Wind Power

Found this house with a sizable vertical access wind turbin not far from where I live on Dole st.

Be great to use that to charge my car

Sticky pots

I finally figured out how to simply solve a niggling problem I have had with the Metro for a long time. When the the car has not been driven for a day or more, when I first start out, the acceleration would be jerky. This is especially problematic for reversing, since it reverses fast. After I would drive a little while it would be nice and smooth. What I tried (and it worked), was to pump the accelerator pedal 20 times before turning on the car. Voila, smooth acceleration from the get go. So nice to solve this issue!

Packaging lithium packs

This is an image of the plates that I had cut at Honolulu community college. They were very helpful and did an excellent job. All the corners were rounded so they were ready to be installed.

I ended up using the original angle iron to secure this pack. It was actually very easy to do all I needed to do was put one plate underneath the pack. Then I put one plate on top of the pack and secured it the way it was secured before.


The pack of 10 batteries that are In the rear of the vehicle were more challenging. I bought some metal strapping from the hardware store and then used some bolts to pull the strapping tight. The metal is a thin gauge so I used four straps. It ended up being easier than I thought it might have been. Once I tightened up the straps it looked like it was very secure and would prevent any swelling of the cells.




Now I am waiting for the replacement cell from China. It should be in within two weeks, at which point I will be able to get the car back on the road.

First time on lithium power

Rear batteries

Front batteries

This is the first drive time on the lithium battteries. I finally have an outlett I can plug the car into. Big mahalo to Eric from Sunetric for wiring up the outlet. The charger draws 25 amps, so I could not use a standard outlet or extension cord. My first driving was unexentful, I do feel that the car is lighter.

There are 14 cells up front and 10 cells in the rear. I am using the same front to rear cables as before.

It's been way too long since I posted here....
Big news: I ordered lithium batteries from China. They should be in within 2 months. I am hoping to get 25 - 30 mile range once I have the new pack in.

Earthday festivities

I took the car up to KCC for their sustainability festival. Here is the news story which includes a couple of clips of the Metro:

Battery tests

One of the folks at DeltaQ (where my charger is from) was kind enough to forward me this battery testing procedure. I am going to try it out today:

- The battery packs health can be determined with these tests:

1) Charge pack until green LED is on solid, then wait a few (>2) hours and measure the voltage of each battery. Voltage level indicates state of charge. i.e. Lowest voltage indicates battery with lowest charge.

2) Drive car around for a while to drain the batteries a bit, then wait a few (>2) hours and measure the voltage of each battery. Voltage level now indicates a batteries capacity. i.e. Biggest voltage drop compared to readings taken in step one indicate which battery has the least capacity.

3)Load batteries by turning on heater or minimum throttle and measure the voltage of each battery. The drop in battery voltage indicates internal resistance. i.e. Battery with biggest voltage drop compared to readings taken in step two has the highest internal resistance.

Batteries with lowest charge/least capacity/highest resistance are the weakest ones and should be replaced if performance is subpar, however, replacing all batteries at once for matched performance always gives the best chance of extending the life of each battery.