Saturday, December 20, 2008

Electro-Metro visits the Milwaukee Hybrid Group



MILWAUKEE HYBRID GROUP MEETING:
This morning was a Hybrid Group Meeting. I hitched up the Metro to the S10 and drove to the Oak Creek Public Library.

Can you find the NON-Hybrid Car in this photo? Here's a hint: it's the black one. And it's not a gasoline car, it's pure electric.

When I first got there, the parking lot was nearly empty and had a slushy, snowy covering.

So I just had to do something I never had done before: ELECTRIC DONUTS.

I put the car in first gear and just slammed on the accelerator. I could spin the car 360 from a dead stop - instantly. WAY TOO MUCH FUN!

Once people started getting there, I showed off the car a bit, with the hood and trunk open to show off all the exciting EV parts. Several people were impressed with the low cost of the project. I got lots of "Good Job!"s

After the meeting, one guy in particular was really interested in the project. He said he wanted to do a Metro electric conversion too. I think he will show up to the EV build day tomorrow.

Justin, one of the drivers in the recent 48-State record run, took my car for a ride around the parking lot. It didn't take him long go get the idea of clutchless shifting. Seemed he liked the electric. He did comment on really being able to feel the acceleration in 3rd gear.

After that, I towed the car off to Tom G's, as he isn't that far away, and I dropped off the car with him for the night.

Right now, the 'Lectro is sleeping peacefully in Tom's heated garage, just waiting for some more work tomorrow.

The main thing I want to do is adjust the Potentiometer. When I measured it with my multimeter, the max read with the pedal to the floor was 3500. Properly calibrated, it should be closer to 5000.

Just imagine the electric donuts I could do with full throttle!!!

-Ben




`

No comments:

Post a Comment