Gas Station Charging - Another Test

Besides the times when I had to limp into a gas station, and ask for a charge, I felt it was time to start going to gas stations while I have a good charge, and find a plug, and ask if it is OK to plug in and put some charge in my electric vehicle.

So - today - I went up the street to my nearby Sunoco Station, and asked the attendant if I could test out the charging of my electric car in the 'abandened' plugs where they used to have a Large Vacuum for Cars (part of their car wash service - but one had been removed, and the power plugs were still there in a covered, or weatherproof, Duplex plug).

I was told - sure - check it out!

Sure enough, when I plugged in I found it was a live plug, and so I set up the chargers to give a a charge at 12A, and went back in to the attendant to let him know it was working! I bought a pop, and drank that while I charged the car for a bit, then disconnected, and thanked him after about 30 minutes, and drove back home.

Some other time I will go back with my energy meter, and a camera for the pics of it in action.

Safety Improvement

My Custom Charger has a 110V, 3-Prong plug on a cord of about ten feet in length that I had looped left and right behind the bumper but in front of the battery box at the front of the car. I just pop open the hood, pull out the cord, and plug it in - it was great!

The problem was - there was daylight - a space - between the top, and the road, so the cord could wiggle its way out of the space and sag down until it touched the road. I noticed this had happened one time a few weeks back so made a quick fix with foam and tape to keep it up where it belongs.

Unfortunately - the tape did not Stay stuck and the foam fell out, so I had decided to do a better fix.

So - this morning I got two aluminum plates, fitted them and drilled and pop-rivetted them in place under the steel support of the bumper. Voila! Success! The cord now can't drop out and it will always stay up in the gap!

Some Electric Vehicle News

While working on my own Electric Vehicle - I also like to keep an eye on other EV Developments in the news. If you don't mine - I would like to share a few headlines from time to time!

This week - for instance: May 28, 2008

The Star (Toronto Star)
Sanyo, VW to develop lithium-ion batteries

Japanese electronics maker Sanyo Electric Co. said Wednesday it will invest 80 billion yen ($769 million) to expand production by 2015 of such batteries, with plans to start mass producing them in a Japanese plant by next year, making 15,000 to 20,000 batteries a year.


Independant.ie (Ireland)
Plug-in vehicles to drive change on nation's roads

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) are powered by batteries which are recharged by plugging into the mains. More expensive to buy and tax than conventional cars, they have a limited range and are only suitable for urban areas.


And - just for a point of reference - I like this note from November 2000:
A funny thing happened on the way to the demise of the plug-in car

NOT long ago electric cars were going to save the world. Every major automaker was developing a battery-driven vehicle that would offer both freedom from petroleum and zero emissions....

General Motors got there first, in 1996, with the EV1, a Jetsons-style plug-in coupe that was just the ticket for guilt-free commuting....(Now they are teasing us with the 'Volt' - supposed to be here in 2010!)

And - Last Summer - on my way to Hybridfest, I visited Talmage Ohio's Myers Motors Facility and tested the NmG as compared to my Electricfly. Interesting car to say the least!

Solar Panel Working...

The Little Solar Panel I installed for the 32 Ah Accessory Battery brought the Battery up from a Post-Charge Voltmeter No-Load Reading of 14.00 volts at 7:30 in the morning of My 24th, up to 14.81 Volts at 9:45 this morning, while the car was sitting in the cloudy weather we have been getting!

So - I turned on the key - switched on the Headlights, and pumped the Brakes to drain the Vacuum and activate the Automatic 12V Electric Vacuum pump, and Tail Lights - so as to drain down some of the extra power in the Accessory Battery.

This brought it back down to a no-load level of 12.79 Volts, but was already starting to go back up while I watched the Voltmeter.
(Remember - this is just a little 1.8 Watt Solar Panel I bought some time ago at Canadian Tire.)

I will check back on it later to see what is the result of today - since it is a Bright Sunny Day!

I also plan on doing a demo charge at a local gas station - I talked with the manager and he would like to see the car, and while it doesn't need a charge right now - I figured that is easiest to do a quick demo for them - using my plug in energy meter to show just how much power I used.

I'd recommend this little energy meter to anyone that wants to know how much power they use for any plug in item.

Electricfly - uses

In normal use - I drive the car to the Bank, the Mall at Yorkdale, to Canadian Tire at Allen & Lawrence, to work, to Sheridan Mall at Jane & Wilson, and other simple local trips that driving a gas hog makes no sense for.

On longer trips - last Summer - I have driven from Wilson and Ancaster Rd, to 2220 Midland Ave. in Scarborough - just under 20 Kms. Or Also last November, from Wilson Ave. & Ancaster Rd. to 3200 14th Avenue, in Unionville - about 20 Km. For reason of Hills, traffic and lights - this last one - I had to charge up at a Gas Station!

That was a cute event! I says to the station attendant, "I see where you fuel up your gas customers - where do you charge up your electric car customers?" He says "2008?", "no - 1989" I say! "This I gotta See" he says! And then after checking it out, he showed where I could plug in and charge it up in back - just over from where I had parked.

Electricfly standard driving profile

I use the car - electricfly - for shopping trips, bank runs, Movie Runs to Yorkdale, bill paying trips, and when I don't want to walk to work - I drive it there (but - that is a whole 1 km - about 5/8ths of a mile)!

In just these things - if not punching it hard - I can get a pretty good range out of it.

I have also driven it to my Welding Shop, to make Battery Box Covers, and a special tray for my new charger, on Streets and Freeway, about 19.4 Km:

( 401 & Kennedy Exit - Progress & 2220 Midland, Scarborough.)

and to Rogue Electrics - http://www.rogueelectrics.com/ - where I worked on it to create a custom charger for the front three traction batteries (flooded) and one sealed AGM Scooter Battery used for my Accessories, using a set of Canadian Tire ' Intelligent Chargers'.

Phil Bouchard & Sons Ltd.
2220 Midland Avenue
Scarborough, ON M1P 3E6
(416) 291-3158

Rogue Electrics
3200 14th Avenue
Unionville, ON L3R
(416) 288-0600

Electricfly - aka NOGAS96V

Welcome to the Blog of my own Electric Vehicle renovation experience!

It is an on going project currently - refining, correcting, and upgrading the items on the electric car. It is my rolling classroom, my test lab, and my sample EV!

There is more info on my other web site at http://www.myelectricfly.com/ but I will use this space to do my regular updates now.

You can also view some of the specs of the car at http://www.evalbum.com/1219.

I have added my first mounted solar panel to the car, using it to maintain and keep up the charge on my accessory battery, and although it is just a tiny panel - it almost eleimanates the need to charge the accessory battery at pack charge time: it shows 100% charged in less than 5 minutes when I set up my charger.

My energy on recharge, monitored by an energy monitor, says I use about 200 to 275 Watt Hours per Kilometer (Km) - without excelent battery management. I will be upgrading my controls for the batteries - adding equalizers - and testing to see the difference with them.