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Month: August 2021

DIY EV

Keeping the EV cool

After I posted about my MOT woes on the Open Inverter forum, the ever-helpful Damien Maguire chipped in. It seems my occasional loss of torque may be related to a temperature issue with the Prius Gen 3 inverter. Damien, who runs this setup in his E39, has found that this inverter needs serious coolant flow to keep it cool. Without this, the remaining Toyota brain … Continue reading Keeping the EV cool

Tom Cheesewright8 August 202113 November 2021Leave a comment
DIY EV

Fail, but in a bad way

I went into the first MOT test with genuinely zero expectation that we would pass. I needed a to-do list but there were some things I thought would rule out a pass first time. So when we failed so narrowly, I was elated. Going into the retest I was much more nervous. It felt like there was a real chance we would pass. I was … Continue reading Fail, but in a bad way

Tom Cheesewright4 August 202113 November 2021Leave a comment
In the latest episode of my electric car conversion upgrade, the new battery box is in, finalising the major structural parts of this process. This took a lot of fettling, welding, and tweaking of my design. And a new angle grinder. But now the DIY EV-swapped BMW Z3 has a slimmer, smarter, and more secure battery box up front.

Next up we move on to plumbing and wiring, with only a few more minor brackets to make (charger, radiator, coolant pump). Subscribe to see my finish these upgrades and do a speed test of the new motor: has it been worth all the work?
Upgrading the battery box in my EV-swapped BMW (part 3)
YouTube Video UCKlHPqmX4wh3lHTZRdTzZcg_oMbiFG2p3Ok
It's road trip time again, though sadly not in the DIY EV. I head down to meet up with Paul Compton to pick up the batteries for my next electric car conversion project. And my friends and fellow EV-swappers Jamie, Robert and Stephen join us. We get a tour of Paul's enviable car and bike collection, as well as a serious dose of workshop envy. We strip down a BMW battery pack in record time. And we all take a drive in Paul's upgraded G-Wiz, which proves to be faster than Jamie's BugPlug or my electric Z3.
New batteries! G-Wiz ride! Bonkers workshop tour! It must be a DIY EV ROADTRIP!
YouTube Video UCKlHPqmX4wh3lHTZRdTzZcg_RQsX6E2CdXo
After last episode's failure, I finally got the power steering pump installed on my electric car conversion. OK, it had to be a new power steering pump, and it took me a few tries, but I got there in the end. Plus, I break (and fix) an angle grinder and test some new accessories for my Dremel.

Just the new battery box to fit now and some wiring and plumbing before we take the running EV off the road and swap all the parts over from the development car.
Fitting the power steering pump to my EV-swapped BMW
YouTube Video UCKlHPqmX4wh3lHTZRdTzZcg_2Pmu7--QL7Y
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Recent Posts

  • All pictures, no words: update
  • Fitting a double-din head unit to the Z3 centre console (part 1)
  • Kit kick-off
  • More DIY EV Vids: Rewiring
  • Rewiring the Z3: Stop blowing stuff up

Recent Comments

  • andy powell on All pictures, no words: update
  • andy powell on All pictures, no words: update
  • Tom Cheesewright on All pictures, no words: update
  • andy powell on All pictures, no words: update
  • Tom Cheesewright on Kit kick-off

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