[Caevlist] Cute little EV on Craigslist (2011 Think City)

Mon May 15 09:59:32 PDT 2023

Sorry, meant OBD port under the fuse cover :)

On Mon, May 15, 2023 at 9:59 AM Jacob Field <jacobtimothyfield at gmail.com>
wrote:

> The OBD2 port under the hood is the same CAN line that the battery is on,
> so you should see things there. The CAN line runs at 500kbps, so make sure
> you've got that set correctly.
>
> The usual tool is the PCAN adapter from PEAK, but I've also used an
> Arduino and some CAN modules to communicate, which works as long as you
> know what CAN messages you need to receive and how to interpret them.
>
> I've used the innertube method before on two Thinks and while it works
> (and is relatively safe, the innertube experiences less pressure than it
> would during normal operation in a tire), having a lift would make the job
> far easier (and yes, safer).
>
> - Jacob
>
> On Sun, May 14, 2023, 10:25 PM Christopher Koch <
> jazzjunkie.chris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Thanks Kirk, I'll be sure not to miss the next meeting!
>> It's got about 20 mi of range at best, so I need to arrange a trailer to
>> bring it over to the shop! I live just down the street from Otmar though,
>> so if he's hosting it's no trouble to bring it
>>
>> I went for it and now I'm the proud owner. I thought I found a CANbus
>> port underneath the Matt in the back of the vehicle (a five pin mini fit jr
>> with one black one white wire) but my oscilloscope couldn't read anything
>> on it so maybe that's not what it's for.
>>
>> The most I'll do by myself in the short term is maybe take some covers
>> off to see what kind of new connectors I can uncover. OBD2 port on the
>> dashboard doesn't seem to work with my cheap little readers so I don't even
>> know what's going on there.
>>
>> On Sun, May 14, 2023, 9:15 PM Kirk Swaney - SHIFT Electric Vehicles LLC <
>> kirk at shiftev.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Chris,
>>>
>>> This should get you view access to images of a pack I opened up and a
>>> sketch diagram. All can feel free to copy.
>>>
>>> https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rlggfb7t2m55gio/AABzUXhJR8BG6Pjbws9x8W80a?dl=0
>>>
>>> The inner tube plan seems sketchy. If you need to remove a pack, a 2
>>> post lift is best. Maybe on an EV meeting evening my shop is an option. It
>>> takes about 30 minutes to safely remove or reinstall that way.
>>>
>>> A bigger question is diagnosing what's wrong with the suspect pack. One
>>> cell issue or all degraded cells...  i have software to see individual cell
>>> voltages (without dissassembly). Again, maybe fun at an EV meeting with
>>> other smart folks in our group.
>>>
>>> Good luck with your purchase decision.
>>>
>>> Kirk
>>>
>>> -------- Original message --------
>>> From: Christopher Koch <jazzjunkie.chris at gmail.com>
>>> Date: 5/14/23 1:14 PM (GMT-08:00)
>>> To: Kirk Swaney - SHIFT Electric Vehicles LLC <kirk at shiftev.com>
>>> Cc: Jacob Field <jacobtimothyfield at gmail.com>, Corvallis EVs <
>>> caevlist at caevclub.org>
>>> Subject: Re: [Caevlist] Cute little EV on Craigslist (2011 Think City)
>>>
>>> Thanks Kirk,
>>>
>>> Some photos inside the battery would be great! I'm struggling to find
>>> even basic information like pack configuration beyond "400V"
>>>
>>> That might help with the temptation to drop the battery out without the
>>> proper equipment. I found a video where someone put a big inner tube
>>> underneath to drop the battery gently but I'm not quite crazy enough to try
>>> that yet.
>>>
>>> On Sun, May 14, 2023, 12:05 PM Kirk Swaney - SHIFT Electric Vehicles LLC
>>> <kirk at shiftev.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Chris,
>>>>
>>>> I have serviced a few thinks, owned one, and have pictures of the pack
>>>> opened up if you want to see what that looks like. It is a compact and well
>>>> designed pouch cell pack.
>>>>
>>>> -------- Original message --------
>>>> From: Christopher Koch <jazzjunkie.chris at gmail.com>
>>>> Date: 5/10/23 10:08 PM (GMT-08:00)
>>>> To: Jacob Field <jacobtimothyfield at gmail.com>
>>>> Cc: Corvallis EVs <caevlist at caevclub.org>
>>>> Subject: Re: [Caevlist] Cute little EV on Craigslist (2011 Think City)
>>>>
>>>> Jacob,
>>>>
>>>> One of my big fears was that this was too obscure to have an enthusiast
>>>> community, so I'm really glad to hear otherwise!
>>>>
>>>> I hear what you're saying about how tedious an 18650 build would be
>>>> without some sort of automation; the only reason I would consider it is
>>>> because I already have so dang many of them! If they aren't a good fit I'll
>>>> just go with plan A which is use them to make my family a battery backup
>>>> for their farm house.
>>>> The 18650s I have are already assembled into little 3S3P submodules so
>>>> if the stars align and the form factor is a Cinderella fit into the stock
>>>> envelope that would take a lot of the work out of it.
>>>>
>>>> -Chris
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, May 10, 2023, 9:52 PM Jacob Field <jacobtimothyfield at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The Think itself is a pretty neat little car. I've got one and love
>>>>> it, and there's a solid little enthusiast community with a lot of knowledge
>>>>> about the inner workings.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have all the specifications for the battery pack, as well as
>>>>> information on the CAN protocol it uses to communicate with the car —
>>>>> building a replacement battery pack is certainly within the realm of
>>>>> possibility.
>>>>>
>>>>> That being said, as someone who's tried building an EV battery out of
>>>>> 18650s, it takes AGES. If I ever upgrade the battery in my Think, it'll be
>>>>> using modules from another wrecked EV.
>>>>>
>>>>> If you have plenty of time, money, and electrical savvy, I'd say go
>>>>> for it!
>>>>>
>>>>> - Jacob Field
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, May 10, 2023, 9:28 PM Christopher Koch <
>>>>> jazzjunkie.chris at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I don't want to start a feeding frenzy, but there is a sweet little
>>>>>> EV for sale right now with a worn-out battery I'm thinking about buying (as
>>>>>> are a lot of other people, according to the seller!)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I'm trying to gauge the depth of what I'm getting myself into if I
>>>>>> try to rebuild the battery.
>>>>>> When I was at Arcimoto I was involved with designing their
>>>>>> next-generation battery (sadly that project got scrapped) so maybe I'm too
>>>>>> cocksure about my abilities.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I have a couple thousand 18650s lying around yearning for a purpose,
>>>>>> so there's a lot of hope that I might have what it takes to breathe new
>>>>>> life into this thing but I wanted to put it out there for community comment
>>>>>> and discussion.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Is this a dream project waiting to happen, or is this 2011 EV from a
>>>>>> defunct manufacturer a trap to avoid at all costs?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> -Chris Koch
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>>>> Caevlist at caevclub.org
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>>>>>
>>>>>
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