While my car still has a few issues to resolve, the engine bay itself is now looking prrrretty good. The Perspex has been cut to the right size and this will support the Curtis and water-cooling pump. The Curtis now has heatsink compound applied to it and the cooling block and sandwiched together – and with the batteries seen through the Perspex underneath, the whole thing looks pretty neat. The rest of the BMS modules will be installed soon.
Curtis and cooler on 8mm thick Perspex sheet.
The batteries underneath show the Blade BMS modules connected with their comms fly-leads which is wired back to the Blade BMS Puppet Master box. The conformal coating will protect the BMS modules from dust, grit, corrosion etc.
BMS fly leads connected.
Relay Box & Coolant Reservoir
The relay and fuse box is now mounted for the main components; the ancillary relay and fuse box will be done soon when we can find a suitable place for mounting. The coolant bottle will need to be fixed relatively level and this may be tricky due to lack of room and sloping firewalls. Shouldn’t be too hard, so long as the position of the bottle ensures good flow.
A dip in angle wouldn’t be a major issue; I don’t expect an overflow hose as there is not a huge volume of coolant used and the bottle itself should contain the minimal expansion expected.
Running out of space.
Other cars on the way too…
When I say this site is about electric cars that anyone could have, I mean it; not a stinking expensive electric Merc or Tesla, but your average about-town drive for every day use (such as this promising Colt from Mitsubishi, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7816102).
While the Starion is rare, more conventional cars are being converted all the time. We have an Echo to convert and this is going well (and another reason my car is delayed somewhat – but hey, that’s business!). Being a more boxy car, the inclusion of components in the Echo has been an easier job with less encroaching angles. The east-west motor and gearbox fit snugly as shown in the following image which also shows the welded Echo test mount jig Nathan made up (the final one will be more refined).
Echo with 8 inch Advanced DC motor and gearbox mounted.
The Echo battery box is now almost complete; the charger will sit snugly behind it in it’s own compartment.
Echo Battery Box.
Under the car, the battery box slopes back nicely and doesn’t sit lower than the original gas tank.
Battery box as shown from the rear of the Echo.
When done, the Echo will be a far echo from what it used to be, and a much better car at that – should last for years, maintenance-free. The owner is very happy with the progress; and being a lighter car than mine, his Thundersky batteries will allow a greater range.
Ouch – Gripe Time
Meanwhile, someone has backed into my other Starion while reversing from a car spot; says he didn’t see my car – hah. He did a great lot of damage to his fat 2007 Toyota Camry Altise clone, or whatever it was (stupid bling name – I forget), a huge crumpled dent in the ‘bumper’ and a gouge in his trunk where the lock is. Hate to think what the insurance will cost. Lucky for me I have a few Starion tail light modules I can swap over and my real bumper bar just had a few cracks in it which I’ll fix and re-spray. I say ‘real bumper’ as many modern cars have the wrap-around pseudo ‘crumple bumpers’ (not gap-separated from the body – can’t have that – too ‘unsophisticated’) that auto-makers and panel beaters love. Crumple zones are a good thing, but flexible bumpers like on other cars and plastic with memory is even better (a strong yet flexible bumper can still soften any whiplash effect). A modest rear collision can also push a modern car’s juxtapose ‘bumper’ into other areas of the car body causing further expensive damage.
The stupid raked design of the car that hit mine hints that rear visibility was poor. That’s why so many car makers put in cameras and sensors etc to compensate for asinine design (including pseudo/marginal wind tunnel improvements -in traffic? Sure) – if drivers use such camera/sensor devices. Most car bodies these days are designed around aesthetics and ‘bigger is better’ with external safety sensibility a vacuous second priority. Other bad things include poor tail light engineering such as in-mounted signals (not wrap-around on the outside of the lens) etc etc – I wonder how these things get into the country, passing local requirements? I almost hit a small Mazda once, because I didn’t see its stupid tiny turn signal flashing behind multiple layers of clear reflective plastic molding – it was a small shrouded lamp – dumb design – and I question the intellect of those who buy such cars and the morals of those who sell them.
I could ramble on here but just to say that auto makers love to design cars with big air bags, ABS and other expensive safety features – all well and good, but avoiding an accident in the first place means better visibility and visual acuity design in a vehicle – sadly lacking and not so common these days as look-good-feel-good design take priority – and who said common sense was common? Then again, the intent glaringly states that auto-makers and panel beaters love the spare parts industry. No wonder auto-makers are suffering now. I sympathize with those workers who are retrenched but have no sympathies at all for the bad direction of such companies by greedy managers and CEOs with no vision.
If we get to design our own EV from the ground up, given time and funds as we have lots of ideas and patentable technologies, not only would the car be efficient, it’s framework will be a strong lightweight shell, surrounded by flexible, scratch-resistant composite fiber materials and functional design – meaning ‘safe aesthetics’ that is still attractive. It won’t be a stupid three-wheeler token contraption or retro-fitted over-inflated priced Getz or something like that, but a real car for real people for every day use – and not at a ridiculous price (yes I’m dreaming I hear you say), but such a thing should have been rolled out 20 years ago!
Anyway, enough of lambasting Toyota et al, it’s party time for Linda’s birthday so we’re off to baste ‘n skewer a few chooks – oh what a feeling!
Oh what a feeling!
