This week, we got the powder-coated battery box racks� back. They were the wrong shade of grey, but I don’t think it matters too much. We also started practicing some plastic welding for making the polyethylene battery boxes, which turned out to be fairly simple. You only have to feed a polyethylene rod through a heated tube and PRESTO! You have plastic welding.

My work schedule has been frantic so the blog has been suffering, but progress continues.

This weekend we mounted the controller on the control board. Because the controller can generate up to 450W of power it gets hot very fast, and Curtis controllers have failed from overheating on a fairly regular basis. So the recommended procedure is to mount it on a raised aluminum plate with a fan underneath.

Below are the main components laid out in their approximate positions: the primary and secondary contactors, DC/DC converter, ammeter shunt, controller, vacuum pump for brakes, vacuum pump switch, and 2 of 4 front batteries. Next up: getting all the welded pieces powdercoated and assembling the polyethylene interior battery box.