My first full week as the driver of a DIY EV was…eventful. Let’s start with the bad. On Tuesday, I did what you might call an ‘accidental full range test’. As in, I ran out of juice on the way to collect my daughter from a class and had to dump the car and jump in a taxi to get her. Because I haven’t really … Continue reading I’ve been driving in my car
tl;dr: the car has passed its MOT! We are now the proud, grin-wearing owners of a road-legal, home-made, fully-electric vehicle. Continue reading Rollercoaster
So, things ended on a bit of a low just before I went on holiday a few weeks ago. The second run at an MOT ended in disaster. But my optimism was quickly restored and before I left, I posted some parts off to people for help. One of those parts has come back sorted, albeit in need of reassembly. That’s the Battery Management System, … Continue reading I get knocked down…
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
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
Got a phone call from one of the producers I’ve long worked with at the BBC yesterday (I’ve been doing various bits of radio and telly for the last 15 years over in my made-up day job). Would I come on Stephen Nolan’s late night show on BBC Radio 5Live and talk about my project? It was past my bedtime, but I thought sure, why … Continue reading DIYEV on the BBC
So, as predicted, the car failed its MOT. But not on what I was expecting. Or rather, the stuff I was most worried about (the conversion, my welding) absolutely sailed through. In fact, Jimmy the mechanic called the conversion “impressive”. The smile hasn’t left my face since. Big issues: Tracking is massively out (not surprising since I don’t have the tools for alignment) and you … Continue reading Fail! But in a good way
So, the time has come when I must let a professional examine my work and tell me what a mess I’ve made of it. I know this professional. His name is Jimmy, and I have been taking our cars to him for about the last 9 years. He is as honest and forthright as any mechanic I’ve met. But also prone to taking the piss … Continue reading MOT Time
Yesterday, I drove the DIY EV project for the first time. Only off the drive and back on again, but it moves. And it does so comfortably and relatively quietly. It was a huge moment. Yes, I will do a video soon. I’ve bun running through a huge checklist of things to get the car ready for MOT. It is now insured (more on this … Continue reading Movement
I have a charge point. I have a charger. I have a battery. You would think I could hook these three things up and charge my battery from the charge port, via my charger. Not so fast. Charging an EV requires a little more than that because there is signalling that goes alongside the AC between the charge point and the car. And my charger … Continue reading DIY EV Charging: a guide for an idiot (me)
