Balancing act

We have removed all 48 cells from the MR2 and have wired them in parallel for a balance charge.  As you can see in the picture, we have set the voltage to 3.6 volts and will be monitoring the current as they charge.  As they charge, the current will slowly get close to zero until they are balanced.  No telling how long this will take, but we will be baby sitting for as long as it takes.

Synkromotive controller installed in MR2

We finally got around to removing the Raptor 1200A and installing the Synkromotive 900A in the MR2.  The Raptor has served us well over the last 9 years, making appearances in three different installs.  It is a very powerful controller, but that is all, it does not allow for programming or data logging.  The Synkromotive controller has been working flawlessly in our Ranger for over a year, so we decided to install one in the MR2 as well.

  Initial observations are the MR2 with the Synkro has a tad bit less acceleration.  On the plus side, gone is the horrible accelerator delay we had with the Raptor.  This issue reared its' ugly head in Auto Cross events where you had to press early on the pedal in anticipation of the power surge....not fun.

  Now to drive the MR2 and data log the results.  The data logging will really help us to track the performance of our Lithium pack as well.

8th Straight EV Challenge title!!!

The Topsail High School Electric Vehicle Team won the EV Challenge final event for the 8th consecutive year this past weekend at the NCCAR complex in Roanoke Rapids NC.  Placing First and Second overall in the competition against 14 schools from as far away as Iowa and Miami.  Our now Lithium powered MR2 actually posted a better time than a $110,000 Tesla Roadster in the autocross event!  Our Ford Ranger scored a perfect 100 in the Vehicle Design category, a feat that has never been accomplished.  The Ranger team dominated in every category and tallied a perfect 10 cumulative score....the best score possible(Low score wins like golf).
The following students won awards:

Truck Team
Troubleshooting - Zach Fouty, Sal Castoro    First Place
Oratorical- Sean Bullock, Stephen Henderson   First Place
Vehicle Design- Alexis Demetrious, Chris Raynor   First Place
Range- Alexis Demetrious, Todd LeMaster   First Place
AutoCross- Joseph Graves   First Place

Modified Car Team:
Oratorical- Zeke Hartner, Joseph Graves     Second Place
Vehicle Design- Tony Capace, Joey Godfrey    First Place
Range- Tony Capace, Joey Godfrey    First Place
AutoCross-  Sean Bullock    Second Place

Website Design-  Shelby Sessions    First Place
School Initiative-  First Place

This has been by far the best class I have ever taught while a Topsail High School.  They represented the school with pride, dignity and class.  The class went into the competition with the motto "Dominate", and they did just that.  As Sean Bullock said, "Preparation = Domination", a formula that has worked for THS EV for 8 years!

Food Lion Hot Dog Fundraiser

We spent a cold and blustery day at the Hampstead Food Lion Saturday selling hot dogs and raffle tickets.  We did not sell too many dogs, but we had a good time and made over $200 total including ticket sales.  Every little bit helps, and the $200 puts us that much closer to ordering our Lithium batteries!

2010 NEAT EV Rally Champions!

After two days of competitions, the THS EV11 Team came out victorious.  Capturing first place overall and 10 other trophies made the event our most sucessful ever.  Here were our team results:
First Overall Champion
First, Autocross- Truck class: Joseph Graves
First, Acceleration- Modified class: Tony Capace
First, Acceleration- Truck class: Kevin Mullins
First, Troubleshooting- Stephen Henderson, Sean Bullock
Second, Autocross- Modified class: Sean Bullock
Second, Pit Crew- Alexis Demetrious, Joey Godfrey, Zeke Hartner, Joseph Graves
Second, Jeopardy Challenge: Alexis Demetrious, Sal Castoro
Second, Poster Presentation: Chris Raynor, Sal Castoro

Second, Range- Modified class: Joey Godfrey, Tony Capace
Second, Range- Truck class: Todd Lemaster, Alexis Demetrious

Topsail Kiwanis presentation

Our EV Team had an opportunity to present our program and fundraising initiative to the Topsail Island Kiwanis club this morning.  We were the featured guest and a wonderful breakfast was provided.  Sean and Stephen spoke to the group with a prepared speech and then opened the floor for questions.  The Kiwanians were very impressed and had excellent questions that continued when they viewed the Ranger and MR2 outside after the meeting adjourned.  We were able to sell our raffle tickets after the presentation.  With over fifty tickets sold, the meeting was prosperous for our fundraising as well as community awareness of our EV program.

ACE Hardware display and fundraiser

Saturday was a beautiful day for informing the community about our EV program.  We had both the Ranger and the MR2 on display at Hampstead ACE Hardware where we sold raffle tickets and displayed our award winning vehicles.  Thanks for the students who took valuable time out of their schedule to help.  We have an excellent dedicated group this year.  With only 12 students, everyone has to step up and do their share...often.  Many raffle tickets were sold, especially by Todd, our salesman of the day!

Zaxby's fundraiser night

We participated in the Zaxby's school night on Wednesday by displaying the vehicles between 8-9pm.  In return, Zaxby's agreed to donate 14% of their proceeds during this time to our program.  There was a great turn out and after the total was tallied, we will get a $218 donation.  Not bad for three hours.  Good food and good times were had.  Thanks to the THS faculty, students and families that showed up to support our program.

AutoCross at CFCC

    Several hundred auto enthusiasts were "shocked" to see how well a battery powered MR2 can do on an Autocross course.  Thanks to Brad Draughn and the Cape Fear Chapter of the SCCA, we were allowed to make several runs on their Autocross course Sunday at the CFCC North Campus. EV11 team member Sean drove with co-pilot Brad for two runs, finishing with a respectable 55 second run, good practice for the Autcross event we will participate in at NCCAR this November.  

    Brad, a tech for Toyota of Wilmington, took the controls for two runs with a low time of 49 seconds. His first drive in an EV, Brad was impressed with how well the MR2 performed.  He definitely had an "EV grin"!  The fastest time of the day was in the low 40's, so we did very well against our gas powered competition.  

A day full of display

Friday was a busy day for the EV class.  The entire Pender County Schools employees came to Topsail High School for the beginning of school Convocation.  Over 900 employees got a chance to see the EV's and ask questions as they made their way into THS for their day of meetings.  Sal was the early bird and did a great job showing the vehicles to anyone who stopped by.

  Later, we showed all three EV's at the football game against Trask.  We positioned the vehicles so that everyone entering the game had to walk by them.  Most people stopped and asked questions and were very positive about our program.

Display at THS Wrestlers car show

School is just around the corner and we took the opportunity to display all three EV's at the Topsail Wrestlers car show.  This was their second show at the Topsail High School campus and we were amongst about 75 other    cars showing off their wheels.

Seven time National Champions!

The EV class traveled to Raleigh this weekend and emerged victorious again.  We collected 11 trophies including first and third overall.  This was the seventh year in a row that we have won first overall in the SMARTT Challenge competition against high schools from as far away as Iowa and Miami.
  The new Ford Ranger conversion took top honors.  We finished the truck just two days before the competition and really felt this was our best effort to date.  Being our fifth conversion, we used our knowledge from the past to help us to make the very best conversion we could do with the budget we had.  All of our hard work paid off with a $1000 check for first place!
  The Toyota MR2 placed third and brought home first place in the Autocross competition, a feat we had not yet achieved. We also earned $500 for third place

Our Overall trophies were:  
1st Overall (Ranger truck
3rd Overall (MR2)
2nd School initiative

1st Website

Our Truck team:
1st Range (Josh Parmeley, Jeff Harris)  53 miles
3rd Troubleshooting (Josh Parmeley, Ryan Stone)
3rd Oral presentation (Aaron Hackett, Sean Bullock)
1st Vehicle Design
2nd Autocross (Ryan Stone, Josh Parmeley, Aaron Hackett)

Our MR2 team:
1st Range (Aaron Hackett, Marissa Ruehle) 32 miles, could have gone 50, but we had already won)
6th Troubleshooting (Ashley Counts, Dakota Adcock)
4th Oral presentation (Arik Jones, Adam Markley)
4th Vehicle Design
1st Autocross (Dakota Adcock)

Engine extracted!!

We finally have removed the last hurdle in our Ranger conversion , the engine. After making sure all wires and lines were disconnected, we loosened the motor mounts, attached a strap and hoisted the V-6 from the engine bay. Now, the conversion process can be broken down into several tasks and assigned to student teams for design and implementation. Next week, the thinking begins!

Spot Festival

We had the MR2 on display at the Hampstead Spot Festival again this year. Usually this is the most exposure we get with our program, but this year the rain kept people home and the crowds were light. We displayed on Saturday and the team volunteered their time with the festival on Saturday and Sunday, parking cars, picking up trash, hauling hay, and breading fish in the Spot fish dinner tent. I was pleased that all of my team showed up for their shifts and represented the school well. Hopefully next year will have better weather.

It's back!! Up and running again with new Raptor.

We received the rebuilt Raptor controller this week from Peter Senkowsky and installed it during class with the new EV10 students. I must admit, I was apprehensive and nervous about firing it up, but we managed to not let the smoke out and all is well. I have not driven the car enough to determine if this one is "peppier" since it does not have the"mild" chip that Peter had in the loaner controller, but I will keep you posted.
The EV10 students seem very eager to learn and to participate, hope this enthusiasm continues throughout the year as we embrace a new conversion. Next up, installing the DC/DC converter.