Back On The Road!

The rear suspension springs arrived today. I installed them tonight and took it for a spin. Very nice. It seems to be sitting just slightly higher than stock, but not too bad.

This picture shows the originals, on the left, and the new ones custom made by Coil Spring Specialties in Kansas.

Also, this was the first time driving with the LEDs. All of the exterior lighting is now LED. They're pretty nice and use less power. These are all from superbrightleds.com in Missouri. They're a smart choice in a regular car if all you do is replace the interior lights. That way, if someone leaves that light on all night, your battery won't be dead in the morning. Not that I would know.

Charging Connections

I thought these charging connections were posted earlier; anyway, here it is now. This is where the gas cap used to be. It's a J1772 connection (from tucsonev.com) that takes 240V AC and there's a retractable 120V plug, too. In the upper left, behind the cap in this view, there is a green light indicating that charging power is available to the car. The 240V charges about 2 ½ times faster than the 120V. On the other hand, the 120V is available everywhere.

12V Power Supply

A normal car has an alternator to provide 12V power to lights and all the other loads, and to keep the 12V battery charged. This electric car has a DC-DC converter instead. It gets high voltage (~280V) power from the main battery and converts it down to 12V. The first unit wasn't working the way I wanted, so I returned it and Belktronix modified it and sent it back. This is one of the advantages of choosing Made in the USA whenever you can. Here it is installed.

Shocks and Shock-free

While waiting for the rear suspension springs to be modified (~5 weeks), I replaced the shock absorbers with heavier ones.

I also assembled a relay box to ensure that the 120V plug is never energized while the 240V charging power is connected. It's pretty simple. Here's a sketch.

Clean Fuel Plate!

Wow, it arrived even sooner than expected. I'm just about ready to be pulled over by the police for being in the HOV lane!

Electric Registration

The Woodbridge trip went well and the paperwork just came back. This is a unique document. The plates should arrive later this month.

In other news, the rear suspension springs are on their way to Kansas for modifications (stretching?) that will raise the back of the car back up to its original height. The DC-DC converter (12V power supply) is back to the factory for repair since one of the posts came loose. The main battery pack has been balancing for days and is improving quite a bit.

Street Legal

Registering a car has never been so much fun! The inspection went without a hitch and all the mechanics came around for a good look. The emissions and exhaust checks were especially fast.

To get a Clean Special Fuel plate in Virginia requires a "permanent waiver", which means a trip to Woodbridge (so an expert can declare it electric) and then writing to the state capital. The regular plates will do for today.