It's Electric
It's Electric, an electric-car emporium in San Rafael selling primarily Solectrias, was the venue for the NBEAA chapter meeting. The topic of interest was a Sparrow-on-steroids, affectionately known as the “Frog,” a creation arising from the collaboration of EV gurus Peter Senkowsky and Gary Flo, and sponsored by Villa Helena Winery (of Don McGrath). At the meeting, it was decided to sponsor the Sparrow's transportation costs to the upcoming electric car drags at Bandimere Speedway in Morrison, CO (near Denver); in return, the chapter would get its name on the Sparrow.
NBEAA meeting attendees are introduced to the “147Frog”, 'er Sparrow. Peter Senkowsky (3rd from left) and Gary Flo (2nd from right) are the principle builders and architects of the upgrade of the vehicle from a normal Corbin Sparrow EV (a single occupant three-wheeled (two front, one rear) vehicle that is considered a motorcycle by the California Department of Motor Vehicles). The upgrade was done in part for performance, and in this case, the Frog had a best time through the quarter mile in the 14-second range. Upgrades included a 156V pack of Optima Yellow-top spiral-wound batteries, and a high-output DCP Raptor controller. The vehicle was driven down from Sonoma County on Hi101 for this meeting. Vehicle sponser Don McGrath, NBEAA chapter secretary, is at far right in the picture.
In this two-image montage, we’re looking under the hood at the front end of the vehicle (the hood pivots almost at the very front of the vehicle). The large black box is a Zivan K2 battery pack charger. The large silver-colored aluminum box is a Todd DC-DC converter, to provide power to the 12V system (lights, wiper, stereo, …) from the main 156V traction pack. The yellow objects underneath these two pieces are some Optima Yellow top batteries, part of the traction pack.
The It's Electric showroom was a nice place for the NBEAA to hold its meetings. A car showroom dedicated to clean quiet EVs. A nice Bay Area map on the wall to the right. This is a rear view of the Sparrow and Peter Senkowsky in black to left; Gary Flo is at the right. The green panel on the floor is the cover for the space where the controller is mounted (see image 7).
At the left rear of the vehicle is the cavity where the controller (DCP Raptor 600A - green box with eight blue objects), contactors (lower left) and associated paraphernalia is housed. The large red objects are Anderson 175A housings.
This shot shows the belt drive from the 8" Advanced DC motor looped over the rear hub, which contains an axle to the rear wheel. Also shown is a brake hose.
Tail of Sparrow.
This is a view of the interior of the vehicle with the bottom part of the seat and the floor removed. More yellow tops are found here.
Related
Our March hosts were Terry and Karen Sweet, of SweetMotors.com, a Corbin Sparrow dealership in Santa Rosa. North Bay EVers were treated to donuts while being given the latest on the details of this EV business. After this discussion, people were given the opportunity to take the SweetMotors flock out for 2D flights 'round the block. Two of these Sparrows are in the February 23 pictures above.
Our February meeting was held at Thunderstruck Motors in Santa Rosa on a damp rainy day. The North Bay Chapter held a joint meeting with the East Bay Chapter. This meeting served as a revival of sorts for the North Bay Chapter, which had had only sporadic meetings for the last year or two. We inaugurated Dr. Nick Carter as the new chapter president. Brian Hall showed us some interesting EV machinery that Thunderstruck is developing. And EVers from the two chapters got to talk and learn from each other and to have fun. All in all, it definitely made up for the rainy weather.
