Method

When last we saw my electric car, I was showing it off to nearby elementary and high school students. The vacuum pump wasn't working (although I failed to mention that), and I had developed some sort of short from the pack to the ground -- but it was only detectable when charging, in the rain.

My charger broke not too long before Hannukah. I mailed the broken piece (the control board) via US Postal Service Express Mail, but the holiday packages held it up. They fixed the board and sent it back, saying something I had done to my regulators had caused the problem. Since I can't find anything wrong with the regs, naturally I'm charging without hooking them up to the charger, eliminating one of my safeguards against battericide.

So as 2010 rolls in, I'm running without power brakes, no tachometer, and a flaky charging regimen. Today it was below freezing outside, which reduces lead-acid batteries' range. Of course, my car didn't make it to work.