Re: EV1 On Campus!!!

[Lee Hart <leeahart@earthlink.net>]

Seth Murray wrote:

> I would be happy to scan all of the manuals if and when I get my hands
> on them and a scanner.  A scanner finds its way into my hands and I
> will scan the docs and I can burn as many CDs as needed.

I would be happy to contribute to this effort any way that I can! I
think it is a golden opportunity to document the greatest electric car
built to date, before GM makes it disappear like it never existed!

> A WPI grad from a few years back who has been lurking on the list
> suggested a study something along the lines of "Evaluate the
> suitability of Nickle Zinc Batteries in on-road freeway-capable EVs"
> which could certainly work.  Right now the car is sort of reserved for
> the upper classmen, but we'll see how things go.

No matter what the upper-class students want to do with it, any kind of
research project obviously needs a "control". If you're going to
evaluate (say) a different battery, you need to get it working with
plain old lead-acid batteries first, so you can compare the results
before and after. Likewise if they wanted to rip out all the electrics
and make a gasoline car out of it -- they should FIRST get it working
as-is to have a basis for comparison.

So... the first project should be to get it working as-is, right? :-)

Next point. An excellent case could be made for taking it apart first,
to learn all you can about how it's built. You can't modify a thing if
you haven't documented how it is already built, right?
-- 
Lee A. Hart                Ring the bells that still can ring
814 8th Ave. N.            Forget your perfect offering
Sartell, MN 56377 USA      There is a crack in everything
leeahart_at_earthlink.net  That's how the light gets in - Leonard Cohen