So, a while ago I wrote about Prosper, one of several community funding sites. One of the options we all have is to use this site to fund our own community's efforts while also getting a little something back for the effort. If we make an effort to bid low on EV conversion projects we benefit the community and we stand to earn back a bit more than what most of us are earning on our standard bank accounts. There IS some risk because you are loaning money, but perhaps it is worth it? We shall see.

The first loan request in the "Custom Electric Vehicles" group has been listed. If you want to try and help out, you can go to the prosper site, it is Listing #262767. If you want to join the group (and support the EV related web site projects I am involved in) you can use this link:

Why would anybody think to install AC in a car that is consuming electricity as it drives down the road? It just doesn't make sense efficiency-wise. One simple answer.. We are in Texas. Its hot and humid around here from early Spring to late Fall and getting to work in a full sweat isn't one of those things that you look forward to. The lack of AC is one of the things that has been holding back any serious EVs in our market for decades. So...

The Saturn will have AC. We have been working to get it hooked up. Nice thing is that once you spin your AC compressor with a separate motor, you don't have to worry about when you turn it on. Cars have a bunch of AC clutch management logic in their computers to avoid engaging the clutch when the car is accelerating and when it is at a stop and when it is laboring, etc... With this setup, the AC can be turned on whenever Brian likes. He could even start it while the car is still plugged in, before he leaves the garage so that the cabin is preconditioned and doesn't require a bunch of power from the pack while he is on the road.

We got a late start this evening because it took a while to cool down out in the garage. We are definitely moving into the heat that we usually see around here in the summer. I really had hoped to be done with the project by now. Oh well. What is life without its challenges?

Chris stopped by and bought some lasers today so that we could be more accurate in how we measure things in designing the under hood space. They are pretty nice, with one of them being the self-leveling variety. The only cheesy thing about it was that they came with this set of goggles with red lenses which would supposedly help you see the red line being drawn by the laser. I honestly couldn't tell much of a difference with them on or off. They did, however, provide for a bit of comic relief. I being the only one willing to take a picture while wearing them... Not that I am going to ever show it to anybody.

I took Carabou to class last night so that I could go and get the replacement welder. Chris and I had been looking and had decided to try and grab a Lincoln SP-175. I went to Lowes because it is the most convenient stop on the way back to my place from up north. There I found that they no longer carry the SP-175. Instead they had the Mig Pro 180. It looked like it had all the specs we needed and after a quick call to Chris to verify, I went ahead and grabbed it.

Of course, once I got home I found that the plug was different from either of the 230 outlet plug/adapters that are floating around in my garage. So, welding goodness was to wait for another day.

Last week went pretty well on the Saturn.
up to a point...

Under the hood:

We have gotten the motor mounting brackets powder coated and have balanced the motor/flywheel and done final assembly on the motor stack. So, finally, the motor stack is complete and installed in its final resting place. We then took measurements and have worked out what we think will be the final design of the front battery racks. Unfortunately there won't be enough space under the slope of the hood to do full battery enclosures the way we would have liked. However, things should work out just fine. The racks are welded and now it is just a matter of figuring out the exact angles for building the beams that will support them. That is where we left things last night. The compound angles on the beams in this car are a bear to deal with. Chris and I have tried several ways to measure them and haven't found one that really satisfies us as being reproducible. I think Chris is looking for a laser so that we can have at least one level point of reference to measure from.