvenating methods

I haven't looked into this yet, though I have seen the word "desulfator" floating around various places.

I had an idea for upping the supply of used batts which may work out. I've charged the car a few times now and started monitoring individual battery charges - some of them are quite healthy. Others are toast - and of course the pack is only as good as its worst batt, so there may be hope.

Originally Posted by Peakster

Does this mean that ForkenSwift will be your new daily driver?

Nah, my old 10-speed will remain the daily driver!

Originally Posted by Brock

And yes after resting from a full charge should be 6.3 per battery or 37.8 for the string.

Thanks for that info. I may pick your brain with more questions...

I am seeing 6 amps when full. I'll have to double-check the charging voltage, but I think it's around 45.

Originally Posted by rh77

Any plans?

Nothing yet. "Custom paint" will entail sanding the rust spots off and coating with colour match! Actually, I seriously want to put a racing stripe on it. Irony defined.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Silveredwings

Parts: a nut, some tubing, and the highly unique "banjo bolt"

Hey, nice work! Very nice indeed.

[MetroMPG]

BTW, I made and uploaded a neat 5-minute video of the first drive activities. Just waiting for YouTube to process it and spit it back out.

Today: added 2 more batts to the string, for a total of 48v. This made a noticeable difference; it turned the car from "interesting science experiment" but too slow to be practical, into a barely usable car. At 48v, it would never handle the cut & thrust of typical urban traffic, but as an NEV equivalent on the side streets of a small, quiet city, it'll be fine.

With some effort (EV hypermiling!) I managed to go 5.x km around the neighbourhood today on one charge (but 3 separate journeys).

I also started documenting individual battery voltages after each run to see if I can figure out which batteries are weakest. Turns out driving around the neighbourhood is an excellent "load test" procedure - the bad batteries are quick to reveal their true selves, relative to their pack-mates.

[MetroMPG]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDERyAILOak

[GasSavers_DaX]

Great video Darin!

[zpiloto]

Man that is so cool!! What kind of shape are the batteries in after the test drives? Nice rolling stop by the way

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I had an idea for upping the supply of used batts which may work out. I've charged the car a few times now and started monitoring individual battery charges - some of them are quite healthy. Others are toast - and of course the pack is only as good as its worst batt, so there may be hope.

I was thinking that since you have a ready supply of used batteries, you could continue to collect them, charge them, load test them, and then keep the ones that do the very best. You will probably find a lot of really bad ones, but all you need is 8-10 really good ones, right?

Nice video. It really is amazingly quiet. You might need some sort of very soft horn or beeper to use in parking lots and near pedestrians so people don't step out in front of you. Something that plays the sound of George Jetson's spacecar would be perfect. :-)

Also, is there an concern about hydrogen buildup in the charging area? I don't know much about batteries.

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by Bill in Houston

Nice video. It really is amazingly quiet. You might need some sort of very soft horn or beeper to use in parking lots and near pedestrians so people don't step out in front of you. Something that plays the sound of George Jetson's spacecar would be perfect. :-)

This is a very good point. I have had this happen quite a few times in the Prius. Folks just assume that if it's not making noise it's not moving.

[Bill in Houston]

Originally Posted by zpiloto

This is a very good point. I have had this happen quite a few times in the Prius. Folks just assume that if it's not making noise it's not moving.

Hybrids will end up with some sort of government mandated ICE-off noise generator before long. That will be a sad day.

[Silveredwings]

That's terrific! Thanks for showing us the current state of the tests you're conducting. I was shocked to see that the Neon guys got a charge out of it too.

by Bill in Houston: Nice video. It really is amazingly quiet. You might need some sort of very soft horn or beeper to use in parking lots and near pedestrians so people don't step out in front of you. Something that plays the sound of George Jetson's spacecar would be perfect. :-)

That's what I was thinking.