Front grilleTigger the VWMotor
OwnerNikki Gordon-Bloomfield
Owner's Other EVsSakura Pedalec Electric Scooter/Bike
1998 City El
2004 Toyota Prius
Ego Helio (Ego Cycle 2)
2002 REVA (G-Wiz)
LocationBristol, England United Kingdom map
Web/EmailWebPage email image
Vehicle1984 Volkswagen CityStromer
Factory-built VW CityStromer - originally designed and built
for testing in the German market, this model is one of two
RHD CityStromers which were ever built!
Motor Brown Bovori ... Separately Excited DC
The motor gave up after 25 years service, so the previous
owner had it rebuilt at great expense to him.

Sadly, the motor gave up AGAIN a few months ago and so
it's back in the shop getting new brush boxes made. The
culprit? We think the controller wasn't quite set up as it
should be. We've sent the Controller to be hardware
programmed to the specs set out in the original VW
manual.
DrivetrainSeparately excited motor, with clutch onto original gearbox.
ControllerZapi Sem3
Capable of 500A at 96V, but it's tuned down to 300A max
and
150A max regen after we learnt the hard way that
anything over 350A would cook the brushgear.



Batteries16 Sonnenschein GF 06 180V, 6.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Gel
They're exhausted. Seriously. They're seven years old and the
car is really struggling to get a huge distance.

System Voltage96 Volts
ChargerZivan NG3
This NG3 is tricked out! We've got temperature sensors, a
multi-curve selection switch (so we can charge various
different battery capacities and types of lead - flooded or
gel) and a switchable input limit on current, so we can
plug into a standard domestic 13A 230V circuit or a larger
16A, 230V circuit.

The charger was previously cooking the batteries (there
was something wrong with the logic board) but now it's
had a service and an upgrade everything is A-ok!
HeaterWebasto at present - but as it's tempremental and GAS
powered we're going to take it out and replace it with a 110V
hairdryer! :)

DC/DC Converter CP Power and Automation DDH300D12
This replaced the (not very good) Iota DC/DC we had in
previously. It produces 12VDC at 25A output. We have it
feeding the car's 12V battery when the car is in motion
and protection to ensure the 12V battery doesn't get
overcharged.

InstrumentationSpeedometer, mileometer and trip counter. Plus PakTrakr.
Lots
of interference with PakTrakr and the serial output has just
failed!
Top Speed65 MPH (104 KPH)
The bad batteries do nothing to help the top speed. She'll do
60 mph on a good day, and occasionally 65. But 50 is a
much
more realistic speed, to be honest!
AccelerationNot tested but up to 30mph is fine around town
Range15 Miles (24 Kilometers)
The car will do 24 miles on the current battery pack in warm
weather, but in the winter that's a lot less. We need a new
pack, which will cost about £1,500.
Watt Hours/Mile1000 Wh/Mile
This is based on average daily driving and power required to
recharge pack.
EV Miles
Start:20,299 Miles (32,661 Kilometers)
Current:20,500 Miles (32,984 Kilometers)
Total:201 Miles (323 Kilometers)
Seating Capacity5 adults
Curb Weight3,500 Pounds (1,590 Kilograms)
TiresReally cheap tyres from the local dealer. They're probably not
great on rolling resistance, but we pump them up fairly hard!
Conversion Time3 weeks, to rebuild after receiving the vehicle as a project -
but then months of waiting while we got the motor re-built.
It's still being fixed, but we have hopes that Tigger will drive
again for the spring!

code by jerry