9Electric progress

[David Dymaxion]

I'd swear there is a conspiracy theory to keep me from skiing, racing, and most importantly, working on my electric car! I have managed to garner some success against the time black hole of late, though!

Many thanks go to my son during two of his visits home from college. We had to rework the adapter a bit (Kostov changed the bolt pattern). I used a level to make sure the motor mount flats were perfectly vertical -- in this case as the tranny multiplies the motor torque, and in the Porsche the forces are up-and-down, so this makes my mount design stronger.

The motor spins on as few as 7 A, way less than my old motor that took about 25A. It is also super smooth and quiet, at least at the low RPMs I have tested so far.

I have been using a rubber mallet and a 1/4 inch steel plate to make the bends for my battery boxes -- welding to start soon. I think we came up with a great design for mounting them. My batteries will be very low for good cornering.

I think I'm on track to have the car done enough for running on the Salt Flats in September, I'm excited about that! I'm going to try to get my kids' high school electrathon team out there, too. I have a nearby neighbor restoring an old Porsche to gasoline power, so it has been fun to compare notes with him.

BTW we went to a wedding near Stanford and toured the campus. It was great to see 2 Tesla Model S cars parked on campus, and we saw multiple Teslas driving, and there was a Tesla dealer near our hotel. Here at home, I saw a Tesla Roadster in Park City a week ago, and have seen a Tesla Model S multiple times. It is a great era for electric cars!