This is the ComutaCar.
It's an Electric car that was made in 1980, so it looks like what they thought the future would look like- in the 80's. Like the title indicates, it's basically a golf cart, with explosives mounted on the front and back. Notice that box? That's where the batteries live!
(Note: If you happen to be an Instagrammer, you can follow @explosive_golfcart to keep updated there!)
Currently, it has no batteries- So I'm building it some. For now, let's take a look at the fabulous specifications of electric cars from the 80's.
- 6 HP DC motor
- 50 MPH (theoretical) top speed
- 48V battery pack, max current draw of 125A
- ABS plastic body, over "aircraft grade" aluminum frame
In 1980, Consumer Safety Report rated it "Not acceptable". They reviewed it with another small electric car, and the front axle of that one caved in. The ComutaCar's axle didn't, so it's safe, comparatively.
I got this one about 2 months ago. Here's the rather long story of how it came to be mine.
Every now and then, we drive through a little town in Washinton known as Lyle. Just before you get out of town, there's a dead-end road that branches off, and when you drive by, you can see right up someone's driveway. Anyways, I'd noticed an unusual car up the driveway a few times- But never had gotten a good glimpse of it, since we zoomed by. I'd recently learned about Comuta and CitiCars, so I wondered if maybe it just might be one.
One day, I was driving by with free time, so on a whim, I pulled over and turned around, and drove up the road. As I got out of my Rabbit on the street below, I saw that it was indeed a ComutaCar. It was parked at the top of a steep driveway, so I stood at the end of the driveway for a few minutes, wondering if it was OK to walk up and take a look.
Luckily, the lady came out on the balcony and asked if she could help. I said I was just looking at the ComutaCar, and she said "Come on up! I'll be right down". She very enthusiastically told me all about it, and how they'd come to get it.
In 2002, her husband was wanting to learn about electricity, electric cars, and renewable energy. He bought this car from someone in Spokane, WA, in non-running, poor cosmetic condition. Since buying it, he'd gotten it running again, had it repainted, and (I think) re-upholstered the interior. It also got new wheels and tires (which unfortunately means it lost the hubcaps and original wheels).
Now, they have an all-electric Ford Fusion, which charges from their solar-panel carport, under which it and the ComutaCar are parked. A few years back, he bought a Zaptruck, a newer mini electric truck, had it shipped from Arizona, built it batteries, and then shipped it to their vacation home in the Caribbean. They'd like a Tesla, but those are just a little expensive.
Now, he's done with it- He'd like to sell it. I laughed, and told her I was a "poor highschooler with no money". She laughed, and was kinda like "Well, give him a call anyways, and we'll see what he says."
I took his number, and sent a text once I got back to my car. He called me back later, told me everything his wife had already, and then said if I was interested, I should come over, and he'd show me it, and how it works.
We picked a day, so I drove on over. Once I got there, he filled me in on a few more details, and then we hauled the batteries out of the garage, and drove it around the block.
I can see why Consumer safety reported it as "Not acceptable". I doubt we ever got over 15MPH, and it was the bumpiest, slowest, and most awkward thing I've ever driven. Shaken and a bit offput, I parked it back in the driveway, and we got out.
Then, we hopped in the Ford Fusion. He drove us out to a rest stop about a mile off, and then we turned around, and I got to drive back. Needless to say, it was a much nicer ride. The only bump that occurred was when the roll of paper tape he'd put on the front fell off. We retrieved it on the way back.
When we got back, he told me all about how he'd tried to get rid of it. It's not an undesirable car, and one in excellent condition (like this one will be with a little work) should go for upwards of 10K. He'd had it listed on craigslist for 6K, but nobody seemed willing to drive out to actually see it. Then, he tried to donate it to the WAAM - the local Antique Airplane and Automobile Museum, but they wanted it in all-original condition, and since it was just gonna sit, anyways, he decided to try to get it to someone who'd use it and tinker with it. Next, he tried to donate it to the highschool - But nobody seemed interested (Crazy, I know). Now, if only he could find someone who wanted to learn about it and do things with it- He'd be willing to give it to them for a steal.
He ended up offering me $350 without the batteries, or $700 with.
I bought it, without the batteries.
That's OK, though. Already, before even going to look at it again, I'd begun planning for building it a new Li-ion battery pack. From my research, I found that 18650 cells are plentiful and cheap, and there's lots of information online about them.
Unfortunately, 18650 cells cost upwards of 3$ per cell, and I need 1728 of them. Not something I can afford. Luckily, you can salvage 18650 cells from used "dead" laptop battery packs- And often at least half of them will be good.
So, I posted an add on craigslist, asking for "used, dead laptop battery packs".
Enter Julie, from a local Materials Management company. She emailed me a day later, and said basically this: "I have 3 55 gallon barrels full of batteries. We're moving out of our warehouse in 3 days, and we'll deliver them by truck!" What a stroke of luck!
So now, I'm the proud owner of 3 barrels of hazardous waste. They're not all the right kind of packs, but at least 1 and 3/4 barrels are. I (roughly) guestimated that I'd be able to salvage over 2000 good cells from them.
Here's what an 18650 cell looks like. It's basically like a AA, but it's a little bigger. They also have slightly different specs: 3.7 or 3.6V nominally, and anywhere from 1000mAh to 3600mAh. If I'm lucky, I'll get mostly in the 2200-2600 range, though a lot of the common red cells seem to be 1500-2000. The final range of my car will depend on the average capacity of the cells I used in the packs.
I've done lots of research on batteries, BMS, charging, and suchlike, and I think I have viable scheme for building safe packs that will charge reasonably fast. That's a whole post in itself, so I think I'll wait to explain that in detail. Basically, I'll have 144 12V battery packs, with sets of 36 (in parallel), wired in series to produce 48V. Ideally, that will give the ComutaCar about 100 miles of range under ideal conditions. That's quite an improvement to the original 40 miles!
There's lots to do with this car (including some brake work), but it'll be great content for blog posts, instructables, and YouTube videos, so I look forwards to lots of content creation to come!
There's also plenteous possibilities for upgrading the car. Here's my current plans:
- Li-Ion battery pack
- Fast charger system compatible with modern standards
- New (ideally homebuilt) solid state controller to replace the 3 speed relays
- Regenerative braking
- Cruise control
- Cruise control with auto-braking and acceleration
- Lane keeping
- (Hehe) Advanced Autopilot
- Autonimity?
As you can see, I've got my hands full for quite a while. For now, I'll be more than happy when I can drive it to and from work on a full charge.
(I haven't found the horn- If it's missing, I'd really like to install one of those loud truck horns...)
