1 (edited by rmcdaniels 2017-09-15 11:23 AM)

Topic: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

I wanted to do a test of Sparky, our electric race car, in its new hybrid format, so I figured what better way than send the rest of the team to the race at CMP in the RV and their normal cars, while I make the trip in the electric car. This is a brief (hopefully) chronicle of the 166 mile trip. If I don't show up to CMP, then look for my body somewhere along US1 between Raleigh and Camden.

Looking very sporty, I get a lot of people slowing down to stare at it. They are all men in sedans. No women or guys in cool cars want to be anywhere near this thing:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6658-pj1.jpg


The generator is loud. It runs while I'm driving and throws off a lot of noise and heat. I have become used to the cool peaceful silence of the electric race car; now it's hot and noisy like all of the other Duff Beer cars:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6659-pj2.jpg

I had to reduce the battery capacity to fit the generator in there, so it's good for maybe 20 miles on battery:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6660-pj2-5.jpg

The big EV charger that runs it all. This arrived yesterday and I stayed up last night wiring it in and programming it. Hopefully I did everything right:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6661-pj3.jpg

I have no fuel gauge on the generator, so I took a backup fuel supply:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6662-pj4.jpg

Problem #1, my main pack voltage gauge was way off. I didn't even start the charger until the pack was much lower than it should ever get. A quick roadside check showed that I hadn't FUBARd any batteries, so about an hour in the Sky Mart parking lot and I should be good to go. 33 miles down, 133 to go. The Indian gentleman who runs the store just informed me that My parked car is too loud and that I must leave. I'll update at the next stop:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6663-pj5.jpg

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

oh boy, I want to subscribe to this!

https://www.facebook.com/greatglobsofoil/
This car....Is said to have a will of it's Own. Twisting its own body in rage...It accelerates on.
1978 Opel/Buick Isuzu(C>B>C>B) , 1996 Nissan Maxima OnlyFans (B) , Sold 1996 Ford Probe GT(B),

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

First, this is awesome.

second, put a muffler on the generator for sanity.


Hope you get there in one piece.

20+ Time Loser FutilityMotorsport
Abandoned E36 Build
2008 Saab 9-5Aero Wagon
Retired - 1989 Dodge Daytona Shelby 2011-2015 "Lifetime Award for Lack of Achievement" IOE, 3X I got screwed, Organizer's Choice

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Stopped for lunch, Mixed Chinese Vegetables with white rice lunch special, $5.09. Taking a break in the AC while Sparky roars away in the parking lot, charging itself, priceless, or at least worth more than $5.09:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6664-pj6.jpg


I only got 16 miles down the road. At this rate, I will not make it before dark, and I have no headlights or running lights. I was running the charger and generator very conservatively, but have reprogrammed it to charge much faster and higher. I need to get 30 miles or so between stops or I'm going to have to wire up the lights. Call me a pessimist, but I brought a lot of wire. This is going to be a long day.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Chillin' in the surprisingly comfortable chairs in front of BB's Eastwood barber shop. I took the rural route to CMP because I wanted to avoid tooling down I-95 at 55 MPH. As a result I find myself in the middle of nowhere. This leg was only 26 miles, but ramping up the charge rate and voltage level did wonders for it. I didn't have to stop here, but there's not much out here and I saw a nice place to gas up and hang out while the Sam's Club portable generator chugs away in the background pumping electrons back to the other side of the batteries. This generator is half the size of the one that I'm looking at for the planned racing setup, but it was what I had laying around. With another set of batteries and a big generator, I might be able to do this trip with no stops. I have completed 69 miles of my 166 mile trip, using 4.2 gallons of gas for a stunning 15.7 MPG from my homemade hybrid. This is up from 3.6 MPG that we got in Sparky's debut, and finally the EV is getting better MPG than the 35' Winnebago that hauls our car trailer. At this rate I may make it in time to turn some race laps on Sunday. I don't know how I'm getting home:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6665-pj7.jpg

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

6 (edited by mbm351 2017-09-15 11:50 AM)

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Chinese food in Sanford, Barbershop in Carthage.....    Where will the next stop be?

GO Sparky! GO!

7 (edited by rmcdaniels 2017-09-15 12:08 PM)

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

A lot of people take pictures of this car, and they walk around it sideways, so I'm assuming they are getting a panoramic picture so as to not miss its awesomeness from any angle. It's like nobody's ever seen a hybrid before. The shift linkage fell apart and I lost 1st, 2nd, and reverse. I have zip tied it together and continue on. For my next stop I'll try and find a shady spot so I can begin wiring up the head lights and tail lights. I have a feeling this may continue past sundown. I really wanted to make it to the parade in Camden, but that is looking unlikely, although it is looking more likely that I will eventually make it to Camden:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6666-pj8.jpg

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

I'm rooting for you to make it! big_smile

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Now I know why I watch the History Channel. Watching history be made, much like Lewis and Clark or Columbus, with the play by play of Sportscenter. Awesome.

'18 PNW-Organizer's Choice '17 PNW-IOE '15 PNW-Judge's Choice '14 PNW-Heroic Fix
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Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

I'm in SC! I stopped at a highway on ramp to wire up the headlights, at which point I realized that the headlights were both broken. A quick side trip to Autozone in Rockingham and I now have two new headlights. They are very shiny and look out of place on the car. Somewhere past Laurinburg the batteries were getting low again, so I stopped at a wide spot in the road to charge, but quickly had to move on. There must be an Army base around here because I had a series of young enlisted members stop to see if I needed help. About the time that I had several of them gathered around the car while I explained what was going on, I figured I should go find a parking lot and stop wasting everyone's time. As a former enlisted member from the 80's and 90's, it made me feel really good to see that these guys couldn't pass me by without turning around to come back and see if I needed help. One of the guys told me there was a convenience store just a couple of miles away, so here I am. It's 48 miles to Camden, where the rest of my team is relaxing, drinking beer, and questioning my sanity. While this has been a hot, noisy, and admittedly sketchy journey so far, I'm actually enjoying it. I recently made a big diet/lifestyle change and have lost 28 pounds in the last six weeks, and I feel much better than I have in a long time. Normally clambering in and out of a hot, miserable race car that I'm driving for hundreds of miles and fixing it along the way would have me very cranky, but I'm strangely calm and enjoying the journey. Of course that may just be the generator exhaust fumes talking:
http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6667-pj9.jpg

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Doing the math, I run for about 25 miles and then stop for 30-40 minutes, then do it again. Driving through some little town with a 30 MPH speed limit, the generator was keeping up with the motor, so I need a lot more generator. The charger is running at well under half of its capacity, so I just need a humongous generator and I'm golden. Maybe by Road Atlanta I'll have it all sorted out. I can't imagine running this thing at RA.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

This is the best road trip anywhere on the internets.

Tunachuckers: 15 Years of Effluency
'08 - '10: 1966 Volvo 122, "Charlie"
'10 - '18: 1975 Ford LTD Landau --> 2018 - current: Converted into 1950 "Plymford"
'22 - current: 1967 Volvo 122, "Charlie ]["

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

26 miles to go and I am diverting from Camden and heading straight to CMP. The generator was about empty so I put the emergency reserve gallon in it. There's a gas station across the street where I'll fill everything up before I head out on the next leg. I am now going to eat a sandwich very slowly:

http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6668-pj10.jpg

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

My shiny new headlights point in completely random directions. I can see about 5 feet in front of the car on the pavement or spot helicopters. The adjustment mechanism behind them is a combination of rust and cracked plastic bits, so they aim where they aim. Fortunately the periphery of the upward aiming one catches the reflective paint and little reflectors on the road, so I can see where I'm going pretty well. Nobody has flashed their high beams at me yet, so maybe it's aimed so high that I'm not blinding everyone.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

I made it.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

This is the greatest thing I've seen all week. Rock on!

Fourteen time loser. You'd think I'd know better by now.

17 (edited by gt5pilot 2017-09-16 06:00 AM)

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Such...awesomeness...the Road Trip from Heaven!  Now, in true Lemons fashion - have someone fab a quiet muffler on that generator while you are there!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Finally got a chance to update this. After the Subway stop, I made it 21 miles before the batteries got too low. At that point it was almost 11:00 P.M. and I was the only car on the road, so I dropped it to 1st gear and proceeded to CMP at 30 MPH. The batteries actually charged from 129 to 134 in the last 5 miles. I left it up by the penalty box and Judge Phil drove it around for a bit today while I raced our Mercedes 240D. It is a fun little scooter to tool around in when it's in battery-only mode. Listening to that damn noisy generator for 14 hours was maddening though. As soon as I pulled into the paddock someone walked over and turned it off for me. I was very happy to hear it die.

Looking back, I think that the trip worked well. I wanted to see if I could run a generator and a charger while discharging the batteries and rolling down the road, and that was accomplished. I think that I just need a bigger generator. I used 5000 watts from the generator , which was enough to keep up with the load at 30 MPH, and above 30 it pulled from the generator/charger and the batteries and slowly drew them down until I slowed down or stopped. The charger  will support up to 12000 watts, so I think that if I get a generator that will provide the power, then try it again, maybe with another pack of batteries, then I wouldn't have to stop. Ideally this will work towards something that I can take to a race, probably next year at CMP.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

most epic ever! now I want to do a road trip.....

https://www.facebook.com/greatglobsofoil/
This car....Is said to have a will of it's Own. Twisting its own body in rage...It accelerates on.
1978 Opel/Buick Isuzu(C>B>C>B) , 1996 Nissan Maxima OnlyFans (B) , Sold 1996 Ford Probe GT(B),

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

There will be quiet hour laps! We love quiet hour laps.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Judge Steve and Kim from HQ turned some quiet hour laps in it:


https://youtu.be/mhrXKpVNf10



http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6669-pj12.jpg

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

Glad you made it, and hope you made it home.

After your first post I thought you were only charging while stopped, and I was going to ask why you couldn't charge while running, but I see that I was wrong about that assumption. When you change out the generator for racing I very highly recommend adding a real muffler to the generator since most only come with a flame suppressor, not a muffler. (I have a feeling i'm not telling you anything you don't already know).

20+ Time Loser FutilityMotorsport
Abandoned E36 Build
2008 Saab 9-5Aero Wagon
Retired - 1989 Dodge Daytona Shelby 2011-2015 "Lifetime Award for Lack of Achievement" IOE, 3X I got screwed, Organizer's Choice

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

It has something off of the exhaust port, not sure what level of baffling is in it, but probably not much. Here's a picture (welded on piece of broken header collector is to keep it from aiming right at the side of the wooden battery box). When I put the real generator in it, I'll be removing the engine and generator from the frame and mounting them to the floor in the back, then relocating the electrical components and ditching the fuel tank for an OEM Horizon/Omni tank in the stock location. I figure I'll run the exhaust through a muffler and out the back where a normal exhaust would exit:

http://www.carolinahondas.com/members/roger-albums-pj-picture6670-pj13.jpg

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

We put it on the trailer and I drove the race car home from CMP. It's not as fast as Sparky, but I was tired after racing all weekend and a 3-hour trip back to Raleigh was what I really needed.

Everybody grab your brooms, it's shenanigans!

Re: A Duff Beer Odyssey: Driving the electric car to CMP

How much weight have you stripped out of the 240D?  I'm daily-ing a 1983 240D with a 4 speed right now, and wondering how much weight could be taken out of it to make it a bit less pokey...

Tunachuckers: 15 Years of Effluency
'08 - '10: 1966 Volvo 122, "Charlie"
'10 - '18: 1975 Ford LTD Landau --> 2018 - current: Converted into 1950 "Plymford"
'22 - current: 1967 Volvo 122, "Charlie ]["