Progress on the car is continuing, albeit at a slow rate. The cage that protects the driver's legs and the batteries has been built, and one of the other team members is building the rear frame section, that will house the mounts for the rear wheel, motor, roll bar, and seat supports. While that is built, I'm working on the steering system up front. To minimize space, the steering will be done with two push rods instead of the conventional steering wheel. This is a much simpler system, which means it can be built much quicker.
The car will have a new motor, motor controller and battery monitor thanks to $1500 dollars that I've raised from several local sponsors, in return for ad placement on the body of the car. I calculated that we need $1500 because all together, the motor, motor controller and battery monitor cost around $1400. The car is split up into 5 ads that were soold to the sponsors. The motor is a MARSX, and it was specifically designed for small vehicle applications. The motor controller allows us to use a variable throttle on our car, while the battery monitor tells us important statistics, like how many amps the batteries have left, how much we're currently drawing, etc.
Work on the electric car is coming along at a steady pace. So far we've bolted on the sheet metal floor, as well as supports for the seat and batteries. We're also working on building two trapezoidal struts that will make up the top of the car's body. Once that is done, we'll build the arms that will hold the wheels, the roll bar, and the motor mounts for the back end.
