Wires Galore

Like the tedious task that took up most of our time yesterday, Adam, North, and I continued laying down and labeling wires throughout the engine bay and interior of the car today. Since the only wires that need to travel through the interior of the car are the low-gauge ones which need to be more protected from the elements, the actual functions of these lines were widely different from one to another, and many of their tasks were very minor. Regardless, all of these connections were necessary for the car which, when it is done, will have at least a couple hundred connections throughout. After each wire had been laid out, Adam helped us identify each one and mark them with their eventual task using take and a marker. The result was a scene of chaos inside the glove-box and left-hand side of the engine bay.

Just a handful of the wires we laid out during the day

While we were working on this, Alex, John, and Max all worked with Calvin to remove the charging port from one of the trucks they were working on and installing it inside the gas door of the car. However, the charging port was significantly smaller than the opening where the gas tank was, so they had to fabricate a plate that would allow for a correct fit. Afterwards, they attached a button to detect when the port is in use which will eventually connect to the controller, whose job it is not to let the car run while charging, similar to when someone is filling up their gas tank. They also significantly cleaned off the area behind the door and even the door itself, even taking away the screeching sound caused by opening the door too far that was present previously. 

The charging port inside the gas door,.
The door itself has been temporarily removed.

During the second half of the day, North and I worked together to create a piece of wood that would fit where the gearshift used to be and cover up the huge hole that removing it left. Eventually the wood can be upholstered and, visually speaking, be a very nice addition to the car. Its purpose, at the moment, is simply to hold the small switch which changes the car from forward to reverse. It has much more surface area for other controls, but none are needed yet. For the last task of the day, we had to remove the gas pedal entirely so that we could install some special instrumentation needed for acceleration in an electric car. This was no easy task, but we managed to finish up before finally heading out at the end of a very busy day.