Electric Ghia

In the news

2009-04-06T12:01:00.003-04:00

You'll find an article in the Montreal Gazette today, including an intro on the front page.

Online at:
http://www.westislandgazette.com/news/6956
http://www2.canada.com/story.html?id=1469374

You can contact me regarding the article, or the project, at:

montreal (dot) ev {at} gmail [dot] com

One year later: 500km driven.

2009-03-29T21:06:00.004-04:00

Last night, my wife Cindy and I celebrated one year since we kicked off this project: during Earth Hour, 2008. I've been commuting for a few weeks, and we've done some errands around town. So far, its been driven just over 500km, so I guess that's our first tank of gas saved.

An objective for 2009 will be to get a local EV club going. More on that later.

I've had a chance since the inspection to work on a few of the outstanding issues:

- I've wired the two front, amber, marker lights into the 'on' circuit instead of the regular marker-light circuit. These will meet the need for daytime running lights. Though I am still thinking of adding on some white LED strips in the front vent holes.
- I dropped by a salvage yard and picked up a rear-dash-mounted 3rd brake light. I've also found the correct connectors to wire it in to, so all that remains is to run the wire and affix the light.
- I had a look at the parking brake assembly and have found a good spot to mount a momentary switch which will light the brake waring light. I still have to analyse the brake warning light system to ensure I can wire into it. I will have to add a relay to reverse the logic of the switch and only light up the light when the switch is not pressed. Perhaps I'll try to find a more industrial switch with both normally-open and normally-closed contacts...
- I've fixed the left side high-beam, it was a wiring mistake which squeaked past inspection last time.
- The right sealed-beam unit is still wobbly because its missing the top mounting screw. The car has been rebuilt with fibre/putty just above the right beam (by the previous owner), and the mount is no longer there. I will have to screw/epoxy a new mount into the beam socket -- creativity may be required...
- Seals around electrical ducting: still looking for some appropriate scrap foam for this. I've come across a bunch at work in the past, but can't seem to put my hands on any these days. I might have to swing by the home renovation store and actually pick some up.

Charging at work

2009-03-12T14:16:00.004-04:00

When starting this project, one of the design criteria was determining the required range of the vehicle. It was decided that it had to be able to get me back and forth to work without charging -- in case I had to turn back when I got to work for some reason (sick kids at daycare, etc.).
But most of the time, I would drive to work, charge, and drive home. This ensures that the batteries are not over discharged and should greatly extend their life (and reduce the overall cost per km traveled). That is why I made sure to get approval to charge at work before choosing a car, batteries, etc.

I approached the manager of building services / facilities last summer. He readily agreed to provide a solution when the time came. I contacted his office this week, and with approval from security, we've found a convenient parking space where a plug is already in place. Building services will simply ensure that it has two independent 20A circuits.

Meanwhile, I can park there and use one of the two plugs (switching from the charging the batteries at the front, to those at the back, at lunch time). So I'm taking the car to work tomorrow:

View Larger Map

Modified Vehicle Inspection -- Out on the roads.

2009-03-12T13:33:00.004-04:00

Yesterday I went to the local CAA to get the car inspected as a "Modified Vehicle" as per provincial standards. The report they produce is then sent to provincial authorities for review and approval.

Once approval is received, a mechanical inspection is also done to ensure all the details are covered.

It was a nice 13Km ride out there, my first on Montreal highways. No trouble getting up to speed, nor keeping up with traffic.

The people out at the CAA are very professional and quite nice. Obviously, they don't see too many electric cars go through there. I had a bit of a surprise, however, as they had spoken to the provincial engineer who will be reviewing the report: they had been told that the vehicle should be considered "hand-crafted" (fabrication artisanale), instead of "modified". This means it has to meet today's standards, instead of those from 1972. For me, this will involve the following additions:
- Daytime Running Lights
- A third brake light.
- Parking brake indicator light on the dash.

I had actually planned on installing running lights (LED Fog lights in the front air-intakes) and a third brake light, for safety's sake -- its just a shame that now I have to do it.
The parking brake indicator shouldn't be too bad, as there is a spare indicator on the dash anyway -- it will just be a matter of running an normally-open push button switch under the parking brake lever, though the 12V on-circuit and to the light.

In addition, the car didn't meet the modified/hand-crafted criteria for the following points:
- Right-side high beam intensity is too low
- Left-side headlight fixture, while correctly aligned, is wobbly.
- Passenger compartment is insufficiently hermetic with regards to the battery compartment: above the drivers left knee.

While these are inconveniences, they should be relatively easy to fix.
- The high beam is probably a crushed wire or rusty contact -- the filament seems to work fine.
- When I adjusted the left fixture last time, I knew it was wobbly, but it holds its alignment correctly, so I let it go.
- The hole in the firewall is known, but not a safety concern since I use sealed batteries: I had already planned on fixing it -- its a bit drafty!

After the inspection, I headed off to a public scale to get the car weighed -- unfortunately it was closed, so I headed home. The batteries only started sagging heavily under load as I tried to get back on the highway, 25km into my trip.
So to stay out of trouble, I got off at the next exit and took the side-streets home for the last 3km.

All in all it was a 32.5km outing, for which I am quite satisfied. After a 4hour charge, I was back on the road for another 20.5km outing in gale-force winds, in which the car was very stable on the highway.

Home at last

2009-03-08T23:22:00.003-04:00

The Ghia arrived today.

After the explanation to my eldest daughter (3yrs old) that: "No, Daddy's blue car wont go vroom-vroom", we were off for a quick circuit around the neighborhood.

We are all very pleased.

On the road!

2009-03-02T12:29:00.002-05:00

A quick jot around the neighbourhood to see if it let out any magic smoke: none. Back to the garage to 'work out' a bit of a snag on the clutch/firewall with the 6oz sheet-metal adjustment tool. We also installed the bargraph voltmeters I had cooked up: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dhmzznh8_6g795t582

We hit the road again to get the car up to speed: the design goal is twice 15miles @ 60mph per day, with charging at work in between.

I was a bit excited, so didn't note anything with any scientific rigour, but while cruising it seems to draw less than 100amps at 60mhp on 144V of Deka 8G31 gels sagged to 130V -- and that's with flattish tires and 14F temperatures. This comes out to 100A*130V/60mph = 217Whr/mile at the pack, which is looking very good.

It climbed onto the highway on-ramp without any problems and we merged in at speed and had no problem keeping up. We also had no trouble maintaining speeds of 40mph on city hills (I could have been accelerating up the hill).

So the next step is to cart it back from Richards (90 miles from my home), get it inspected, and start using it for my commute: hopefully before earth hour strikes this year.

Near completion

2009-02-23T09:06:00.000-05:00

Richard emailed me last night with some exciting news:
"The car is basically complete."
There are a few details to iron out, but everything is in place and ready to test.

Here are the pics!

The front compartment:

On the back left, against the wall are the heater relays. The back right has the Delta-Q 72V charger and beside it, against the wall is the circuit breaker / emergency disconnect. The battery heater thermostat, white, is clearly visible. Each battery has power leads and fused instrumentation leads.

Here we can see the heating pad across the back of the back two batteries. The aux battery can be seen on the right, in the nose; beside it is the DC/DC.

The "plug":

There is a twist-lock for the chargers and a standard plug for the heaters

The rear compartment:

On the firewall of the rear compartment is the aluminum heat-sink/mounting board. On it can be seen from left to right: the inertia switch, the control relays, the potentiometer box (throttle), the controller, the contactor, the measurement shunts, the kill switch relays, the power-fuse and 12V fuses. Again, each battery has power and instrumentation leads, heaters and a thermostat, a charger, and of course, the motor with its RPM sensor on the back-shaft.

The instrument cluster:

We can see the pack voltage, battery or motor amperage and motor RPM. Below these is the programmable timer for cabin pre-heating.

The instrument cluster, heating plenum and wiring ducts:

Behind the programmable timer is the heater-box and the plenum which leads to the windshield defroster vents. In the corner, we can see the curved wiring duct which protects and isolates the driver/passengers from the high voltage wires which need to run between the front and rear battery boxes.

Controller has arrived!

2009-02-07T09:01:00.000-05:00

The Logisystems controller arrived on Feb 5th. I drove down to Ottawa to deliver it to Richard and review the state of the car.

It looks great, the heating system is in, batteries are all in place, so is the front charger, DC/DC, aux bat and relays.

We reviewed remaining component placement and interactions, as well as front-to-back wire routing through the cabin; and instrumentation connectors.

I brought the old gas engine back to Montreal with me: it will find a new home as part of someones VW project.

Sorry no pics.

Battery Racks

2008-11-23T12:00:00.000-05:00

Richard has been working on the battery racks, and reinforcing the rear motor compartment.

This is a view of the rear battery racks:

You can see the new plates which come down from the firewall, and along either side, this will has some rigidity to the rear bumper and boxes. There will be three batteries on either side of the engine. You can also see that the rear apron has been welded back on, the trunk latch, however, still needs to be relocated.

Here we see the front battery racks:

That battery is simply a group-31 sized test box used to validate the fit: 2lbs instead of 70lbs! There will be two batteries at the top, and four across the bottom. This front compartment will also be home to one charger, the DC/DC converter, 12V accessory battery, and the heater relays. The spare tire will have to be relocated.

De-ICE'ing

2008-10-26T08:09:00.000-04:00

I drove the Ghia down to Ottawa yesterday, with the back seat full of parts. The drive was uneventful. I had brought along a jerry-tank of gas because the goal was to get to Richards' with just fumes left in the tank. I made it without running out -- and, as I would find out later, with only 1.5L left! So that was the last run for this car with gas.

All photo's are taken at REV Consultants Ltd. in Ottawa, Richard Lane can be seen in a number of them, as I was behind the camera.

After a quick video of the car running with its old engine.

Before we started it looked like this:

We took some measurements to ensure we'd be able to tweek the suspension back to its stock ride height:

Jacked it up and disconnected wiring and fuel lines:

Pulled the air intake, fuel-vapor canister and heater box tubes:

Removed the muffler and loosened the motor bolts:

Dropped the engine:

Voila!

We then stripped the fire / sound insulation out of the engine compartment, and removed any other bits and pieces. The pile of discarded parts has grown quite a bit!

So far, we've worked on the car for only two hours -- I had expected this to take all day.

Ha! We spent the next hour and a half trying to get the gland-nut off the clutch / camshaft. After numerous futile attempts and one bent wrench, we stopped for lunch and to collect our thoughts. After lunch, Richard pulled out the welding machine and welded a 5 foot long 3"x1/4" metal bar to the 36mm socket we'd been using. It was out 5 minutes later.

We cleaned up the flywheel, clutch and preassure-plate and got to attaching all this to the motor using the kit from CanEV.

This is the Netgain Warp9 motor, considerably simpler than the internal combustion isn't it? Cleaner too!

This is the motor with the transmission adapter attached:

These are the parts which will mate the motor shaft to the clutch assembly:

Here they are on the motor:

At this point, we've mounted the clutch assembly (sorry, no photo) to the motor and are preparing to position it.

While I had known we would be missing an inch of room behind the motor (at the back), I hadn't counted on how much room we'd need to insert the motor into the tranny. So a decision was made, on the spot, to remove the rear appron: that part of the car between the two sides of the 'trunk', just in front of the bumper. It will be bolted back on later... with modifications for the 'trunk' latch which is right above the motor's tailshaft (in the way!).

The motor slid right in and was bolted into place:

We then tested the motor by applying 12V to it. It spun right up and made the wheels spin. I couldn't have asked for a better end to the day. You can see a short video of the car running with its new engine here.

The clutch works well too, so the next step is the battery boxes!

Steps forward

2008-09-26T22:50:00.000-04:00

Registration:
The inspection as an ICE went well, and the car is registered and on the road since September 12th.

Design:
My wiring diagram is in progress, it will be periodically updated here.
This is a snapshot as of today:

Parts:
The motor has arrived at REV Consultants, where it will stay until the conversion.
The adapter, contactor and inertia switch have arrived.
The controller is late -- production delays at Logisystems.
The fuse and precharge resistor will be shipped with the controller.
To be ordered:
- Breaker (Hienamann)
- Chargers (Dixon)
- Gauges and shunts (ElectoAuto or KTA)
- RPM gauge and sensor (Equus/CanTire)
To be sourced/supplied by REV:
- Wiring Lugs / connectors
- Dashboard indicators
- Start relay
- Charger interlock
- Battery boxes / insulation / heating
Unsure:
- Ceramic Heating element
- Spaceheater / Timer
- Ventilation
- DC/DC

Second try at inspection

2008-09-07T22:49:00.000-04:00

Last week, the Ghia parts made their way here.

Of the remaining outstanding issues, these are solved:
- The new mirror is installed.
- The new relay for the high beams was installed a few weeks ago.
- The headlights have been aligned.
- The new brake and clutch pedal pads are in place.
- The electric windshield washer pump/reservoir is in place and working; though it will be relocated when the batteries invade the front trunk.
- The wiper issues have been fixed.

One last inspection issue remains:
- The back seat fastening clip needs a bit more work, and the existing (replacement) ledge under the rear window needs to be notched out to accommodate the clip. This should be a test of my reupholstering "skills" -- I hope I don't make too much of a mess of it!

So it looks like I'll be back at the inspection centre some time this week.

Once I have proper plates, I'll get the window cracks fixed and an estimate for the door seals and seat upholstery (seems like more work than I'll make time for).

I also want to go see a local suspension place to see about beefing up the suspension. The rear should be easy: just crank the adjustment screws. The front is a bit of another game: it involves the installation of Avis adjusters. The entire suspension needs to be dropped, taken apart, fitted with an adjustment device, put back together and tuned for ride height then alligned. New shocks are probably called for front and back, too.

The other mechanical improvements will include the replacement of the front/back wheel bearings and perhaps the rear drive axles. The transmission fluid (the only one left apart from windshield washer), will be changed to a light synthetic.

Parts, parts and more parts

2008-09-01T16:13:00.000-04:00

The purchases have begun.

1. The motor (Warp9) has been ordered from Richard at REV Consultants.

2. The controller (Logisystems 1000Amp, 144-156VDC) from EvSource, along with the fuse, fuseholder, and precharge resistor.

3. The VW motor adapter (CanEV), main contractor (Kilovac EV200) and inertia disconnect switch will be ordered from CanEV -- as soon as I can get them on the phone: its a busy summer for EV supply houses.

4. The various parts for the Ghia are on their way from Karmann Ghia Parts and Restoration.

I am trying to source a cheap DC breaker (Airpax JLE series, probably) in Montreal, but no luck so far. It is likely to come from KTA-Services along with a few other odds and ends (potbox, shunts, rpm sensors); they have very attractive prices.

The intrumentation is a bit of a challenge, I'm pretty sure I've settled on wanting motor amps, motor RPM, pack amps and pack voltage front and centre. But adding four gauges to the dash seems a bit much.

WesTach has some very nice combo gauges:

Which would be way less cluttered than individual gauges:

So I'll try to contact WesTach this week to get a that moving. Individual volt and amp guages are about 58$ a piece from WesTach/ElectroAuto, and the lowest price tach I've found is from Equus being 63$; so the instrument cluster will cost easily 250$.

The SAAQ inspection as an ICE

2008-08-10T23:14:00.001-04:00

So the idea was to get it inspected and approved as an ICE before converting it to electric. Burocracy being what it is, I want to tilt the odds in my favour and avoid having to jump through non-EV related hoops when I try to put this thing on the road in a few months.
So off I went last Monday for my inspection at the SAAQ. Bright and early, first appointment of the day. I took the first appointment incase I had to do some running around for parts, repairs, etc. during my one-day-pass for the purpose of inspecting and repairing the vehicle. As it turns out, it was a good choice.

The car didn't pass. Outstanding issues:
- The rear-view mirror fell off when I adjusted it on my way to the inspection...
- The running lights didn't work in front
- The head lights, not alligned and no high beams
- The rubber pads on the brake and clutch pedals were too worn
- The back seat does not stay upright, it needs the retaining strap
- The wipers don't run in low and don't park themselves when turned off

So I spent a few mornings this week getting some of these cleared up.
- The rear-view is now back up, but there is no way it will pass, a new one will be ordered.
- Replaced all the fuses which solved the running lights issue.
- The relay which latches the lights to high or low does not work, one has been ordered. The bulbs themselves are OK. I haven't aligned them yet.
- The brake and clutch pedal-pads have been ordered.
- Bought a few different latches for the back seat, haven't gotten around to trying any yet.
- Wipers are still an issue. I hope to get some feedback from "TheSamba" forums (a great resource for VWs).

Some other issues I plan to address:
- Install the correct 'window scraper' on the drivers side.
- Change out all the rubber seals on the doors and windows
- Fix the dings in the front windshield before they turn into cracks.

Its registered and home

2008-07-31T22:34:00.000-04:00

So after a little more taste of SAAQ red tape, I finally got the car registered last week.

Cindy and the kids helped me get it home on Sunday. We took it home on the (little known) ferry from Laval to Ile Bizzard. I keep forgetting to turn off the flasher, something I'll have to get used to! The driver's side floor heating is also stuck 'ON', it was like having a hair-dryer blowing on my ankles. Despite this, things were going well by the time we made it down to highway 20 and St-Charles, so I gave it a go: no problems on the highway, its stable and smooth at 100km/hr -- looks good for the inspection!

At the moment, it sits quietly in the driveway awaiting its fate.

Next steps:
- Get the car inspected and approved for road use, as is.
- Change out the weather seals (dried and cracked in some places) and install a 'drivers side window scraper' (it squeegees the water off the window when you roll it down, and keeps it sealed while its up. This part is missing at the moment so the car is under a tarp.)
- Rip out the ICE components.
- Clean it up and figure out a way to get it to Ottawa in time for mid-September.

At the same time, I have to discuss and nail down the components list with Richard at REV Consultants. I got a quote from CanEV for most of the parts, but again, some of these are undecided. I have to enquire as to the hassle of importing parts from the US, both EV and Ghia-related.

At the moment, the following is looking like the most attractive major components
- VW Type-1 adapter plate and coupler from CanEV
- NetGain Warp9 motor
- Logisystems 1000Amp 144-156V motor controller
- Zivan NG3 charger at 156V-14A with AGM algorithm
- Zener Diode and lamp regulators in parallel with each battery.

Red tape

2008-07-18T14:40:00.000-04:00

I went to the SAAQ this morning: apparently the left hand doesn't talk to the right!

What should have been 8$ for a four day transit has turned into: get an estimate of the car's value, have the previous owner come register it as 'in storage', have him pay the taxes for importing the car to Quebec, then I can buy it from him and pay some more taxes, then I pay to register it, thereafter its mine 'in storage' and I can get a one day transit (I don't know what good that's supposed to be!).

I'll meet with the previous owner on Monday at the SAAQ to get it all sorted.

I've found a garage to do any work, he has experience with Type-1's. I'm very happy to encourage his business:
http://www.ecoauto.ca

Wouldn't it be great if we all had such initiative?

And so it begins...

2008-07-17T07:28:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, after some calls to my insurance company and the SAAQ (Quebec's department of transportation), I closed the deal for the purchase of a 1972 Karmann Ghia. It will be converted to a completely electric drive, similar to the following:

http://www.evalbum.com/34
http://www.evalbum.com/54
http://www.evalbum.com/219
http://www.evalbum.com/267
http://www.evalbum.com/683
http://www.evalbum.com/670
http://www.evalbum.com/1193
http://www.evalbum.com/1412
http://www.evalbum.com/1765
http://www.evalbum.com/1688
http://www.evalbum.com/1863

Sure, its been done before, but, for me: that's the point! This will be my first conversion and the Ghia is relatively simple to convert: its a simple car. The instrumentation is basic, in fact, pretty much everything is basic.

Why I picked a Ghia:
- Its lightweight, 1918lbs, as per the owners manual; I'll weight it myself before and after the conversion.
- It has a small frontal area and is reasonably aerodynamic (21sqft & 0.37, both to be confirmed). - There is a great support community for restoring / fixing / maintaining this car.
- Its a car I want to drive. I don't like commuting to work, but this car will make me look forward to that aspect of my day.

The Ghia runs as-is, I took it around the block near the seller's home in Laval. I still need to get it inspected and registered. I'm getting its 'transit' papers this week so that I can bring it for its inspection on Monday morning. The plan is to have it fully plated and insured as an ICE, then do a converion, have it re-inspected and then re-registred as a EV.