CravenSpeed Electric MINI

Keeping Dry

2011-10-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

As you may know, it rains a lot in the Pacific Northwest. After a nice dry summer, we expect it to be wet from here clear on until summer. In order to avoid any issues we are taking extra precaution keeping water away from some of our components. All of these were designed for EV's and their manufacturers expect them to get a little wet, but there is no reason to take chances.

Today, we wrapped the inner portion of the two piece cowl duct in...duct tape. It looks clean, and does the job for almost no cost at all. we were able to close up the hood scoop the same way. What do you think?

Back Seats Back, Alright!

2011-09-23T11:43:00.000-07:00

Tristan and Chester have gotten the battery pack completely moved underneath the car allowing them to reinstall the back seats. The only EV component that remains inside the vehicle is the one you see in the photo, the charger. That charger should eventually be eliminated all together using a new feature of our new Synkro Motive controller. Leaving the interior looking much like it did when the car was stock.

This is where all the cells have moved to. When you want the car to still drive like a MINI it is important that you don't add a bunch of weight up high above the belt line and raise the center of gravity. So, we sat all the heavy cells down between the wheels. We removed over 80 lbs by eliminating a full gas tank, and another 40 lbs with no exhaust, but we added 300 lbs with the packs. We'll have to get her on the scales to find out for certain, but we think that despite the extra 180 lbs of batteries in back there may have been no net weight gain because of the lighter motor vs engine.

Relocation

2011-09-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

The batteries have been working out well. All the cells have been charging and discharging as Tristan and Chester expected during testing over the last few weeks. Now, it is time to move them to a new home. We have battery boxes they designed to take up the space recently vacated by the gas tank, and also the area where the exhaust was. The picture above shows the 31 cells that will reside in the 'Tank Pack'.

New In Box

2011-09-09T13:48:00.000-07:00

Some of the components could handle a little moisture, but especially in Portland we want to be ready for the rains of fall and winter and spring (it rains a lot here). Consequently, we needed a good housing for the controller and DC->DC converter. The box will have a clear cover soon, but here is how it is looking today.

Burnout#3

2011-08-24T17:41:00.000-07:00

CravenSpeed's Electric MINI Cooper is finally starting to lay down some nice power thanks to our new LiFePO4 battery pack. Since the Dyno trials are not scheduled until next week, the best way we can display the torque right now is by smoking the tires.

Vacuum Pump

2011-08-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

Today Chester is working on giving us power assist brakes. He made a temporary mount for the vacuum pump so that he can test it.

Before the MINI is finished the look of the engine bay will change in some significant ways. With all the electrical components in there we need to protect them from excess water. So, there will be a housing around them and the mount for the pump will be incorporated into that.

Test Run #2

2011-08-11T16:33:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about building the EV is that we have to test it. The more we drive it, the better we'll be able to tune it to perform. So far I think things are looking pretty good. Here is a sample of a test run conducted on a closed course, of course.

Any comments?

Old Cars Can Learn New Tricks

2011-08-08T17:35:00.000-07:00

With the new batteries temporarily in the back of the MINI we are able to take some test drives to work on fine tuning the controller. We quickly found out that The Torque is with us.

Temporary Battery Pack

2011-08-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

During the road testing phase of the project we are using the set of 44 Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries that will eventually go where the gas tank used to be, only they are sitting in the back seat of the MINI. This way they have access to each cell while we are testing.

We have a styrafoam sheet for the big pack there too. It acts a a little safety insulation, there is plenty of energy stored in the batteries, so just like gasoline you need to treat them with care. We are hoping to get a test run in tonight before taking a break for the weekend....

Electric Vehicle Celebration Day

2011-07-15T17:39:00.000-07:00

So, Chester may not be the only slacker in the office this week. We took the MINI (still needs a good name) out to a EV show in downtown PDX this weekend. It took most of the week to get the car ready to show, everything came apart, got cleaned up, and put back together (Video to follow). This is how the ~~engine~~ motor bay looks now.

We got to stand in the sun and show a lot of folks what we have been up to. Chester made a lot of new friends. We even played the episodes of our 'Reality Show' on a TV in the back of the car. It was a great day and as I mentioned before I owe you a video of the prep and the event. For now, one more photo.

Episode 11- Test Day (Part 2)

2011-06-27T22:12:00.001-07:00

We did it!

2011-06-27T14:27:00.000-07:00

Ok, they did it. At 2 pm today we gathered a small audience and started up the car and took a few drivers around the lot! I will be posting the video this afternoon.

Congratulations to Chester and the CravenSpeed Tech Team! Now get back to work, just because it runs doesn't mean it's done.

Episode 11 - Test Day (Part 1)

2011-06-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

Episode 10 - Spoiler Alert!!

2011-06-25T00:50:00.000-07:00

Episode 9 - Chester Hooks Up With a Tranny

2011-06-23T22:36:00.000-07:00

Episode 8 - Glen Gary Glen Ross

2011-06-22T23:07:00.000-07:00

Episode 7 - Chester's Angels: Full Throttle

2011-06-21T22:13:00.001-07:00

Episode 6 - Turning The Corner

2011-06-20T22:12:00.000-07:00

Episode 5 -10 Days Left

2011-06-17T21:17:00.001-07:00

Episode 4 - Jumpin' Jack Flash (It's a Gas)

2011-06-16T18:12:00.001-07:00

Episode 3 - Practice Makes Perfect

2011-06-14T21:56:00.001-07:00

Episode 2 - The Carrot and the Stick

2011-06-13T22:23:00.001-07:00

Episode 1 - Pick Up The Pace

2011-06-10T23:15:00.001-07:00

A little Insecure

2011-06-07T17:22:00.000-07:00

The motor has been mounted or at least mated. The adapter plate is allowing everything to line up well between the transmission and the motor. That is all superficial, we still have to work on the flywheel before they are truly mated together.

As you can see we still need the crane in the shot to keep the motor level, but not for long. Tristan and Chester have devised some motor mounts that will make sure that the Warp nine is a secure in that engine bay as a baby in the womb.

Cambridge Machine will be cutting one out for us soon, and I will get you an update when that happens.

Funding

2011-05-31T14:35:00.000-07:00

We started the research for this project months ago, based on an idea we first pitched year's ago. Since then we’ve managed to secure some funding, which is totally an unexpected surprise. Awesome. Here’s a big shout out to Dynasport, LLC -- THE shop in downtown Portland to take your MINI to, Cambridge Precision Machining -- high precision CNC machine shop in Portland, OR, and duh duh duh, the US Government. Nice! It's The Department of Labor Federal Grant which is titled "State Energy Sector Partnership: Greening of Oregon’s Workforce." The whole project is still costing quite a bit between; part design and prototyping, tools and components and Chester's burrito addiction (the only fossil fuel involved in the project, btw)....well, we will continue looking for further sponsorship to make sure that this thing gets done right. I mean, we haven't even gotten the batteries yet.