3/23/16 Components

This morning went by very quickly. Alex and I started to fabricate mounts for the charger, and Garrett and North worked on the placement DC-DC converter box and controller. I enjoyed using the angle grinder again, but unfortunately, we did not get to use it for long. After we worked on the mounts, I read the manual for our controller so I could figure out the wiring configuration for the car.

In the afternoon, we reevaluated the components of some of the car components. Yesterday, we decided to place the charger in the trunk of the car to the side and place the DC-DC converter inside the glove box. There were, however, several issues with placing the converter there. For example, there was a plastic cover that shielding most of the metal mounting points, and sections of the air conditioner ran through the opposite side of the wall, so puncturing the system was a very real danger. We decided to relocate all systems to a display in the trunk of the car, but there was a debate about how we would do it. Half of us argued that the back seat of the car should be removed, to create an aesthetic, spacious display rack for each component, while half argued that the back seat of the car should be kept and systems built behind them. I personally argued for leaving the back seats. There is a common understanding within the EV conversion community that preserving a car’s identity, (I.e. keeping as close to stock as possible) .is always the number one priority. This gives the car a certain shock value. When you tell someone that your 1990 Toyota Supra is actually electric, even though it looks identical to a normal Supra, they might reevaluate some of their opinions on electric cars. I also thought it would be best to preserve the back seats since the car would be used as a transportation vehicle. We decided with the latter option, and began fabricating mounts and panels to make our new layout possible.