San Diego Auto Show

6 cars from the San Diego Electric Vehicle Association were in the show.
Mine was one of them. I never planned on driving this car in the rain however I had to drive the car on Wednesday Dec. 29th, 2010 to get the car in the show and it was pouring rain. I had to take the car home on Sunday Jan. 2nd, 2011 again in the rain. My hand crank windshield wipers worked OK but I may rethink the whole idea and add some pounds for normal wipers on the car. It doesn't rain much in San Diego except for this year. It's been one of the most rainy winters we have had in years.

I am hearing a little too much road and engine/transmission noise. So I decided to install some sound insulation. I have a support beam on my battery box system that is bolted to the engine motor support bracket and also bolted to the frame. The bracket is supported with rubber mounts to dampen vibration. However I may be transfering noise and vibrations from the motor to my bracket to the frame.

(Added 01/03/2011) Turns out this was the case. I modified the battery mount support bar so it did not rest on the motor bracket and that helped. I also put the firewall pad and insulation back in the car. Makes it look more like a car and less like a go-cart.

The car is running great. My commute to work is 22.5 miles and 22.5 back.

I used 40.8Ah to get there averaging 1.81 Ah/mile (freeway speeds 60-70 mph). I used 61Ah to get home including a 4.1 mile lunchtime trip to staples for supplies. This works out to be an average of 2.25 Ah/mile. This is interesting. My trip home was in the dark so I needed the headlights. Also my headlights are pop up creating more drag? Not sure why the increased Ah difference. Possible elevation changes (ie downhill to work uphill home).