Re: No more Ford Th!nk EV - The Clues Were There All Along [Long]

["Ralph Merwin" <rmerwin@aracnet.com>]

Dave Goldstein writes:
> 
>   To make a long story short, I discovered 
> that there had been *lots* of problems with 
> the NiCad Euro TH!NKs, possibly related 
> to the Battery Management System, and 
> that even in the best of  circumstances, 
> these cars required the battery equivalent 
> of a major oil change and tune up every 
> 3,000 miles!  (Batteries flushed, refilled 
> with deionized tap water and run through 
> a lengthy charge-discharge procedure 
> that could take up to 2 days.)

Ford must've built a pretty funky charger if they have to service
the NiCads every 3000 miles (and I suspect that they don't actually
flush the pack, but probably do a MAINT charge and then refill the
modules).

I keep reading about Ford needing to have the car for two days to do
this maintenance.  It's as if they're trying to kill off their own
product!  (Oh, wait.  They just did...)

I'm approaching four months and 2500 miles on my NiCad-powered Geo
Prizm and am a little more than half-way to doing a MAINT charge.
The MAINT charge is nothing more than a standard recharge with a
longer overcharge phase.  When the MAINT charge is done (it will
easily finish overnight) I'll have to take all of about 10 minutes
to add distilled water to the pack.  And I don't need an entourage
of technicians to help...

Ralph