Movement

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 below). And it is almost there.

Hold ups

I had hoped to be a bit further ahead but was massively held up by a few issues over the last couple of days. One in particular took a long time to work out: the pre-charge resistor in my high voltage junction box (actually a modified ‘S-Box’ or ‘Safety Box’ from the BMW PHEV pack) died. No obvious signs of damage, it just failed, open circuit. This meant no voltage was reaching the inverter. Working through all the things that could cause this – bad HV wiring, bad control wiring, missing connector bolts inside the inverter, failed pre-charge relay – took an incredibly long time before I found the culprit and replaced it with a spare.

On top of this I had to free off a seized handbrake on one side (weird since the back axle has only been back on a few weeks and I don’t think the handbrake has been on much in that time), get the bumper to refit (one bolt just would not locate), and redo four brake unions multiple times.

Snagging

Few bits of snagging still to do before MOT time:

  • The brakes barely work. Suspect they need bleeding again but also need to do another check for leaks
  • The power steering is not working properly. Pump comes on but there doesn’t seem to be any pressure. Again, could need bleeding more after being empty for so long.
  • Windscreen wipers! New ones have arrived
  • Lights! Need to check they all still work.
  • Suspension: I managed to miss out the spring adjusters on the rear when I fitted them. One on, one to go. And the fronts need about an inch of height adding in with the adjusters there.
  • Oil leaks: the motor cooling system continues to be a pain in the arse

Big jobs

Of the gig stuff still to do, there is:

Charging: Not tested charging yet. Now have a modified version of the SimpBMS code ready to go on Jamie and Robert’s Spaceballs board – a tweaked version of the SimpBMS hardware with more CANbus interfaces and a WiFi module. Will see how that goes today.

…and actually, that’s it for big stuff!

Improvements

Obviously I have an ever growing list of improvements stacking up. Lots of these follow on from the coming cosmetic changes, but from a mechanical/electrical perspective there is:

  • Fit the rear battery pack
  • Redesign the front pack – I’m not happy with the HV wiring, it’s too tight for long term use and I’m worried about chafing. And cooling. So will build a bigger box (there is plenty of space) with cooling plates and lay the wiring out more neatly. The rear one will follow the same design.
  • Redesign the oil cooling. I can bodge it for now but it needs redoing to be more manageable and accessible, and just neater
  • Cut down the adaptor plate: lots of spare material now that everything is mounted and that’s unnecessary weight
  • Redo the 12V loom: lots of splices in it where I was experimenting/screwing up. Want to get it nice and clean
  • Add a proper Vehicle Control Unit: I want more granular control of pumps and features like the DC to DC converter, rather than relying on a mess of relays and diodes
  • Replumb the water cooling: Some nice silicone pipes would be good and I can make a much neater job of it.

All that can wait though.

A note on insurance

As far as I have been able to tell so far, there is only one company in the UK that will insure EV conversions. That is Adrian Flux. The combination of my now unusual car, and my off-the-scale high risk postcode, means that insuring this project has been…painful. Like £1500 painful. That’s for a 43yo man, driving for 25+ years, with a clean licence (no convictions, no points), and full no claims.

Ouch.

They tell me it should go down next year…

Next steps

Anyway, I can swallow that for the fun I’ve had on this project. Next steps? First run at an MOT this week, as soon as I can get it booked in (assuming I have the brakes and power steering sorted, and that sorts out the error lights).

Then in August my daughter and I are off to Stoneleigh kit car show to have a look at the Tribute Automotive Z300 body kit…

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