Jim Husted From Hi-Torque Electric

I got a chance to Meet Jim Husted from Hi-Torque Electric. Jim rebuilds electric motors for EV use, and I'm happy to be able to give my old blown motor to him to recycle into someone's EV in the future. Jim is going to work with me to get a 9or 11 inch motor for the bus. I'm sure this photo I took of Jim will be a popular in the EV forum circles 8^) The photo is Jim with the "kill" for the day my 6.7 inch D&D motor.

Thanks Jim

Melt Down

Well, I haven't written as much lately, because things have been going pretty well. Saturday wasn't a good day for my EV. This is a bit hard to explain to those without an electric car, but the motors are really different. In an EV there is nothing to slow you down when you are in gear, and I was in 1st gear at the top of a hill and I started to coast down, and after 30 mph I heard a small explosion in the rear, and my engine had blown to bits. I had the radio on and wasn't paying attention to the engine noise, and at 7-8 k RPM's the engine just went BOOM! It was my own fault and I'm really bummed out, but I won't be using 1st gear again when I get a new motor. You can see from the pictures that the guts are pretty much a mass of chunks or random copper pieces.

Photo Booth Bus!

We did it! I drove my VW-EV to Sauvie's Island for a weddign on Saturday at Kruger's Farm, and set it up as the photobooth. The guests came in through a curtain where the sliding door is and sat in the back seat. We got some amazing shots.

Still learning to drive!

Transitioning to an EV isn't easy. I feel like I am still learning how to drive. After doing some research online and asking questions in forums and such I have changed my shifting and driving habits. I am now using 1st 2nd and 3rd, and rarely 4th. I am getting from 0-16 MPH in 1st, then up to 28 MPH in 2nd, then 45MPH in 3rd, and cruise at 50MPH in 4th. I am now reeving the engine to higher RPMs about 4000rpm. Hopefully this will help me get more mileage out of the bus as well as be kinder to the batteries so they will live longer. I am also watching my amp meter to keep the amps below 300 as much as possible. With 6V batteries 300 amps shouldn't hurt the life of the batteries if I don't run it there too often.

I did end up getting on I-5 the other day but I knew there was traffic so stop and go was no problem keeping up with the flow!

Gone for a week

I was gone last week, and my bus just had to sit. I left it fully charged, and when I came home it read 155 on the pack, but when I plugged it in, it charged for a good hour or so. Yesterday Erica and I made a trip to Edgefield for a concert (Death Cab), 26 miles total trip on the back roads, which wasn't a problem, but I did have to drive into an open field to park. It was super rough and I had to worry about bouncing my batteries around too much and loosening a connection, but no harm done!

Photo Booth Bus

One of my Jobs is renting out photobooths in Portland Oregon, Seattle Washington, and Boise Idaho. www.portlandphotobooth.com

I have an upcoming wedding in July where we are turning the bus into the booth. It will be an outdoor farm wedding and the bus will fit right in. The box with camera and printer will be behind the drivers seat, and the guests will enter through a curtain where the sliding door opening is, then sit on the back bench and hit the button for the shots. It will then print out right away for the guests inside the bus.

Just another use for the electric bus!

We might do some custom graphics like this...

Two high mileage days

I just had two days over 40 miles for work. I had to go from NE Portland to Tualatin, and then the next day to Lower Lake Oswego. Both of these required some big hills and some 25 mph driving up hill on the way home. The pack voltage when fully charged is 155V now and after a trip like that it reads 145V. I was lugging about 200 lbs. of gear and myself, but no middle seat. It also takes 9 hours on 220 to fully recharge the pack after tough days like that.

On the design front I put some electric car signs in the window to see how people will react, I think it keeps them from getting mad at me on the big hills, and I added a new VW logo to the front.

Cheers!