Vanguard/Sebring Citicar
Last updated 6-14-02
At the bottom of the page is our commentary on the project.
This car and a twin in blue are now study projects at D.C. Everest H.S. for Ross Conrad, Matt Murphy, and Jeremy Traska. Our advisor is Mr. Bill Heeren, a chemistry teacher at Everest. The cars were donated by Duane Kasten of Wausau. Since the cars have sat for some time the brakes were compleatly seized up.
Now the brakes are in operating condition and we have received a donation from Exide Batteries of Green Bay for 8, 6V Deep Cycle Batteries. We have a fairly complete manula for the car which has been a valuable resource. The Pictures below show whats been going on in the project, such as the rebuilt brake components.
Speed Control/Contactor Pictures
Battery Charger Pictures
The front brakes are disk style and use aircraft brakes.
Amazing what some beadblasting can do to get a part clean!
These were from the rear drum brakes. They had to be honed due to some roughness.
The 3.5 hp motor was removed and tested and found to be in great working order.
This is the controller and obvious are the fried wires. We had a direct short that occured as soon as the parking brake was released. The sparking came from the Speed tower, the center one. We are now in the process of solving this problem.
Electric Car Summery Paper
Ross Conrad
Matt Murphy
Jeremy Traska
This paper is a summary of the activities of our independent study project which was aimed at learning about and operating an electric car, donated in 2001, by Duane Kasten.
The CitiCar was an oil embargo emblem. It is the only mass produced electric car of recent times, being produced as the CitiCar from 1974-77 and as the CommutaCar from approximately. 1978-80. Total numbers were about 2500 CitiCars produced and about half that many CommutaCars. These small cars were priced to be competitive with the Volkswagen Beetle but due to their small size, limited range, and poor construction, they never reached the point of being practical for everyone. The final nail was put in the coffin when they were found to be unsafe in accidents and collisions. Fears of battery acid spilling where apparently greater than the fear of gas tanks exploding. In the CommutaCar, the batteries where placed in the cars bumpers instead of under the seat, allowing a greater crush zone and an odd appearance with 18 inch bumpers.
Upon delivery of the two Citicars in spring of 2001, we found them to be in good physical condition but in no way ready to drive. The first car was red and a 48 volt model. The second car was light blue and a 36 volt model. We chose to work on the more powerful and better looking car, which ended up being a poor decision. The blue car was far cleaner and mechanically sound. The red car took extensive brake work to get back into operation.
Brakes on the Citicar are very straight forward to learn, however none of the parts used are common and seem to have been thrown together. The front wheels use aircraft-type disk brakes to slow down. These are very lightweight but expensive to buy new parts for. The rubber seals on these brakes also are odd in that the rubber expands when grease was applied, causing loose seals. Standard automotive disk brakes would have been a better alternative.
The rear brakes are standard drum-style brakes but finding parts is not easy. One brake pad was cracked on the red car and therefore, the part was borrowed from the blue car. The brake drums are very odd in that they are bell shaped and use a four bolt hole arrangement for attachment. The brake cylinders where honed out due to some corrosion and are now in good shape.
All brake lines were clogged due to the brake fluid drying out in the lines. This was a pain to clean out but was accomplished by spraying cleaner through the lines to dissolve the clogs. After all this work was done, examination of the brake system on the blue car concluded it was in excellent condition and would have been a better choice for restoration.
The next major tackle was the actual installation of the batteries. What had appeared to us as being a simple job of hooking up wires turned out to be a two month delay. In an effort to have the car operational for the home coming parade, we used a wiring diagram supplied with the car to hook up the battery cables. This diagram was very vague and some guess work was involved, though it did make sense. Upon hookup of the cables and the turn of the key, performed by Ross, a large blue spark came from the contacts behind the passenger's seat. The conclusion was that the shoulder seat belt buckle had been in contact with a wire and had caused the spark. It was moved and another attempt made. This was greeted with the same blue spark when the parking brake was released, but did not stop when the brake was reapplied. Ross exited the car and smoke was coming from the contacts. Ross noticed smoke was coming from underneath the seat, and upon removal, we noticed the insulation burning off the cables. Ross grabbed the fire extinguisher as Matt and Jeremy pushed the car out the door. This was quite a problem due to the mess it made in the auto shop and the fact we had no teacher supervision. Meanwhile our project was covered with extinguisher powder, which is corrosive on electronics.
The next stage of the project was the cleaning stage, in which the entire car had to be scrubbed down with soap and water. The outside cleaned up well but the inside was tough, with all the small gaps and areas that where hard to reach.
After cleanup was complete it was time to find the source of the problem. Two contactors were welded together, thus causing a short circuit in the car. Knowing better now, these parts should have been examined earlier in the process. In addition, we purchased a new assembly manual from Nu-Kar.com which had more detailed drawings and diagrams which allowed us to construct a formal and straightforward diagram to follow in the next hook up. Finding out the way the contactors all operated was essential to the process of getting the car going.
The contactors are a mechanical method of controlling the amount of voltage reaching the motor. It involves three switches that move to turn on different battery banks. The first tall one that is closest to the front of the car applies the second battery bank or disengages it to allow for top speed. The middle tower is used to change the flow of electricity through the motor, allowing for reverse. The metal canister at the rear switches the resistor on and off under the car. The resistor allows for smooth startups. It was originally a nichrome ribbon but this proved weak and burnt off. It was replaced with a stronger adjustable resistor which mounted in the same location. These switches allow for three speeds going forward and two in reverse.
The batteries are sealed, deep-cycle lead acid batteries and are heavy duty, designed to take heavy drains and many recharges. Their design eliminates the need to add water to the battery and protects from acid leakage. The sixteen batteries were donated by Exide batteries of Green Bay. Each six volt deep-cycle battery costs approximately $225. Conventional batteries would cost closer to $80. Eight batteries sit under the seat, totaling 48 volts. They are divided into two banks of 24 volts each. For different speeds the contactors apply them to the motor. All car accessories except the wipers, horn, and voltmeter operate on 12 volts which are tapped out of the driver's side bank. The other accessories run off of 18 volts. They are also tapped off the driver's side bank. Placement of the batteries was made difficult because they are larger than conventional batteries. Therefore, one had to be relocated to under the dash by the passenger's feet. Originally it was place besides the speed control but its weight was too great for the plastic tray. This battery needs yet to be restrained to prevent it from sliding left and right.
Charging was a concern that was not originally anticipated. With the new batteries, the original charger was not compatible with them. With sealed batteries, the voltage level cannot be allowed to exceed the voltage of the battery by much. This causes hydrogen gas to be released which will cause loss of electrolyte, in short releasing the amount of electricity the batteries can store. Conventional chargers take the voltage levels much higher than the battery, which is corrected by filling the batteries with fresh water every ten or so charges. The new charger was built for these sealed batteries and cost approximately. $300.
This vehicle uses an older style of electronic controls that even at the time the cars were built were considered old methods. Modern SRC controllers work on pulses of current to control speed rather than the mechanical switches this car uses. It can be compared to turning a switch on and off. The faster you want to go, the longer the switch is left on. It switches so quickly though the pulses cannot be felt. A future upgrade to the car would include this control system which would eliminate current loss from the resistor when starting. It would also allow for any speed of operation instead of 8,15, or 30 mph.
In our testing we found the car to have a standard top speed of 32 mph with one run of 34 mph. Suggested top speeds for the CitiCar are 38 to 40 mph. An equalizing charge before the test may provide a fuller charge, increasing the speed.
Range on the Citicar is estimated to be as high as 40 miles. We assume out car would have about the equivalent range with the larger batteries. It should be noted that these numbers refer to the red, 48 volt car. The blue car operates off of 36 volts, therefore being a slower car.
Talks about adding a fuel cell, solar panels, a turbine engine, or ethanol engine to the Citicar have been considered. The main concern towards future groups or individuals is that the car does need a lot of power to get going. Therefore experimentation with these technologies would probably be best experimented on a smaller, lightweight vehicle. Thoughts include the high mileage car being worked on in Principles of Engineering. Enjoy the car but realize those batteries pack a lot of juice. Double and triple check everything before connections are made.