Open Source Civic EV Kit

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Open Source Civic-EV documents moved

Open Source Civic EV Kit

Hi All, It's been a verrrrry long time since I posted here since I sold the Civic-EV. Due to Google removing the Files and Pages feature of Google Groups. All files and documentation at the civic-ev Google group has now been moved to the "civicevkit" Google Site: https://sites.google.com/site/civicevkit/ If you need to access the build instructions or Google Sketch-Up files, please go there now.

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Saying Goodbye to Electric Blue

Open Source Civic EV Kit

Well, as most of you have seen, there hasn't been a lot of activity for several months on this blog. I sold Electric Blue to my friend Murray (shown above) and he is taking good care of her. It's time to move on from this electric vehicle conversion hobby and see where life takes me. I have a reservation for a silver Nissan Leaf coming in December, so maybe I'll post my experience with it.

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Analyzing PakTrakr Files with PrestoPlot

Open Source Civic EV Kit

I took the Civic out for a spin today with my neatly installed PakTrakr and captured some data while pulling some reasonably high currents. I programmed the Synkromotive controller to limit the battery amps to 250 to help prolong the life of the batteries. It takes a bit of the acceleration edge off while on the freeway at 60mph, but otherwise, the power is just fine for commuting.

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Mounting the PakTrakr

Open Source Civic EV Kit

It's time to mount the PakTrakr on the dashboard. Since I have a low-end model Civic, there are several unused accessory plates that I can tap into. Here's one that I popped out just to the left of the steering wheel. I drilled holes in the pop-out plate to match the mounting threads on the PakTrakr as well as a 1" hole to thread the wires through. After taking off two nuts on the back of the PakTrakr, I decided to disassemble the whole thing just to see what was inside.

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PakTrakr Signal Integrity

Open Source Civic EV Kit

I finally got to trying out some filtering on the PakTrakr lines today with some pleasing results. I've read several places, that the PakTrakr signal line really needs a 0.1uF capacitor across it to deaden out any extra noise. My series 100 ohm resistor that helped on my previous EV didn't work this time. I found a tiny 0.1uF tantalum capacitor at work.

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Fixing the Batmon Resistors

Open Source Civic EV Kit

Well it's about time I get the Civic working again now that the weather seems to be getting warmer. The biggest concern I have with my current system is the Batmon balancer resistors. The existing ones seem to be always on the verge of catching fire. To replace the existing resistors while keeping the same mounting holes, I cut some 2.5"x3" rectangles of aluminum and bolted some beefier power resistors to them.

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Seeing the Nissan Leaf in Person

Open Source Civic EV Kit

Things have been nuts this week, but I did get a chance to see the Nissan Leaf come to Portland today. It arrived at OMSI this morning and the OEVA got a private session with the Leaf this afternoon. Here's Nissan's spokesperson who graciously answered all our geeky questions about the car. The Leaf boasts a 100 mile range on a 24KW battery pack. I have a 14KW battery pack and I only get about 20 miles when going on the freeway.

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