Want to share a garage?
Are you into cars or motorbikes? Do you wish you had somewhere to work on them in comfort? Do you live in South Manchester? I’ve spent the last year hunting for a space to work on my EV conversion projects with no luck. The only options I’ve found have been either too small, or industrial units that I can’t justify on my own. So, I’m … Continue reading Want to share a garage?
Moar POWER
As you will know if you have been following this project, I’m a little disappointed with it on two fronts so far. First, the range, and second, the power. I now have a plan to address both of these issues. Range extender First up is an additional battery pack. Now that I have rescued the batteries from my extreme range test (they turned out to … Continue reading Moar POWER
DIY EV Project Number 2
Though there’s still a long way to go on the first DIY EV project, I couldn’t resist a cheap car which will form the basis of the second one. Continue reading DIY EV Project Number 2
Fixing BMW Z3 Aerial
The aerial on my DIY EV BMW Z3 was snapped off and I couldn’t find a quick replacement. So I set about fixing the broken part. Continue reading Fixing BMW Z3 Aerial
Wireless phone charger
I designed and printed a wireless charging dock for my Samsung Galaxy S21 to go in my DIY EV. Continue reading Wireless phone charger
I’ve been driving in my car
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
Rollercoaster
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
I get knocked down…
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…
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
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