Apart from the famous Curtis PWM squeal (which actually resonates via the electric motor) most other electric cars are pretty quiet. Something we toyed with some time ago (but didn’t have the IP funds to push it through)…

Prius to offer optional noise to alert pedestrians:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-20014511-17.html?tag=mncol;posts

Nissan Leaf brings the noise:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-20007463-48.html

The sound, a sine wave sweeping from 2.5kHz to 600Hz, was designed to be audible to all age groups. At start-up, the sound comes on at its loudest to warn the visually impaired and other pedestrians that a car is about to enter their vicinity. When the Leaf is reversing, the system produces an intermittent sound, similar to the back-up warning systems on trucks.

A human powered car hits the road running. Appears somewhat light-on but could be just the thing for meat-head drivers heading for the local Hog’s Breath Cafe – they can exercise all those calories off on their way home!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1304120/The-human-powered-car-reach-speeds-60mph.html#ixzz0wzn2Wrxh

Plans are underway for mass production with added features such as, ahem, a cabin, traction batteries, air bags, ABS etc (and with all that added weight, good exercise will become a way of life!). Of course depending on what one eats, an exhaust pipe may also become a necessity.

I knew Curtis was becoming more of a jerk lately. Someone suggested a failing section in the row of driving MOSFETS as a common controller issue. The old MOSFETS certainly get a punishing and as I read somewhere it’s like an old train driver giving instructions to the coal loaders for more power and the time delay for passing the instructions down the chain of command thus causes the jerky acceleration. Well, very basically so. I really didn’t want to open her up again so I thought I’d check everything else out first. Battery connections were fine, so I fiddled with connections to the pot box and hit the pedal. Whammo, much smoother! So out with the air-jet can and CRC electrical spray all around the pot and problem solved.

Spray a little kindness to your accelerator pot box. Your controller and battery pack will thank you.

That spray has been handy for all sorts of reasons, even lubricating the door hinges. I rang a friend to confirm this and he said it can be a common issue with the standard pot box. They can fail eventually, by which time I may replace with a hall effect throttle when I get around to upgrading the speed controller.

Anyway, between 0 and 5K ohms resistance drops fixed easily. I wonder if a more sealed unit is available, in the mean time may consider a perspex lid to reduce dust ingress.

It is a sad day when one has to let go of a beloved Starion. Regrettably, due to financial commitments and just ‘getting on with life,’ I have sold my ICE Starion GSRIII. This was a beautiful car to drive that I had once considered converting to electric. Being an automatic, I was advised against the conversion due to excessive power loss through the hydraulic system. But there’s a plus side and a negative side to automatic or manual in an electric vehicle conversion and I’ll talk about this in a future post.

Some think it is silly to get emotional about a car (and admittedly I thought so too until converted to Staz passion by my beloved late husband and another special person whom I have mentioned on this site). A car is in essence an extension of the driver and the provenance that goes with it can be hurting as much as it is harmonious. Symbiosis or whatever you call it, it did feel great to drive the GRSIII knowing all the hard work and passion that went into restoring it. But nowadays I have been too emotional from time to time to the point of becoming somewhat emotionally unhealthy. I wrestled with myself over the need for spare parts in the future (panels, trim, etc.) but I have enough Starion spares for now and too many mechanical ones I don’t need any more since I converted the other one to electric.

At least the new owners love it and know their cars and I am glad to spread the Starion word with now another owner out there. They also realize the longevity potential of going electric when parts become hard to source. In a world of waste this is a good thing, perhaps saving a well-preserved car body from the hulking rusted relics stashed ready for the local crusher.

Live on, Starion…
http://hornsby-advocate.whereilive.com.au/photos/gallery/carmel-duryeas-electric-starion/

Faster than any Nissan driver in Shaun of the Dead, and Zilla 2K controlled….

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2010/08/white-zombie-10-4-seconds/

An article on Bolivia’s potential wealth from massive lithium reserves was broadcast on ABC’s Feral Correspondent last night. Will the world’s drive to harvest this resource for electric vehicles be stifled by political parochialism and mistrust?

More here:
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2010/s2965757.htm

The debate is on again. You know the one; the ‘black art’ of keeping batteries healthy. I recently received an electric car newsletter discussing this very topic and summarizing that a battery that is partially charged is best for longevity. Is this true? And if so, for all battery types? Conversely it states that regular topping up is recommended. In our busy daily lives, such thoughts are far from the average driver but typical daily use will make daily charging a habit. But is daily charging bad if it’s not needed?

Exploring the oogle boogle of battery mantras

Battery discharge safe levels as we’ve all talked about before are paramount to longevity. But no one talks about driving habits, so before we get on to charging let’s consider driver habits; we know heavy current demand on batteries from constant acceleration and up-hill climbs will tap more heavily into available power. While a 33% bottom safe level is recommended for lithium phosphates, power demands can poke through this ‘floor’ from time to time, even with enough charge remaining. A demanding pedal push causes a downward spike. Sure it would be momentary but consider the troughs created by such demands. Excessive drops repeatedly dipping below that safe level could affect the stable chemistry and shorten battery life. I’m not sure how the lithium substrate and cadence that enforces the lattice bonding is affected. No one has punishingly bash tested these batteries outside the manufacturer (perhaps due to cost) – and one would hope the manufacturer did some of their own tolerance testing (not that I can locate decent test results – gotta love the Chinese). So being conservative with driving habits is always a sound recommendation. Persistent 3C> demand will indeed shorten pack life and using the lower gears will help preserve power demand when necessary (many tell me to ditch the gearbox, but with my 11 inch Kostov, I’m not ready to do so yet until I get a few more volts, i.e., a few more batteries as the motor can handle more than 144v nominal).

Back to charging, we all know that overcharging can kill a lithium battery. When my batteries reach their top charge of <4.2 volts each, after shunt they drop back to 3.4 volts or so over a given period (I should measure this time, believe it’s around 40 minutes or so). If one constantly charges a pack after short drives one could argue that batteries reach their top voltages more often which would result in a shorter life, even for top ‘safe’ voltages, particularly if the current is high (32A from some providers). A lower current charge means less time where a battery sits at its peak voltage. Lithiums don’t typically like being kept at their topmost voltages.

Measuring nominal pack voltage (from most negative to most positive)

So what battery pack do you have? For me, lithium phosphates are more stable than the cobalt types being pushed out in cars such as the Mitsubishi MiEV. While cobalt chemistry has a greater energy density (good for performance/distance) their life span is expected to be less than the phosphates (and manganese, polymer etc for that matter) batteries. And without management, overcharging can be a fire hazard (whereas Thunderskys just vent and melt). Most SLA EVs don’t have battery management; such batteries typically like to be charged to full but management can help. A friend’s pack regularly sulphates from some of the batteries. This only serves to reduce plate area and charge capacity so a BMS on a lead acid car would be just as useful, even if the batteries are more robust than lithiums.

Ultimately the jury is still out on the typical percentage idle charge. Some say 45% for lithiums when left alone. Others disagree – and there are too many variables anyway (we didn’t mention environment, temperature etc). If you go away and the car is sitting around, some insist that lithiums last longer on a partial charge but as I just mentioned, no one can agree on a charge state. Somehow the lithium substrate ages when left lying around fully charged, particularly in warmer temperatures. I am not sure how true this is for phosphate chemistries albeit it reasonably documented for cobalts. For me, driving around a bit and charging regularly is fine; the batteries should last longer from more partial charges than deep charges anyway. When I do charge, I prefer to do it during the daytime/afternoon where possible if I haven’t driven very far (and from the office and back it’s only about 2.5 hours charging). I could leave it another day but that just adds to the charging time in one go and doesn’t allow capacity if I have to make a last minute drive somewhere. Ultimately lifestyle will govern how often you charge your pack, whether the batteries like it or not. But given driving habits :: when to charge, I prefer to charge every day.

While off peak is cheaper I don’t like the idea of my car charging all night when it doesn’t need too, constantly shunting on/off to keep the top voltages on the batteries, having achieved the balancing some hours earlier (and the Zivan charger shunt can be a bit loud). Despite energy prices going up, my EV is still cheap to run – and I get a good night’s sleep.

Speaking of batteries, I wonder if sky energy LiFeP04′s are as robust as the Thunderskys. Here’s a 180Ah 3.6v (top charge) battery…

http://www.skyenergy.com.cn/EnProductShow.asp?ID=4

Satellite Tracking

Digression time; thought I’d build a little APRS OpenTracker+ kit to get the Starion on the map. This is a satellite tracking gadget. It’s kinda old fashioned (I know you can use your phone if you want). The OpenTracker+ is an easy little kit to build and gets satellite info down via a gps receiver and sends that info as a packet via a transmitter. I picked up a GlobalSat gps mouse at a seconds sale. The tracker firmware is easy to program (some hack their own parameters. I may too, such as setting up a home proximity shut-off ). For now I just put in my call sign, vehicle type and configured smart beaconing – all this is detailed in the OpenTracker manual.

Bodgie tracker power to GPS workaround

TinyTracker is similar but me being cheap, the OpenTracker kit was only US$32 shipped. One annoying thing about my GlobalSat gps mouse purchase; it comes with db9 serial connector and a mini DIN (same as a PS2 mouse socket); I wanted serial for power/comms to the tracker but the power is wired through the mini DIN alone, not the serial like some other gps brands have, so I had to effect an ugly bodgie by docking the tail off an old M$ mouse (see image above). Ah well, thought it worth a mention here as I didn’t see anywhere on the net that mentioned this and it would save someone time measuring voltages and wondering if their gps mouse is a dud or not.

Sure you can easily set up satellite tracking on your android phone etc, but this was a bit more fun.

Now tracker is tucked away - too lazy to re-route comms LED, so use a light pipe instead

Anyway, it’s now tucked (reasonably) neatly in the electric Starion center console with a switch to activate, wired via acc (some folk hide the entire tracker; in case the vehicle is stolen so they can track it). I haven’t decided yet whether this is a permanent install or not so will leave as is for now (and I’d have to build a separate xtal-locked transmitter (time consuming) or stow the transceiver I currently use, hide the antenna etc.

Anyway, for the time being feel free to follow the car by going to aprs.fi and typing in VK2CAR in the search box. As I don’t drive every day, you may need to go back a couple of days.

Today the IVy team from UNSW paid our R&D shop a visit to talk EVs, batteries, solar power and other goodies. Following their successful CeBIT display, we’re the next lucky bunch to get a chance to see this amazing vehicle.

The IVy arrives for us to inspect.

While it’s possible for electric vehicles today to have solar as supplemental charging, we still have a fair way to go to producing a fully practical solar car for daily use where the entire battery pack is solar charged. But as photovoltaics and battery technology continue to improve in tandem that future could be closer than we think. The Sunswift IVy solar car tells us as a society where we should be heading – and the possibilities are endless.

Lifting the lid on the IVy.

While many technologies add up to make the vehicle more efficient, the solar panels are impressive and I’d love to have these for supplemental charging on my EV as their efficiency is pretty good and the surface has the best all-round light capturing micro ‘pyramid’ array.

Flexible PV cell technology is steadily improving. Already manufacturers such as PowerFilm can provide flexible solar panels that can have multiple applications for portable devices and larger with more curvature possible, without noticeable loss. One day perhaps a car’s entire body contour could be made to look like regular paintwork but have an integrated solar mesh – it’s not beyond the realms of possibility – and where there’s glass, already research is producing good results with seamless transparent solar cells. But for now I could perhaps wrap some of these on my car roof for supplemental charging http://www.made-in-china.com/showroom/angelsolar/product-detailEqTQieYMjfRm/China-Flexible-Solar-Panel-XHH-100W-.html

The technology developed for vehicles such as the Sunswift IVy has filtered into general domestic use and certain aspects of EVs would not be possible without these people’s efforts – our capacity hats off to you!

More info on IVy from my previous post,
http://www.electriccarsforeveryone.com/blog/ivy-league-champions
and their website which has all the good tech info, http://www.sunswift.com.

"Move it buster, this parking spot's mine!"

Single cabin, not for the claustrophobic.

Headlights? Note the small LED array in center of picture.

Motor controller amidst the lightweight fiber framework.

Underside of the PV array.

Stator motor wheel - one of the heavier components in the vehicle.

Solar vehicle suspension. Mountain bike technology comes in handy.

Jessica 6: "Wow, you can fit more people." REM: "Yes I think this solar car will do nicely."

Still on solar cars, have a look at what some Palestinian students have done on a low volt budget… http://www.greenprophet.com/2010/07/05/23866/palestine-solar-car-electric/

Back to heavy cars and purely Mitsubishi Starion; you go Garry – love those cars…
http://www.carsguide.com.au/site/news-and-reviews/car-news/my_mitsubishi_starion_collection

Brrrr, cold Thundersky batteries perform surprisingly well in this climate. Mornings are around 8 degrees C at present, about 1 degree higher in my garage. Given the complaints many have about SLAs and cold weather causing battery sluggishness, there’s no noticeable decline in performance when I take my Thundersky pack for a drive on a cold morning. I’d expect the energy discharge curve to be more acute at these temperatures and guess sluggishness and a shorter range would be the result but we haven’t done any formal testing to find out. From what a quick search on the net brings up, Thundersky lithiums seem to hold up well with a wide operating temperature tolerance and resistance to cold that exceeds other battery types.

A crisp, cold, sunny morning at the park.

If you’re serious about checking the performance of your own batteries, there’s a useful guide for Thundersky owners, http://www.thunder-sky.com/pdf/test-en.pdf. And speaking of battery testing, I found this review by the much-admired-yet-beleaguered-by-setbacks motor controller meistro, Otmar; http://www.aeva.asn.au/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=1555

Here’s Thundersky’s specs for a 100Ah battery:

Voltage: 2.5 – 4.25V
Operating Temperature: -25C to 75C

Glad it doesn’t get to -25C round here. Some folks give their pack a quick top-up charge before they leave (providing the vehicle is charged fully the night before). Given a Thundersky is not a ‘soft cell’ type, over-charging is not a problem and the BMS would cut in anyway.

I haven’t tested my vehicle in super hot weather and lithiums do suffer from excessive heat. Some time ago I thought of devising coolant ribbing for my Thunderskies – seems there’s always someone else out there with a similar idea http://www.faqs.org/patents/app/20100143782 (not in USPTO yet).

Yes My Curtis 1231C motor speed controller has been a good little battler and still goes strong despite some jerkiness under acceleration, but it would be nice to have a little More power! It’s a second hand unit I purchased from ConvertUrCar and it has delivered some good miles. Last week I drove to an amateur radio trash ‘n treasure at Dural to display the car and while explaining the guts of my engine bay someone said, “What’s that black thing on the engine?” Oops, the back ‘sealed’ panel of the controller had fallen off.

Curtis drops his pants.

No big deal really, but it led me to ponder as to why.

I thought, well all that heat and expansion/contraction must have worn the seal but since these are supposed to be set in a potting compound (to stop tinkerers fiddling with high power MOSFETS I presume), it should be a permanent fixture. It’s possible this unit has been opened before and a repair made. The end panel that had fallen off didn’t have any evidence of sealant, as if it has just been wedged back on. Time to get the Sikaflex out, but before doing that, thought I’d have a peek at some of the guts of my controller. Albeit superseded technology, the board is neatly laid out with the transistors running along the bottom on each side – where my water cooling block has the best effect. Perhaps in the past the driver FET was overloaded (speaking of which, I found an interesting link about the Curtis, provided below). Nonetheless it’s been a pretty good performer despite criticism from some. I’m told the Curtis can be tweaked for more performance but frankly I’d rather not risk giving the old dear an early retirement, especially since the fet arrangement means much of the load goes to the first transistor. Someone suggested I leave it open for extra cooling. The thought briefly crossed my mind to rig some kind of filter mesh on that end and then someone said ‘…and add a fan’. But there’s no need with the water cooling block; after a long drive I can place my hand on the controller and it’s warm, not hot at all. In reality the panel should be sealed again to stop ingress of moisture, dust etc, and to meet IP65 or similar standards for dubious environments.

According to ZEVA, this controller is not really suitable for my kind of engine configuration; direct drive, large motor size, etc -that’s why I have the Zilla on order, but my reasoning is purely for a smoother control that’s PC configurable. Info and photos on a dud Curtis here, http://www.zeva.com.au/tech/curtis/

Still haven’t got my Zilla. After a promised three week delivery it’s now almost five months and still waiting; perhaps I should have built my own by now, or purchased the less-refined but brilliantly cost-effective Logisystems controller, or the high-end Soliton – d’oh! Then again, maybe an extra 100A is all I need for my kind of driving and it’s nice to see a locally-built modern design microprocessor-controlled speed controller available for a reasonable cost; http://www.evworks.com.au/index.php?product=CTL-MC600S – oh, 200A continuous… is that right?

News just in – Zilla are having production problems again. Errk. Maybe the Soliton will be a better choice after all… http://www.evolveelectrics.com/EVnetics%20Soliton1.html

ChargePoint, the electric car charging company, has established its first charging station in Sydney in downtown Glebe at Derby Place, where many electric cars owned by the elite alternative set are queuing to take charge. Similar stations have been in London for some years now, such as ElektroBay, servicing the G-Wiz vehicle et al, some provided as free charging (including free charging at Sainsbury’s) but while free may be the case elsewhere, ChargePoint here will charge – but it should be pretty cheap nonetheless.

To charge your batteries, tie your EV horse here and have a pint at the local.

So what sort of vehicles are using it?

ChargePoint have provided some extended range plug-in Prius test hybrids. In a television interview last week, a ChargePoint representative was quoted as saying that the Prius hybrids under their wing have been modified for a range of 30km on electric alone, before the gas guzzling kicks in.

Yes, we know a Prius can be fully converted to all battery for an excess 100km range (or using polymers up to 300km), and ditch the gas guzzler altogether – but cost is the issue. When the Mitsubishi MiEV arrives this year it should have connectivity that will complement ChargePoint as well as battery swap-over adaptability for Better Place, AND a home charging facility using a regular 20A socket such as the one in my garage – okay; all this maybe in an ideal world.

At least ChargePoint state that all vehicle types can use the service which provides a 16A charging system (despite someone mentioning a proprietary connector to lock you in which ChargePoint refutes). I made an inquiry and their reply is below. 32A units are also on the cards, enabling faster charging (providing the charger/battery configuration will handle this – I believe the Thunderskys can take a much higher current without damaging the cell lattice but as far as I know there is no test information). With more electric-only cars hitting our shores as well as being converted here (plus the locally-built Camry hybrid) there’ll be a few queuing up for power.

Now for some postulating… Given the time it takes for an all-electric vehicle to charge, some charging station road hog issues may arise, so I wonder if a time limit can be set to ensure enough charge for the range required to get one home, or to a Better Place swap shop? In a few years all this may change again when fast-charging batteries are produced – but can you imagine a ChargePoint power station providing 400A or so? You’d need a lot of power, therefore in a real world ChargePoint would merely complement a Better Place strategy to swap a pack over. ChargePoint in effect will encourage the top-up charging of EVs to protect the pack and this is a good thing.

Here’s a link to information on the CT1500 charging station, http://www.coulombtech.com/pdfs/EU-chargepoint-datasheet.pdf. I should take my Staz down to Glebe to see for myself .

Some ChargePoint info from their site…
http://www.mychargepoint.net/faq.php

Hi Carmel,

It’s great to hear that you have converted a vehicle to electric. Our CT1500 is a level 1 EV charging station and is available right now. The CT1500 is a single phase 240Vac 15A station, with an AS 3112 compliant socket. You can plug in to the CT1500 with a regular 3 pin plug as long as it is AS3112 complaint and rated for safe use at 15Amps. The CT1500 would be able to charge your EV whilst regulating the charge current to 15A. We have new charging stations on the way that can deliver higher currents. Check out http://chargepoint.com.au/products-charging-stations.php.

Thanks for your enquiry.

Regards
Lance Douglass
Technology Manager
ChargePoint Australia

Some more swapover news, courtesy of allcarselectric.com…

http://www.allcarselectric.com/blog/1044370_better-place-launches-battery-swap-test-in-four-tokyo-taxis

And a slight digression, why aren’t these electric?? http://www.ecarshawaii.com/the-auto-moto.html

My apologies for not writing more stuff lately, but I’ve been very sick for weeks now and am now on some body-wrecking drugs. If only I could plug myself into a wall socket at night I’d be bright and zippy in the morning and running on a full pack. I’m off on a much-needed break soon (and to have fun using the KH6BB radio gear on the USS Missouri).