It's been a long couple of months since this journal was last updated. With two beautiful daughters vying for every minute of time I'm not at work, I rarely make it far enough down the "life priorities" checklist to address the EV (much less the EV website). That's probably as it should be though. Better to absorb every moment with them now than regret it when they've grown up and moved out. However, at the risk of self-indulgence, I'll steal a few minutes for an EV journal update and try to finish the story left incomplete in the last entry. I have also gone back and added the photos missing from the previous entry for those that care to click back and see. Now if I can manage to clear the dust from my mind and recall anything beyond the past 24 hours...
So the first leg of the Scorp's multi-staged trip home was complete. The car sat in it's paylot spot waiting for an opportunity charge, but that couldn't happen until I could manage to get my ass into work. Easier said than done. In a bit of unfortunate timing, the Subaru’s "engine service" lit up earlier in the week. Friday was the only time I could get it into the shop before the Father's Day weekend, which was certain to include a lot of running around town. Friday also brought heavier than usual rain to Seattle. Getting from the shop to work would be a wet hike to the bus lines or a soaked ride on the bike. 
Instead I went with Plan C, an $18 cab ride. What the hell... I'm already anticipating a small fortune in Subaru repairs. What's another $20 on the pile.
Instead I went with Plan C, an $18 cab ride. What the hell... I'm already anticipating a small fortune in Subaru repairs. What's another $20 on the pile. After one hour and three phone calls to the cab distro, my ride finally shows. They are never happy to see a dog at pick-up, especially a wet shaggy one. On several occasions, cabbies have shouted "NO DOGS" and driven off. It pays to keep him strategically hidden until I can get in the car. We jump in and the annoyed driver grumbles for him on the floor, which he does (good boy). He goes on to justify his canine contempt by telling me how all dogs in his native homeland are filthy, scary beasts. Did he actually see my dog? A bit filthy perhaps, but far from a scary beast.
I roll into work a good hour and a half late and immediately tend to getting the Lancia on the charger. The AC outlet is on a second floor balcony with no ground access, so a few trips trough the building are required to get everything connected. Plus the paylot requires another $5 which I have to bum from someone a coworker. It's still raining, so Oliver and I are fairly damp by the time I sit down at the desk. To the entertainment/distraction of everyone at work, Oliver dries himself off by maniacally darting around the design studio and rolling around on the carpet under everyone's feet. I'll just have to air dry.
Through the day, I field several calls from a stressed wife questioning my ability to make it home with the Lancia (which still has no roof) and reasserting the need to pick the Subaru up before the shop closes. I add these concerns to my on-the-job stress load and watch the grey hairs multiply. The shop calls with the Subaru damage and I pay the multi-hundred dollar bill with a card and arrange to have them lock it up outside. Funny how quickly those ICE maintenance bills add up to thousands, 
yet people still gasp when I tell them a pack replacement on my EV will cost around $1500. I'll have to ride the bike down to pick it up after I make it home.
yet people still gasp when I tell them a pack replacement on my EV will cost around $1500. I'll have to ride the bike down to pick it up after I make it home. The rain’s let up as I pack up to leave. I uncover the Scorpion and start to disconnect the charger. To my dismay, it power is already off. At some point in the day the plug was pulled. I can only hope It was on there long enough to make it home. Otherwise, this will become endless fodder for my wife's EV contempt. Will I get lucky?
Three quarters of the way through my uphill climb home and I have the answer. The car starts to crawl, so I pull off on a neighborhood side street. On the plus side, the spot I’m pulling over is a beautiful scenic outlook over a forrest to Lake Washington beyond. It’s the little things in life. With my little pocket voltmeter, I check through all the batteries (many of which are almost inaccessible) to see what's up. One of the pairs is substantially lower than the rest (reading below 6 volts). I reluctantly call the wife and warn that it's going to take me "a few extra minutes" to get home. 
After the screaming ends, I put the cover back on the car and start the walk-of-shame towards the house.
After the screaming ends, I put the cover back on the car and start the walk-of-shame towards the house. On Saturday, I'm granted a (very) brief window of time to try and tackle this problem. I'm guessing that if I pull the weakest battery out of the series I'll be able to limp home. However, not having the proper tools will make this difficult to achieve. Guess I know what to ask for on Father's Day. I ride my bike down the hill with the meager collection of hand tools I own. The battery in question is buried deep down in the car and will require removing others and their racks to get to. In the photo on the right, you can see the top row of batteries (one already removed) that conceal another row of batteries beneath. This set-up was definitely designed to give weight distribution a higher priority than battery access. Thankfully, the controller is mounted on a hinged plate that gives a little more working room. Still, it’s not easy pulling a 50lbs battery-pair out through that hole. Predictably, my sad collection of tools is not up to the task. 
Plus it's starting to rain. Ug. Time to regroup and plan another attack.
Plus it's starting to rain. Ug. Time to regroup and plan another attack. On Sunday, the girls present me with a Father's Day treat: a copy of Who Killed the Electric Car, an ironically appropriate gift. A morning shopping excursion to Costco nets the tool collection I'm missing (bonus: it's on sale for %20 off). After the negotiation of family-time hours is complete, I head to the Lancia to dig into the battery pack with my new tools. It's as difficult as expected to get to those bottom batteries. When they are finally exhumed, inspection reveals swollen, heat-warped cases. They are well past retirement. I reconnect the battery pack as 132 volts and I cross my fingers this will work.
Sure enough, dropping the weak link out of the series put the Scorp in good enough shape to make it the rest of the way home to it's comfortable alley parking spot. Although this isn't the way I intended to sort out my pack problems, it's a start. 
I've since removed another bad pair dropping the cars total voltage down to 120. There are still some underperforming pairs though so I need to start developing some long term strategy. I knew the pack was fairly old when I bought the car, but I was hoping to put off a battery upgrade for another year or so. Looks like that's a little optimistic.
I've since removed another bad pair dropping the cars total voltage down to 120. There are still some underperforming pairs though so I need to start developing some long term strategy. I knew the pack was fairly old when I bought the car, but I was hoping to put off a battery upgrade for another year or so. Looks like that's a little optimistic. So it took 3 days to travel just under 10 miles. To join the other SEVA EVs at next weekend’s Greenwood Auto Show, I'll need to make the same trip in reverse. With the amount of time and aggravation the Lancia dealt out this week, my wife's tolerance for my EV lifestyle grows razor thin. Let's hope next weekend is without problems because my marriage might depend on it.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
