eVolvo - My Electric Car
Posted by Max Dunn Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:04:00 GMT
I finally did it – I got an electric car!
We had been considering a Miles NEV, but were concerned that even after tweaking it to go 35 MPH (rather than the 25 MPH it is supposed to go) that we would still get run over when driving on streets where the speed limit was 40 MPH or higher. The Miles also would have cost close to $20,000, and even then it was pretty minimal – vinyl seats, manual crank windows and no air-conditioning. So when a converted 1995 Volvo 850 came up for sale nearby for $14,000 we jumped on it!
The Volvo was converted when new back in 1995 and has less than 18,000 miles on it. It is in good shape but I consider it more of a project car rather than plug-and-drive. For instance, the auxiliary battery is supposed to be charged by the alternator, but if we just drive it slowly around town (which is most of the driving we do) the auxiliary battery doesn’t get charged and then doesn’t have enough power to kick over the master relay, so the car doesn’t go. This is not a big deal and just requires me to throw a charger on there every few days, but is an example of why I consider it a project car.
Another interesting development is that the controller is water-cooled and had all the hoses and radiator attached, but there was no pump! The controller didn’t seem to mind too much but it did limit the current from a maximum of about 300 amps to 200 amps after it got hot, so the acceleration wasn’t as good. So I installed a coolant pump and now it stays cool and pumps out the high power all the time.
Next on my list is to secure the batteries in back better because they bounce a little when going over bumps.
Maybe the most important thing I have done to the car so far is to put a nice plate on the back that says “Electric”!
I have been gradually breaking in the batteries and today I took it out for 15 miles, including 5 miles on the freeway. The most fun part of the ride was driving past gas stations where gas was posted at $4.37 per gallon! Boy, I am glad that I have an electric vehicle now!
Nice! Wish I can find deals like this.