Surprise! · 17 January 06

I was out in the new garage installing a garage door opener when a horn sounded outside. Hmm, wonder who that could be?

Turns out it was my friend Brian and his brother, along with:

A NEW, ELECTRIC CAR!
(said in your best game show host voice…)

Welcome the newest addition to our EV collection.

My wife, taking the naming convention of Eve in the most logical direction, suggested we call it Adam. Great idea, but it could be better. How about:

Atom

He’s not much to look at. Kind of sporty, kind of whoa-who-got-into-the-fiberglass! But he’s very light and has tons of potential. In fact if he had a last name I’d give him a middle name of Potential, just to keep the whole clichéd electric naming thing going.

As it turns out Atom and I have met before, on a number of occasions.

One of the local high schools decided to try their hand at an electric car, I think after having the beginnings of the car donated to them. Over the course of a few years various shop classes would break into groups (electronics, chassis, ergonomics, etc…), work up their plans, and then spend a semester working on Atom.

I visited the class a couple of times with our Electric Mazda, showing them how the system was put together, what did what, talking about the safety (or lack thereof) and just generally showing off. It was fun.

I donated a set of used batteries, so they’d have something to experiment with as the wiring came together. I also donated a charger to another local school in time for their Tour de Sol excursion.

It looks like someone, or some company, might have donated other hardware to Atom over the years. There’s a nice Solectria 48volt charger and a Curtis 1204 controller tucked inside along with some heavy duty relays and Anderson connectors. The motor…well, I’ll have to save the motor and drivetrain for another post, once I get a chance to take more pictures.

Seeing is believing.

Atom is configured for 48volts using eight 12v batteries: paralleling two sets of four series batteries. I believe they even had it running before the program ended.

As is our custom here is a picture to help show scale, using the widely acclaimed ZMU (Zeke Metric Unit). A hack saw is included for those not familiar with ZMUs and for a sense of foreshadowing. (all pictures are clickable to zoom…thanks Darin)

The back bumper? Bolted to the fiberglass. It may be meant as a place to set your drink on. The front access panel? Plywood with a little hunk of dowel sticking up for a handle.

Still, with the possibility of the middle name Potential, you can see how this might make for a fun NEV vehicle. I’m not sure what’s needed to be street legal, but suspect that learning to fiberglass is in my future.

Copyright © Jerry Halstead 1995-2011