Sparkfire Featured on CNN’s The Next List blog
I’m definitely a little humbled by the attention. But it was fun to come up with the answers for the questions. Check out the rest here: http://whatsnext.blogs.cnn.com/2012/03/08/an-electric-triumph/
ZEV Parking?
Back when I was researching all of the perks of owning my own electric vehicle, I came across a decal that is given out by the California DMV. It is intended to ensure that the vehicle that’s taking up the “EV only” parking/charging spot is actually an electric vehicle. I thought that I might as …read more
Sparky’s Nice Rack
Recently I had the Spitfire off the road for some much needed repairs and maintenance. One of the features I decided to finish up was a hang glider rack for carrying my glider to and from the beach. The glider is much longer than the car, and it looks a little silly, but it …read more
Sparkfire’s new gas tank
On Friday last week, a fellow Spitfire converter helped me pick up the next big change for my EV. $7200 in lithium batteries. I bought them from CALB’s warehouse in Pomona, CA. They’re close enough that I could drive over with my helpful friend and pick ’em up. This also means that if I find …read more
Suckin’ off the company Amps
My company, AeroVironment, is in the business of designing and building a multitude of electric vehicle charging solutions. It’s joked that if it moves, we charge it. Even though our company makes the chargers, we did not have them actually installed in our parking lot, despite the few EVs owned by employees (myself among them). …read more
Sparkfire’s Birthday
It’s been a while since I completed some maintenance on the Spitfire. The batteries needed some maintenance and cleaning. I finally found the time between some other projects to tackle this long neglected job. With the help of some beer fueled friends, I started to pull all of the batteries out of the car. They’re …read more
Sparkfire Rides Again!
After 4 long months, I finally got the EV back on the road. I apologize for not keeping this blog well updated. In the meantime I’ve done so many small tasks, that it was hard to blog about them. Here’s a short list of the things I completed: Fixed the driveshaft Connected the transmission housing …read more
Windows in the Doors
After a few weeks of being much too busy to work on the Spitfire, I decided to warm back up with a cosmetic fix that has been nagging me for a while. I decided to tackle the windows, seals, and door trim. While not important to getting the car back on the road, I feel …read more
De-Rusting the Wheels
The ugliest part of my Spitfire has been the wheels. I had intended on cleaning them up and re-painting them, but having the vehicle undriveable for a few days to do so was unthinkable. But, with the car laid up with the transmission work, it was a great time to get this done. The rust …read more