DIY Tonneau Cover works great, still ugly

March 8, 2013

Sometimes the lessons you learn are what NOT to do. In working on my DIY Fiberglass Over F0am pickup truck tonneau cover, I learned that I’m not particularly good at fiberglass, nor do I like working with it. This winter, I was doing some work recycling some existing white polystyrene foam into a flat cover […]

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How-It’s-Made Video: Mitsubishi i-MiEV

February 27, 2013

Since I’ve been working on taking apart the flood-damaged Mitsubishi i-MiEV and posting videos on it, a YouTube subscriber sent me a link to a great video on how the car is made! This video is in two parts, for about 45 minutes total, and is extremely well produced. My favorite are shots from the […]

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A Close Look at the BMS board

February 26, 2013

So far, as part of the Mitsubishi i-Miev project, I’ve been able to drop the battery pack from the bottom of the car, open it up, and remove two blocks of cells from it to start testing. I washed and scrubbed the one in the bathtub, and then took it apart into the individual components […]

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40-Amp testing a Miev Lithium Cell

February 25, 2013

Today, I was able to do a complete charge cycle of a cell from the i-Miev at 40 amps. Using the CellPro6, I changed the charge preset from a generic LiPo to one used for A123 cells. That setting allows charge and discharge rates of up to 40 amps. I looked through the preset and […]

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Tearing out and Testing a Lithium Cell

February 22, 2013

Yesterday, I got one lithium module out of the car. Here’s the video showing the removal. The main battery pack is built from 22 units of 4 cells, built together with a BMS board. Each one then is basically a 12V battery. I got the cell block out, washed it in the bathtub (second time […]

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Bathtub o’ Lithium!

February 20, 2013

Yesterday, I was able to pull a block of cells from the Mitsubishi i-Miev battery pack. The entire battery pack is comprised of 22 blocks of 4 lithium cells. (At first glance, it looked like they were blocks of 8 cells. It’s only after removing a 4-cell block that I realized they are all the […]

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Working on the Flooded i-Miev

February 20, 2013

Here’s what I’ve been doing the last couple days on the car. I was able to disconnect the power cables, but the water that leaked out certainly didn’t make me feel very good about the project. I was able to remove the battery pack from the car, and drag it out into the driveway, where […]

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Mitsubishi Miev: Worst Case Scenario?

February 17, 2013

Definately NOT what I was looking for! Watch for yourself. Bookmark on Delicious Digg this post Recommend on Facebook Buzz it up Share on Linkedin Share via MySpace share via Reddit Share with Stumblers Tumblr it Tweet about it Subscribe to the comments on this post Tell a friend

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Flooded Mitsubishi i-MiEV

February 17, 2013

  “You did WHAT?!?!?” “I bought a flood damaged Mitsubishi electric car, sight-unseen, through an on-line auto auction.”  As my wife hurled a cast-iron frying pan towards my face, I was glad that this was only a FICTIONAL conversation that was going on completely inside my head. In truth, she’s actually been very supportive. While […]

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EVs for Africa!

February 4, 2013

While I get orders for my BUILD YOUR OWN ELECTRIC CAR instructional DVDs from all around the world, this one was especially interesting. It was ordered by a Masters degree student at the Science and Technology University in the capitol city of Addis Ababa. He wishes to build an electric car as part of a […]

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