Range update

So, I probably have a good 10 months of driving on the car and the battery pack is broken in quite well. The SOC gauge has been showing over 100% in the morning for a few months, but now it seems pegged. I was estimating the old fully charged SOC at 110% but now I'd say it's 120%. After I drive the 4.5 miles to work and she sits a few hours it shows 100% SOC. When I return home and let her sit, it now shows 70% remaining. These are highway miles too, at 60+ MPH...
Back in June I did a test and put 17 highway miles on a full charge. Now I could probably do 20 or 25. Maybe I should revise the range up a bit?

0-60 time revisited

Quick update on the 0-60 time. I occasionally make a pass on my way to work and see what time I get. I still spin the wheels a bit, but I've been getting 12.8 seconds pretty consistently, so this may be the best I can do.
I can't help but think a real driver on a track could do better, but this will have to do for now. Still, it's faster than a Triumph Spitfire, MGB or the original Porsche 914 - http://www.albeedigital.com/supercoupe/articles/0-60times.html
I'll continue taking an occasional pass to see if I can better 12.8.

Burning rubber

I've been trying to get a 0-60 time on the car and I found that it's not as easy as it sounds.

First you need to find a place with a 60 mph speed limit, with light traffic, that is level for about a 1/4 mile and has a wide shoulder for you to start from. I'm also looking for a place that's along my commute or nearby so that I won't have to drive out of my way to do the test.

I found a place that is pretty close and bought a cheap stopwatch and made several attempts. Problem is, I'm better behind a wrench than behind the wheel. I shift too late, feather the accelerator too much not to mention being late with the stopwatch...

In my latest attempts I decided to just hammer it and shift at 5000 rpm and see how we do.
The first time I tried it the Zilla cut out - I started moving then, no power. After I released the acceleration and step on the juice returned. No point working the stop watch on this run.
I found that the Zilla Stall Detect was the culprit and disabled it.

The next morning I reset my stopwatch and drive out to the spot, pull to the shoulder, put it in second gear and wait for the traffic to clear. Once the coast is clear I hit the stopwatch and floor it. The motor revs and we start moving, but not too very fast - and then there is the smell of something burning. I back off the pedal and get to 60, but the stopwatch shows 14.4 seconds and the smell is now clearly burning rubber. I drive around the block and see about a ten foot strip of rubber leading off the shoulder and into the street.

So, the hammer plan obviously won't work.
I still don't have my 0-60 time, but I do have a nice strip of rubber to show for my trouble.

Fired Up!

In shopping for lugs I came across a conversion check list at www.EVParts.com. It says one ought to test the motor and driveline on 12volts before you get too far. Makes sense - If things don't mate up correctly and you wait until the car is done before you try it out, you'll be doing a lot of disassembly.
I jacked up the rear end, double checked the bricks blocking the front wheels, put it in neutral and used a couple of jumper cables to connect the terminals of the motor together and the motor to a single battery.
I tried to take a short movie of it to post, but the camera wasn't behaving.
There was a snap, a few sparks, a whiff of ozone and the motor lept to life!
It accelerated smoothly - no wobbles or vibration.
Good news.
Next I put it in 5th (don't want it going very fast if it falls off the jack) and tried it again. This was a little scarier, but with a zap the motor spun up again and I could see the rear wheels spinning in the proper direction.
Not bad.
I thought about testing the clutch next, but think I'll wait for someone else to help with the battery.