EV beginnings Part 1

I've been investigating all the ins and outs of building an electric car and boy is there a lot to cover.
I have made one critical decision, the clutch. There are a lot of people on either side of the fence on this.
First, with a clutch you have the weight of the clutch plate and all the associated bits and pieces. Roughly 15-20lbs by the time you are done. That can equal more weight for batteries.
Now the advantage of using a clutch is that the car will drive like any other you will drive and thus anyone can get in and drive it without surprise.
Secondly, removing the clutch. So you will save the weight and have more room for batteries, car seats, your collection of cat fancy magazine, whatever you like. But the disadvantage is learning how to drive it. There will be no clutch pedal to work but you will still need the gear shifter. Some people can be confused by this.

Now for the boring sciencey bits explaining why. Some of this may be off by a detail or two for the nitpickers but it's the basic jest of how it work.

With a gasoline engine you have a lot of mass and with that you have momentum. To compensate for this you have a clutch to ease the transition of the crankshaft to the next gear in the transmission, allowing a rough RPM match so the two gears slip in together. Gasoline engines compared to electric motors have a long run down time from gas engaged to idle.
Now with an electric motor it is on or off with no idle and the run down time from power on to free spin/stopped is very quick. Because of this you do not necessarily need a clutch. With the spinning gears in the transmission still going from being in a previously engaged state all you need to do is apply power to the motor to match the RPM's and slip into the next gear. No clutch needed. This is a lot easier to do with an electric motor due to the lower mass and almost non existent momentum compared to a gasoline engine.
You may have heard of this with gasoline engines, some people refer to it as 'hot shifting', 'power shifting' or 'slip shifting' and it is generally done by people who know the ins and outs of their car and the feel of it at specific RPM's.

With the electric motor you have the option of both and to retain the familiarity and the longevity of the gears I am opting to keep the clutch.

Next up, time to decide on the motor and controller.

-Colin.

Insurance companies don't play the odds or the game

I received a call from my insurance agent today saying that the companies they use for policy's won't give me insurance for an electric car unless it's from a major automobile manufacturer. Nice to see.
However she was kind enough to give me the names of some insurance companies that can write their own policies and that might be open to a project like this, especially if I don't have collision coverage, just liability. Sounds promising.
I did some digging for insurance for EV owners in Ontario and wouldn't you know it, people are posting that they are getting their DIY EV's insured by the companies she mentioned.
I've put some requests in to see if I get any call backs about it.
I also found out that there is a green wheels program giving discounts to recognized green vehicles. So I've e-mailed the controlling body to see how I could have my car listed as a recognized green vehicle. I'm banking that they will only do this for auto manufacturers and so the next question is how would I register as an auto maker? Hmm this sounds like a business opportunity down the road. Who knows.

Here is a link to the TD site I've found that people are reporting the most success with.
http://www.melochemonnex.com/en/product/greenwheel

Now to just wait and see and plan out my car some more.

-Colin

Nissan Leaf

Last night was a moment in history. I got to drive my first production electric vehicle, a Nissan Leaf that belongs to my good friend Joel Clemens.
I had driven his Ranger EV project and it was fun, but nothing can compare to the fit and finish of a full production vehicle.
Driving this car has solidified my need to own an electric car.
The car handled like a dream, it was quiet and the oddest part was the lack of vibration. You become so used to the small vibrations and rumble of a gasoline engine that when you drive an electric you are blown away on how smooth it is. It was like driving on glass and quite possibly the nicest drive I've ever had.
My suggestion, if anyone offers you a chance to try driving a production electric car, take it but be prepared to want to drop a lot of money on buying one. Believe me you'll want to, it's all I can think about now.

Here are some pictures taken last night, they are a little dark but give a little idea of how it looks.

The Nissan Leaf
It's little dark as my phone doesn't take great night pictures.

The instrument cluster. Simply gorgeous!

Joel at the controls before leaving.