Category Archives: Trips

Front Royal Town Square, Lions, Rockland, Trips

Rockland Park

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The CitiCar on its first trip to Rockland Park with a clear view of the mountains along the horizon

A trip to Rockland Park is (or was) the next major milestone travel destination. Although the round trip is within the range of the CitiCar, there are many hills along the way, making the trip impossible.

There are two things going for me that make the trip possible. First is that there is a public level 2 charging station on the way. The second thing that helps is that the new Lester charger recharges batteries four times faster than what I was previously using. I had the day planned out earlier in the week.

The weather was a bit cool and looked like it may rain soon. A quick look at a local weather forecast indicated that it had rained in the morning, and that it should be clear for the remainder of the day.

A CitiCar with Spunk

On our way over to the charging station, I noticed rite away that the CitiCar had a bit more pep to it. I was getting speeds up to 35 mph under its own power. I’ve not seen that before in this little car. It’s almost like she is showing off, up for the challenge ahead of us. I’ve got a bit of a hunch that maybe the batteries were overcharged last night while I changed over to the new extension cords, restarting the charging cycles.

As I was about to plug the CitiCar into the charging station, someone stopped their car in front of us and asked how it does on gas. I replied that I don’t buy gas, and pointed to a sign on the building behind me that said Electric Vehicle Charging Station. They looked a bit shocked. I don’t think they realized that charging stations existed.

Teddy and I headed over to the walk-up window at checkers and got a small order of fries. With bits of French fries as a reward, Teddy gave people going through the drive-through lanes a show.

Pushing the Limits

This was it, we were about to go off further out of town than we had ever been in the little CitiCar with more hills to conquer and a small trek through a 55mph zone. Thankfully it was a two lane highway, so I wasn’t holding anyone up. The road to turn off towards the park felt further away than I had expected. Every hill and valley feels like a challenge. Turning onto the road, I went up a hill that just kept going on and on.

I hadn’t driven over railroad tracks before. I was getting a bit anxious about how well the car would take it. I think the car behind me was getting a bit of a kick watching us slow down and take the rails at a slow speed. It was worth it. The suspension and small tires on the CitiCar don’t do well crossing tracks.

Once we crossed over, we turned down the road into the park and everything was easy going after that. Although the limit was only 25 mph, we coasted as much as possible to preserve battery power since no one was behind us. There is a bit of a hill once you enter the park that wasn’t all too bad.

Rockland Park

We parked by the fitness equipment with a clear view of the mountains along the horizon. I led Teddy over to walk past the pavilions and a playground to get to the walking path.

Benches are peppered along the asphalt walking path through the woods

One of the things that I like about Rockland Park is the blacktop walking path. You’ve got a hard, flat, and level surface that even strollers could be pushed along without any obstructions (except getting to it). There is a Disc Golf course peppered throughout the woods. Smaller dirt paths through the course cross over the main path, and often have benches at various crossings.

The park has one major detriment to its serene atmosphere. Although Rockland park is large, you’ll always hear the humming and crunching sounds of the power plant nearby. The sound of children playing at a music park often brings more peace to the park, overcoming this background noise.

The path that leads down to the Shenandoah river will take you under some power lines

I was in such an adventurous spirit that I decided to take a path that I have always avoided. It goes under some high power electric lines. Listening to the air heat up around the electric lines gives me a fright with thoughts of being struck by a bolt of electrons, or having a device malfunction. I figured if everyone can walk through without damaging their phones, I should be fine. I just kept my focus on Teddy and we kept going.

A fork in the path makes you question yourself as to which way to go in life

The path had some nice views of the Shenandoah river. It went down to a fork and a little bench where the asphalt ended. Teddy and I headed left, as it looked like it would take us closer to the river. Sure enough, we got to the end with a little spot where we could sit on some old concrete blocks. The area could use a bench to sit back and enjoy the view.

A small spot was found to kickback and rest for a moment along the Shenandoah river

We watched a few boats pass and wave at us. Teddy would get a bit focused when each boats wake would reach the shore, making sloshing sounds in various places around us.

Teddy makes walking small paths a bit less intimidating and warns animals to stay away

We headed back on up to the fork. Teddy seemed to be leading the way, excited to come back the way we came. We continued down in the other direction. I could hear golf balls being hit. It eventually brought us to a golf course where the path becomes shared with golf carts. I looked on a satellite map and couldn’t see if any of the paths would lead around, back to the park. Instead, Teddy and I headed back to where we came from.

On the way back under the power lines, I felt more confident walking under them. We continued on our original path on the main loop and walked up onto a white tailed doe on the path. The deer just looked at us. After Teddy started barking, she took off.

Charge

We got back to the CitiCar and headed back to the charging station. The battery was down to 70%. A person came up to ask about the car just as I was about to get Teddy out. We are getting stopped often to talk about this car. I went over some details of how I am able to charge an antique car from the 70’s at a public charging station. I got a combo meal at Checkers while we waited for the car to recharge.

Main Street

It was time to go back home – or was it? There wasn’t much else to do today and the battery meter was reporting a 100% charge. I decided to head over to Gertrude. Along the way, I made another split decision to run on up to the town square instead. While walking around, I noticed a new store is opening called, I want candy. I also grabbed a photo of some painted garden poles outside The Studio – A Place for Learning.

Painted garden posts are on display next to the studio on Main Street

After walking around for a bit, I decided to stop into Lions park and let Teddy have a little walk and quick drink out of Happy Creek. We were shortly on our way back home.

The total cruise was a whopping 15.7 miles – 41% further than the CitiCar’s previous record! With free charging, the average price per mile was brought town to 2.1¢.

DestinationTripAH returnedCharge Time
Home0
Charging Station2.86.800:23
Rockland5.5
Charging Station8.08.900:31
Town Square12.0
Gertrude13.1
Home15.754.603:29
Total70.304:23
Views of Rockland Park

In Other News

Moving the GPS receiver from the dashboard to the front, under the CitiCars’ “hood” area has greatly reduced the time it takes to acquire a signal. It appears that the aluminum frame does play a big part of disrupting GPS signals.

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Trips

Teddys Day

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Eastham Park

Trail behind dog park at Eastham park in Front Royal, VA

A large part of Sunday was spent walking throughout Eastham park. Although they have a large dog park, the one for large dogs is currently closed. It was a clear day and very enjoyable to walk along the Shenandoah River. With a large number of squirrels darting around, Teddy was alert and ready for the chase.

The next stop was at McDonald’s. Meals are eaten outside, often setting on the curve next to the CitiCar. Teddy is learning not to beg during meals, but he earns a nice reward at the end.

Setting in front of a CitiCar, Teddy is tempted to eat a Big Mac

The trip home from the dog park on Sunday was a bit of a fright. Although there was power, the CitiCar would not supply power to the motor. In town, it’s fairly easy to find a spot to pull over and park to diagnose the issue. It was suspected that the contactor fuse may have blown.

Upon inspection, the main fuse looked fine. The wires from the 12 volt battery were made more secure the other day after a loss of power disconnecting wires from a hard turn. The main power wires from the 12 volt accessory battery looked fine as well. The repairs were holding it in place.

A quick hop into the car to confirm the issue was still present revealed that it went away on its own. As the key turned, the main contactor click could be heard. It is thought that maybe the switch on the brake was stuck in position, preventing the main contactor to be activated when braking.

Shorter Trips

It’s now known that the CitiCar starts to get exhausted around ten miles. Rather than setting destinations to push the limits, rides have become more casual. It’s great knowing that certain destinations are within range. There are many parks, restaurants, and events on main street accessible within just a few miles. Having success at a charging station adds to the freedom to go anywhere… within an extra mile.

The battery chargers have been left connected to the batteries while driving around in the CitiCar. The time to setup for charging has been simplified to connecting the power strip to the main power in a house, or to the J1772 power converter.

Steering Wheel Adjustments

There have been a few problems with the steering wheel alignment since the turn signal switch has been replaced. Each time that it appears to have been fixed, the next trip reveals a little more fine tuning is required. It’s now to the point that the steering wheel is rotated by one or two splines after each trip.

Misaligned steering wheel
Still misaligned steering wheel

In the middle of adjusting the steering wheel, Teddy finally caught a squirrel in his own yard at home. It was difficult to break his concentration. He finally had to be pulled off and go inside to calm down with a treat and let the squirrel get away.

Controller Mounting

The next goal is to get the contactor switch, motor controller, and forward/reverse switches installed under the seat. They don’t need to be wired up just yet. A mounting bracket arrived this morning, and there were a few metal angles purchased at the hardware store to help fasten things into an area in front of the motor. Each step is being worked through and planned out. One of the problems that has popped up is that the bolts with the solenoid mounting hardware are too long.

Layout of motor controller and contact switches on both sides of angle brackets
Angle brackets to bolt down to the battery box floor
Layout of motor controller and contact switches on both sides of angle brackets
Mounting screws are too long to secure solenoid to the mounting bracket

Other News

Tomorrow is Battery Investor Day for Tesla. It was an excuse to take the day off of work. An extra $500 was invested into the company this morning. The unrealized value is roughly half of what is needed for a Cybertruck reservation.

After two repairs by a tow truck driver and a neighbor, the SUV shifter cable has been replaced by the professionals. It was noticed that the rear passenger window is unable to be opened from the front driver-side buttons.

The buttons arrived for the GPS speedometer. Installation continues tomorrow.

There is an issue arising from a battery monitor that I purchased in China at the beginning of August that hasn’t arrived yet. The seller claims it has already been delivered, but the post office claims they haven’t received the package yet.

Trips

Public Charging

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CitiCar at an EV charging station parked next to a Tesla

Teddy and I hopped into the CitiCar and left town for the first time. We took a little lunch break just outside of the city at Riverton Commons shopping mall. An EV charging station is located there with four Tesla destination chargers, and one J1772 charger. I pulled up and parked the CitiCar next to a Tesla.

I fumbled a little, connecting the EVSE to the converter, but I was able to get it. The Kill A Watt meter showed that I was getting voltage. I proceeded to hook up the chargers to the batteries and saw the usual 333 watts being drawn by the five 12 volt lead acid battery chargers.

Teddy and I grabbed a bite close to the station at Checkers. When I got back to the car, I saw that the chargers were no longer getting any power. One of the C-Car owners on the forums mentioned that some charging stations required at least a kilowatt of power to continue operating. Looking back at some video footage, I saw that the power strip was upside down. I believe I may have turned it off when I started spreading out the chargers so they weren’t all setting next to each other. I’ll have to make another attempt to verify.

While I was there, the owner of the Tesla came out and talked about a Comuta-Car he had owned for awhile. He ad a few questions and we chatted a bit before I left.

The whole trip was 6.0 miles. It was shorter than I had thought given that I always looked up directions to the Walmart in the same shopping center, but would have added an extra mile to the round trip. This trip was mostly going up a gradual hill in a 45 mile zone on the way up. I held the throttle down for most of the trek.

As the efficiency of the car improves, more locations become accessible. I now know that I can make it to the two plazas across from each other with the newer big-box stores out of town. I can visit a grocery, hardware, coffee, pet, and craft store as well as a bank ATM.

Access to more locations is fairly important at the moment because my other two vehicles are disabled. The SUV was fixed two weeks ago, but had broken down on Sunday with the same problem. The hybrid car simply needs a new battery and an inspection. I also need to reattach a plastic rock/air-drag guard that is dragging along the road under it.

Trip Log

WAYPOINTODOMETERDISTANCE
Home1,214.0
EV Charging Station1,217.03.0
Home1,220.03.0
Total6.0
RECHARGEENERGYCOSTDURATION
RatekWh9.85¢0.78 mph
Total1.53 kWh15.5¢07:39
Per Mile254 Wh2.6¢01:16

In other news

I haven’t received the Zero to J1772 adapter needed for the lithium battery charger that I purchased in July. I hadn’t heard a reply from three weeks ago when I inquired about the status of the order. From other C-Car owners I’ve talked to, this person is very responsive, but another C-Car owner was going through the same issue as I am. I decided to contact Tucson EV via PayPal communications.

Tucson EV got back to me the next day and stated that they thought it was already shipped, and that the adapter will be shipped tomorrow morning with a tracking number.

J1772 AVC2 Module by Modular EV Power LLC

I suspect the mixup was due a shortage of the J1772 active vehicle control modules (AVC) available at the time . These are small PCB boards (AVC1) enclosed in a plastic box (AVC2) that do all of the communications for you if you want to wire up your own custom made adapter. Everywhere I looked, these things were out of stock. I found EV West had them and ordered one at the end of July. They quickly notified me that it was out of stock. It was later shipped on September 1st.

CitiCar at EV charging station
Trips

Boston Cream

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I’ve been getting out more and going off the diet. I’ve gained back 15% of the weight I’ve lost so far, visiting restaurants that I hadn’t been to in a long time, and raiding the fridge. It’s a guilty pleasure, and I need to find some motivation to get back on the diet. I also need a few more destinations other than fast food restaurants.

I took Teddy back down to Eastham park, and he got to play with two dogs. It’s been months since he’s chased another dog, and his tongue was hung out most of the time. Still trying to test the limits of the car, I decided to take a detour to Dunkin’ Donuts and pickup one of my favorite snacks – Boston cream doughnuts. The woman at the drive-through offered Teddy a “Pup Cup”. It didn’t last long.

New GPS Record

With a total trip of 9.5 miles, the little trek tied with the current record during the Custard Package Dropoff… with the old speedometer. Once I can break the record, I’ll no longer have that old vs new speedometer accuracy to complain about. I know without a doubt that today’s trip was the furthest the car has gone, but I want an accurate reading that can beat the inaccurate one. I’ll keep trying to push the car further.

The batteries still had 48.1 volts when we arrived home. The battery meter indicated that they had a 52% charge. I believe with 12 volt batteries, I should generally avoid going down below a 50% charge.

Energy usage over time

Since I had 23 trips last night, I updated the chart to be less noisy with 46 columns and growing. The new format makes time relative, so you can see a long line from the end of July to the middle of August when the motor was out of the CitiCar. Today’s trip is not on the image here.

Comparison of energy usage on trips relative to the total miles on each trip starting with a full charge.

I had started recording the data to determine if longer trips would affect the amount of energy per mile, and to see what effect my changes have.

Improving Range

It appears that the energy usage was fairly high at first, and then settled down. I attributed the improvement to changing my driving style in the CitiCar, and adjusting the brakes. It seemed to level off for some time, averaging around 275 wH/mile until recently.

TPMS display in CitiCar

In recent trips, I am now seeing peaks matching up with each other in both total miles and wH/mile. I originally believed this might be due to the accuracy of the speedometer installed on September 5. There are matching peaks and valleys just before that, which may actually be related to when I installed the TPMS system and inflated the tires from 20 psi to 35 psi. The ride is a little harder at times, but I now believe that the tire pressure has made the most difference.

Energy on Long Trips

The total miles traveled now looks as if it may have an impact on the watt hours used per mile now. This is probably due to the energy consumed during different phases of a lead-acid batteries charging cycle the further the battery is discharged. I’m uncertain, but I believe more energy is used during the bulk phase. The further the battery is below an 80% charge, the more energy will be consumed to return it to a full charge.

PhaseSoCVoltageCurrent
Bulk< 80%IncreaseStable
Absorption< 100%StableDecrease
Float100%StableStable
Over simplification of lead-acid charging cycle

Warning Signs

On a side note, I noticed the brakes had a bit of a high pitch twice during today’s drive. Hopefully it’s nothing, but I’m noting it here in case it continues and it’s something to reflect on. I hadn’t noticed any other change in the brakes handling on hills or level roads. The weather was a clear sunny day.

Charging Results

The numbers are in. I caught the chargers just as the last one turned green.

Charging Time10 hours 28 minutes
Charging Speed0.91 miles per hour
Mile Time1 hour 6 minutes
Kilowatt hours2.30 kWh
Mile watts242 wH
Mile Cost2.5¢
Trip cost23.3¢
Charging statistics
Trips

Off by a mile

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Before leaving the house today, I took the garage opener out of my car and put it into the CitiCar since that’s the only vehicle I park in the garage now, and it saves brakes and battery by avoiding a trip of walking into the house to close the door once I exit the garage.

I was ready to go, but nothing happened when pressing the accelerator. The contactor was engaged. I tried engaging/disengaging the parking break. The shift switch was in reverse. I looked at the wires that I fixed yesterday and everything was connected. I then realized that I hadn’t attached the throttle rod back onto the cam when I was installing the pot box throttle. Reattaching the rod, I was ready to go.

I was feeling even more emboldened today after making it to the dog park yesterday in the CitiCar. I even decided to take the steeper hill out of the subdivision, but soon realized it wasn’t as steep as I had thought, and it was shorter. I’ll be taking that “short cut” out of the subdivision more often now. I decided to put the car to the limit and drive the loop to Mc Donald’s and back.

Public Charging

We took a stop at Gertrude park along the way, parking close to the entrance this time to reduce the power consumption. I’m often parking closer to entrances and walking further to consume less energy.

I saw someone had plugged in their laptop the other day at one of the pavilions. Just before we left, I decided to give it a go and charge up. We were already at 80% charge, so the charge would have been fairly slow in the absorption/equalization stage.

Teddy and I sat by Happy Creek for a little while. He would wade around, drink some water, and just lay down enjoying the light breeze and watching people. I walked over and read the Kill A Watt meter. We only consumed 0.2¢ – about 1/15th of a mile added.

Mc Donald’s

We took off and zipped along, coasting when we could, avoiding the use of brakes, and using gravity and the lack of traffic to our advantage.

A CitiCar parked in the shade at Mc Donald’s on a warm sunny day

The drive-through at Mc Donald’s was so long that there was barely enough space for the CitiCar to queue at the end without blocking traffic. After picking up our food, we were able to make a sharp enough turn into the parking lot without having to loop around the building like most people and avoided waiting for an opening going through the drive-through line.

The ride home was the same as usual. No one was behind us for the most part, so we were able to coast often. We took the longer hill back home since it doesn’t have a stop sign at the bottom of the hill, and I have a goal of coasting home without pressing the throttle once I start going down. I haven’t made it yet, but I’ve come very close.

Odometer Readings

At the end, I looked at the odometer and saw that the trip was only 8.5 miles. A previous trip this way registered as 9.5 miles on the old (inaccurate) speedometer, and that didn’t include the stop at Gertrude and the additional length of a full loop rather than back-tracking via the shortest path. Mapping out the trips on Google maps, the GPS speedometer is under-reporting by 0.3 miles while the original speedometer was over-reporting by 0.9 miles.

TripOdometerTypeGoogle
Custard Package Drop-Off9.5 milesEddy Current8.6 miles
Gertrude McDonalds8.5 milesGPS8.8 miles

New Record

After the batteries reached a full charge, the energy consumption was the lowest recorded at only 233 watt hours per mile.

Charger, Interior Light, Trips

Final Destination

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A few things are moving forward with the car. I’ve been taking little trips to parks around town fairly often.

Traffic Light Sensor

On my way to Chimney Field park, I was stranded at the light. The light cycled through its traffic pattern eleven times before it turned green for me during fairly busy traffic. I’m under the impression that the CitiCars aluminum frame isn’t able to trip traffic light induction sensors in the pavement. Someone mentioned in the C-Car forums that motorcyclists with this problem will get strong earth magnets to attach to the bottom of the frame.

Pot Box

I took a look at what I had to work with to find an appropriate spot to place the pot box. I prefer to keep the existing throttle switch so that I can swap between and original 3 speed and new gradual controlled driving styles.

Looking around, I found it difficult to find a spot to bolt the pot box. The floor is made of plastic, and even if I removed the original speed switch, I’m uncertain where I could bolt the pot box. I have an idea of using a bicycle cable for brakes/gear shifting so that I can put the pot box anywhere, but the cable itself still needs a place to secure it.

Charge Controller

I unbolted the charge controller, disconnected all the wires, and removed it from the car. The thing is heavy, weighing in at 26.8 pounds. Inside is a giant winding of copper and a little circuit board with an interlock switch to prevent the motor from operating when charging.

Original On-Board charge controller

On the back, I saw the previous owners name, company, address and a note:

Please Fix Low Voltage about 36v Book says should be 57½v

It’s comforting to know it wasn’t just me having a hard time getting the charger to work properly.

I had a bit of trouble determining how to wire the car back up to operate without it. Once I figured out what wires connect where, I crimped some spade terminals that fit very loosely into two of the original female connectors.

The CitiCar cabin light shining bright

One unintentional side effect is that my cabin light now works. Apparently it wasn’t hooked up to the charge controller properly. The connector looks a bit… melted or deteriorated.

Eastham Park

My primary usage of the car it to take Teddy for walks at various parks and events around town. My ultimate goal was to make it to Eastham Park because it has a Dog Park. The Royal Shenandoah Greenway runs through the park along the South Fork Shenandoah River. Not only is it far compared to my limited range, but there is a long and large hill to go back up a half mile on the way home.

Either due to my weight loss, driving style, 24/7 battery floating charge, “breaking in” the batteries, or a combination there of, the cars range appears to be improving. I decided that since I had free time this weekend, I’d give it a go and push the car to its limit.

Eastham Park trail under railroad tracks

It’s been a misty day with light rain at times. My shoes got fairly wet. There weren’t many people out, so Teddy had the whole dog park to himself. We also walked up to the end of the path at the high school before heading back. I let Teddy walk around in the South Fork Shenandoah river as well. On the way back, I could see people walking around and peering inside the CitiCar.

Loss of Power

The last part of the trip home today was an adventure in itself. As I made a hard left at a traffic light, the two loose spade terminals disconnected. The main contactor switch disengaged, and I lost power to the motor and lights – including the hazard lights. Fortunately I was in the slow lane, rarely used, highly visible, and pulled as close to the rail as I could before the car stopped.

I leaned over, connected the spade terminals, and was back on my way. I rewired a more secure connection after I arrived home. Eventually I need to rewire the whole car.

Although I’m going to upgrade the car to have a DC-2-DC system on board for my 12 volt power supply, I’m also considering using the small 12v battery I have now as a fail-safe backup for the hazard lights, signals lights, and flash relay. I feel that out of everything else on the car, I absolutely need the lights to signal that I’m having a problem if power is lost.

Longest Trip

I made it home without any other issues. This felt like one of the longest trips I’ve been on. The GPS speedometer is accurate compared to my prior one, so the trips appear shorter compared to prior trips. My old speedometer often registered 4 miles faster than my actual speed.

My trips to the town square are 0.8 miles less with the new speedometer (8.7 miles is now 6.9 miles). In all, my trip via GPS was only 8.6 miles, but I suspect the original speedometer would have registered just under 10 miles for the maximum distance on one charge. I arrived home with 48.3 volts at 54% charge.

Future Driving Goals

  • Cruising Speed (self powered)
    • 35 mph
    • 40 mph
    • 45 mph
  • Destinations
    • Checkers + Public Charger
    • Pet store
    • Rockland Park
    • Winchester
    • Dicky Ridge Visitors Center
  • Events
    • Parade
    • Car Show
Door, Trips

Art Walk

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Lounging about at happy creek

Teddy and I zipped on down in the CitiCar over to the Gertrude Miller community park. It was a nice day out and we spent quite a bit of time walking around the park, laying down next to Happy Creek and taking in the sound of the water, the wind in the trees, and birds chirping about.

“Get your art on” written on main street

Next we headed over to the town square. There was an art walk going on where people had setup crafts such as ceramics, antiques, and painting. Two of the tents looked like the artists did spray painting fairly quick with various techniques to make a complex painting in front of your eyes as entertainment for crowds.

Custard on a warm summer day

To beat the heat, we walked along Happy Creek. I let Teddy swim in the river for a little bit. We continued up to B & L Custard. This time I tried the strawberry sauce over custard in a waffle bowl along with whip cream and a cherry on top. Teddy was happy with just a plain pup cup.

CitiCar Maintenance

Window lock on a CitiCar

Arriving home, I loosened up the window locks. I used a Philips head screw driver on the exterior screw along with a 3/8 ratchet on the nut on the other side of the window.

In other news

An unsealed envelop delivered to my door

Two packages arrived in the mail, but one was empty. I tried to request a replacement through the website, but I was being asked to send the original back, or I’d have to pay for it. A phone call to the vendor let me square things up. A replacement is being sent to me.

My Kalimba also arrived in one of them. I’ll be practicing with it while Teddy and I visit the parks.

Listen to me play a kalimba thumb piano

Each package was also supposed to have a different 3-way 12 volt adapter. The better one of the two arrived just fine.

Variety of hot chili peppers
Habanero peppers starting to ripen

My chili peppers are ripening. One of the Habanero peppers started turning orange. These are the hottest peppers that I’ve grown this year, and most of the plants had died off.

Trip Log

WaypointOdometerDistance
Home1,141.9
Gertrude Miller1,145.13.2
Town Square1,146.31.2
Home1,150.13.8
Total8.2
RechargeEnergyCostDuration
RatekWh9.85¢0.46 mph
Total1.92 kWh19.5¢17:53
Per Mile234 Wh2.4¢02:10
Trips

Custard package drop off

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Teddy and I had a destination with custard on our minds. It was going to be a long trip – perhaps the longest. We took the quickest route without stop-and-go traffic. Along the way someone started asking about the car while we were at a stop light.

Teddy patiently waits to eat his custard on an outing with the CitiCar

I had previously purchased a portable EVSE that turned out to be faulty. A return was accepted for a replacement. I dropped it off at the UPS store.

We arrived at B & L’s Custard, just a few feet from the UPS store. Teddy and I grabbed a quick lunch snack. I went with a small cup, and Teddy got his usual “pup cup”.

Teddy is always happy to get a cool treat when we go out. He was fairly distracted with a dog behind a fence barking at us. While we were there, a gentleman asked about the CitiCar while he was waiting for his order.

The ride home was pretty good. I had a little range anxiety, as I kept thinking the car might be starting to lose some power. It felt like the longest trip we’ve ever been on, pushing the car to its limit.

As I arrived home, I saw a USB charger for a cars 12 volt socket setting in front of my driveway. I had forgotten to clear off the roof before I left. Taking a quick look at the odometer, it registered our trip at 9.5 miles. It certainly was the furthest on one charge.

Contact

Curtis Albright SW180-93 contact switch

The contact switch arrived from D & D Motor Systems today. I wired it up to my regulated power supply and a multi-meter for a continuity test. When 12 volts was applied, I could hear something, but nothing was moving and contact wasn’t being made. Bumping up to 22 volts, the contact started to move half way. At 32 volts it was almost instant. Unfortunately, it appears that the coil is meant for 48 volts rather than 12. I’ll have to rethink how I’m going to set things up – potentially using relays, or purchasing a new switch.

Other news

I ordered a PlastiFix kit and Super Clean to prepare for repairing cracks in the CitiCar’s body.

WAYPOINTODOMETERDISTANCE
Home1,124.6
The UPS Store1,129.34.7
B & L’s Custard1,129.30.0
Home1,134.14.8
Total9.5
RECHARGEENERGYCOSTDURATION
RatekWh9.85¢0.97 mph
Total2.46 kWh25.0¢09:50
Per Mile259 Wh2.6¢01:02
Trips

One Hundred

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As of this morning, I’ve lost 100 pounds this year. I started losing weight so that I could increase range and fit in the CitiCar easier. I couldn’t even get the seat belt to buckle when I first got it.

Too big for a CitiCar seatbelt
Before and after photographs losing 100 pounds.

Ice Cream Run

I really wanted to get some local ice cream yesterday. I enjoy training Teddy with ice cream at the park. It was time for another adventure. Teddy and I arrived downtown to find that main street was blocked off again. I took a detour and parked behind the buildings on Main street.

Band with a harmonica

Teddy and I walked over to the town square and meandered through the park. While we were there, a small band was playing some music on the side of the road. One of the guys had a harmonica. We sat down on the curb and listened for awhile. I kept giving Teddy back scratches and massages.

It was time that we headed over to C & C Frozen Treats for ice cream. In front of the shop, there was a dunking booth with a giant teddy bear setting on the seat, and some pie throwing cut-outs for people to stand behind. The little shop was packed with kids. We waited for people to leave before going inside. The dairy-free choices are often limited, but good. I got a quart of brownie ice cream to take home. Teddy got a scoop of strawberry mango.

It was getting late and I wanted to get home before dark. I decided to stop at the post office on the way back. I hadn’t been there to pick up my mail for roughly eight months. When I opened my PO box, I found that it was packed tight.

Storage Idea

Arriving home, I started working on an idea to utilize the empty space in the CitiCar a bit better. I wanted a place to install some car speakers, a camera, lights, and a few other things. Nothing really seemed to be ideal to do anything.

I can’t get anything around the roll bars to mount things onto. There isn’t anything to clip onto. Nothing is magnetic, and I’ve had trouble getting adhesives to stick. It’s difficult to mount anything.

Mocking up cabinets between the CitiCar frame

I got some inspiration when thinking about how my camping trailers had been built in the past. Almost every spot available is made into cabinets or made available in some clever way for storage.

I made a template of the area between the roll bars in the back. I decided to work on making an area that can have doors, drawers, hooks, and some magnetic metal bits to clamp, affix, or hook things onto. I’m mocking everything out using cardboard for now. I’ll upgrade to the final materials once I’ve got it all worked out.

Other News

I purchased an Alltrax SR-72500 Series Motor Controller (SR72500) and a Albright SW180 48 volt Solenoid Kit with a resistor and diode. I missed a call from D & D Motor Systems regarding the solenoid kit. I called back and left a voice mail and later followed up in an email with details for what I was using it for.

A few magazines arrived.

  • Hope on Wheels: New Cars for the Gasless Era, Douglas Bartholomew, New York Magazine, May 21, 1979, pages 38 – 42
  • The Electric Tropica, Frank Markus, Car and Driver, March 1994, pages 95-97
  • A Shocking Discovery, Pat Foster, Hemmings Classic Car, September 2018, page 38
WAYPOINTODOMETERDISTANCE
Home1,115.3
C & C Frozen Treats1,119.64.3
Post Office1,120.40.8
Home1,124.64.2
Total9.3
RECHARGEENERGYCOSTDURATION
RatekWh9.85¢0.59 mph
Total2.35 kWh23.9¢15:52
Per Mile253 Wh2.6¢01:42
Trips

Gazebo Gatherings Summer Concert Series Season Finale

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Gear lubricant draining from differential

I’ve been trying to flush the differential fluid in my cars axle. It’s been more than six months since the car came off of the production line in 1976. I’ve been unable to do it without the proper tools to open the fill plug.

My Allen wrenches arrived today. I opened the drain plug and removed all of the differential fluid. After cleaning the plug, I tightened it back on and started pouring gear lubricant into the fill plugs hole. A quart was not enough. I put in an order for some more and filled the old bottle back up with the fluid that just came out.

Drain Plug5/16″ hex
Flow Plug3/8″ hex
Fluid75W-90, 1½ quarts
Gear Lubricant

SIX MONTHS AFTER PURCHASE AND EVERY SIX MONTHS THEREAFTER

* Check differential fluid level. Use 90 weight Hypoid gear oil. Fill to top. In cold weather lighter weight fluid may be used. It is not advisable to mix different weights. When changing types of oil, flush system. Use no lighter than 30 weight oil.

Section III – Maintenance, Sebring-Vanguard, CitiCar 1976 ½ Owners Manual, page 21-22

Teddy and I hopped into the car with a destination of Gertrude Miller Community Park. I positioned the dash cam so that it had both Teddy and myself in full view, as well as the dashboard. I heard something wearing a bit along the way. I wasn’t sure if it was the rear driver breaks, the motor, or something to do with the differential.

We spent some time at the park and then headed to Advance Auto Parts to pickup the gear lube. I brought the old bottle back with the 45 year old oil that came out of the car. They had me follow them into the back of the store and dump it into a large metal bin with a mesh over the opening. They wouldn’t take the container itself.

ICE parking at an EV charging station

With that, we headed over to the town square, only to find a large event with live music playing. It was the big summer season finale of the towns summer concert series. Vinyl Tracks was playing Beatles songs in the gazebo.

While looking for parking, I saw a big ICE truck parked at an EV Charging space. I got a little annoyed that this vehicle was ICEing an EV charging spot. Although the CitiCar that I was driving is an EV, I wouldn’t park there unless I was using the charger. No parking was available at the town square, so we went to another parking lot nearby and came back to enjoy the park.

Blue Ridge Arts Council Flyer for 2020 Summer Concert Finale featuring Vinyl Tracks
Social distancing at a concert

The concert was enjoyable to listen to as we walked through the park. Everyone was spread out and practicing social distancing. A few people wore masks. We walked past someone enjoying the music from their car.

Teddy and I went across the street to get some ice cream at C & C Frozen Treats. The little shop was packed with people due to the concert across the street. We didn’t bother going inside.

Ice Cream!!!

On the way home, I saw an ice cream truck in my community. I stopped the CitiCar on the side of the street and waved the truck down. I purchased an ice cream sandwich that looked like a big Oreo cookie. I got my ice cream after all!

Differential flow plug on a CitiCar

We arrived home at last. I checked the mileage, voltage, reset the kilowatt meter, and plugged in the battery chargers. The axle was a bit hot. I gave it some time to cool down. I came back and topped off the gear lubricant in the differential pan through the flow plug.

Video

CitiCar trip to the park
WAYPOINTODOMETERDISTANCE
Home1,106.6
Gertrude Miller3.2
Advance Auto Parts1.2
Town Square0.4
Home1,115.33.9
Total8.7
RECHARGEENERGYCOSTDURATION
RatekWh9.85¢0.60 mph
Total2.30 kWh23.4¢14:30
Per Mile265 Wh2.7¢01:40

Other News

The motor bumper arrived today as well as a torque wrench.

I had made about 15% profit in my dividend portfolio that I started out late last year. I sold off everything I had invested in it, so that it only consists of profit now. I’m investing the majority of the money into my other portfolio consisting of disruptive tech and a couple EV companies that I follow almost daily.

Things Mentioned

Mobil1 Synthetic Gear Lubricant LS 75W-90, 1 Quart
REXBETI Hex Key Allen Wrench Set, SAE Metric Star Long Arm Ball End Hex Key Set Tools, Industrial Grade Allen Wrench Set, S2 Steel
TEKTON 3/8 Inch Drive Click Torque Wrench (10-80 ft.-lb.) | 24330
Blue Ridge Arts Council (BRAC)
Vinyl Tracks
Klondike OREO® Sandwich
Club Car Electric GE Motor Bumper (Fits 1982-Up)
AUKEY Mini Dash Cam 1080p Full HD Dash Camera with 1.5” LCD Screen Car Camera with 170° Wide-Angle Lens, G-Sensor, WDR, Motion Detection, and Clear Night Recording