Found out something today… the electric bus runs great even in torrential rain… the charger warning light flickered a bit when I drove through a particularly large puddle… mmmm….

But drove a total of 58 miles, with a 3hr recharge (14A/110v) at Nigel’s place… arrived home with the pack reading 140.2v (eeee… that’s a bit too low, 100% DOD not good.)

This experience has spurred me to complete a high speed charging cord, so I can take advantage of handy dryer/welder/range outlets that are within 50ft of a parking spot.

Since there is a wonderful range of different connectors for high power connections I plan to make one long cord and a series of short converter cables.

Bus main inlet is turn lock 2P 3W 30A connector

Welder outlet at shop is 2P 50A looks like a “big plug”

I have an old range cord with a 4P 3W 50A looks similar to the welder but just has another pin.

At work they have a 110v/20A with the turned pin, so that would be handy too to get the 33% faster charge.

So here goes, look in the picture below ’72-early 73 brakes are unique in the fact they have 4 holes on each shoe. So it turns out the anchor pin should be in the top hole (green arrow) not the one it currently attached to (red circle). Later model (and earlier by the way) shows have 2 holes and a slot. Mystery solved, e-brake holds perfectly…

Fitted the replacement backing plates and new e-brake cables.

E-brake proper 6 clicks now… but not holding… hummm….

Decoded my VIN – turns our pre 72/12 (which is actually mid way through 73) VW changed the design of rear brake shoes. Guess what I have 73-79 shoes, the reason the e-brake is not holding is the lever is up tight against the hub and not engaging the pads fully on the drums… quick order to bus depot and we’ll see if that finally solves this mystery!.

EV Rally at Gresham Motorsport Park. (organised by http://www.evmaster.com)

Drove up 3/20 and parked in the pits for a recharge (log entry in the Battery log)

Drove some kids up and down the track in the bus… not sure if they were impressed by the electric power or the ‘hippie bus’ – most of them we saying to their friends, “look at me I’m a hippie”… good fun round anyway!

First car show, at Route66 Restorations in Swuanee.

Updated Battery log

Put cover on starter hole – keep that Clutch from getting dirt in it.

Mounted starter relay under dash.

Mounted HID packs with Velcro and refitted kick panels.

Cleaned the glass, put stickers on… “Warp powered…” nice!

Moved +12v connection so the aux gauge reads when the key turned to RUN, and not after latching to START as before.

Breaker bar is now in – so I can get on with rear brakes.

Placed order with digikey for the BMS components.

Fitted HID lamps both sides

Found an interesting BMS project, that might help me with the ADC interfacing. The module I brought as 12 ADC channels, but the limitations on input impedance means a simple resistor network would require some beefy resistors and waste a bunch of power…

Here is one project with a interesting solution to ADC issue: http://home.earthlink.net/~evtkw/evbattmon.html

This project references another: http://genki.home.ionet.net/BattMon/BattMonArticle.html

My aim is use the web enabled PIC processor, and interface the batteries via opto-isolators so that I can direct read the voltage via a web page.

The web port of the PIC will connected to a wireless router (have an old one kicking around) that my blackberry can connect to. So I can view the battery status on my phone / PC / etc.

Fitted H4 conversion kits, now both hi and lo beams work.

Tested HID kit on one side, very nice! – will need some modication to fit them. Plan on leaving the installation so can switch back to Halogen if required, incase anything happens with the HID kit.

Side by side test of halogen and HID…

Fitted cup holder from Bus Depot – no more tea on feet!

Refitted fuse panel – cleaned up the wiring a bit, still some more work to get it really neat.

Fitted kick panels – very nice hides most of the wires.

Removed old seats, and test fitted Corbeau A4 seats from our other bus. Plan to revert the 67 bus to the OG seats and will swap the Corbeaus across to the Stealthbus.

Blotted down the aux battery with official clamp kit (replacing the block ‘o wood that was there originally…)

Ordered uP development board which is a PIC uP with 12 ~ADCs, Ethernet with a build in web server. I have idea to convert this to a BMS system. More to come on that idea.

http://microcontrollershop.com/product_info.php?products_id=893&osCsid=cf78aef068dc74ad19a42afa585e5245

Adapted my main charging cord so I can place my “~Kill-A-Watt” meter about 4ft away from the power inlet port.

So now I can have it in front of the charger when I’m adjusting the amps… ~Kill-A-Watt + 1 plug + 1 socket = a lot less than $500 for for built in meter on the charger 🙂

GA officially recognizes the StealthBus as an alternative fueled vehicle.

The title now lists Fuel as “E” for Electricity.

See Legal for details on registration and inspection process.

Very cold in the snow… happily this probably the worst weather we get in GA, so it will only get warmer from here.