The Nissan Leaf, inside.

Will be arriving in the USA soon, so they say, and here next, so they say.

Judge for yourself… http://www.nissanusa.com/leaf-electric-car/details.jsp#/details

… Tick off Your Requirements so you don’t get Ticked off Later

I recently had someone gripe to me about a local EV conversion company in his area. While there are two sides to every story, it’s wise to know what your rights are and/or establish a set of conditions that would make both parties happy. EV conversion companies (there are many new ones appearing out there) use a lot of resources when converting your car; including personnel and materials. It’s never a one-man show, as specialists are called to do stuff that they’re good at; people with electrical knowledge, welding skills, gearbox experts (adapter plate machining etc), battery management engineering/monitoring technology, car computer and instrument interfacing, BMS programming skills and so on, not to mention component costs and accounting accuracy as parts are sourced and ordered.

If you ever hear someone say ‘I did this car all by myself’, be wary. While the odd genius exists (I know a couple of odd geniuses ) there’s usually at least a second set of hands involved, and why not – second opinions and expert knowledge areas should be utilized for a good all-round result. As demand for conversion increases, a one-man show would need to outsource more frequently.

It’s in the Details

Firstly, ensure that what is offered will be as accurate as possible to the best of their ‘expert’ knowledge; the time frame for conversion, the expected range, power, drivability, if you want air con and power steering etc etc. Ensure, for example, that you are clearly told the real, practical range of your vehicle. Yes it may go for 100 miles on a single charge but are you told that figure is while driving on the straight and level? It would be less if you live in a hilly area. And less again if the quoted range did not include the safe battery voltage drop level (yes, flatten the pack on 100 miles or leave a reserve and you get 80 miles (and the pack survives longer when treated well)).

Certainly a lot of EV stuff is in a grey area as new technology is developed but the industry is starting to mature these days, partially due to the availability of proven components. Yet the cowboys do exist.

Checklist: Judging the work done on a car…

It is essential for any conversion company to look at the entire picture. Sure, they focus on the conversion, but if other issues arise (and they ought to have the sense and knowledge to judge if a particular car is worthy of a conversion) then you should be informed.

A road-worthy certification engineer may look for the safety essentials, but he/she may not consider some potential future issues and obviously that person is not interested in the finish of your car which can be at peril in the shop. Here’s a checklist of what I feel should be a reasonable quality target to meet. Doesn’t cover everything but you’ll get the idea. Maybe one day industry standards in this field will be established. For now, don’t just have other people work on your car with tacit guarantee – always get a written one.

• Cabling; make sure the wiring/cabling throughout your vehicle is of the right thickness to handle the current as dictated by the selected battery pack, motor and controller. High voltage cabling between front and rear battery packs in a typical EV should be in plastic flex conduit and securely fastened with saddle clamps or similar, and through-holes should have rubber washers secured in place.
• Ensure the charger is the right one for the pack; some chargers will charge to just above 144v for a 144v nominal system but you actually need a higher shut-off voltage so the batteries can be charged to their peak specified voltage (this will vary for 96v, 120v and 144 volts systems and the types of batteries selected).
• Ensure all contacts, relays and EV components are well-built and in suitable positions in your engine bay/trunk areas (e.g., don’t mix the high voltage side with the 12v side in the one relay box).
• The Certification Engineer is unlikely to look at the BMS installed, so make certain that all PCBs have been inspected, that soldering is of a professional quality, no dry joints etc and that there are no burn marks around the battery interconnects.
• Ensure that the batteries supplied are kept at a safe voltage (to preserve battery life) and that includes the accessories battery (ensure you are not provided with a second-hand accessories battery and told it is new and when it fails you are not told to go and buy the replacement yourself).
• When batteries are sitting around waiting to be installed, make sure the contacts are cleaned. This is particularly important for Thunderskys as the terminals can accumulate an oxide layer. A light wire brush scrubbing will remove this and the risk of resistance and consequential inefficient performance.
• Internal trim; ensure nothing is ripped, torn or missing (includes dash components and plastic screw flush covers, plastic surrounds etc). Ensure seats and carpet are not damaged or dirty from exposure to workshop materials (dust, paint, metal fibers, welding detritus etc).
• External; ensure the body has no new dings and that panels have been replaced properly with no broken snap-locks or missing bungs, clips, etc.
• Ensure that all the ancillary components in your vehicle work as they did before (air con, radio, interior lights, alarm system etc).
• Ensure safety precautions such as correct fire extinguisher installed (my engineer missed this and I actually installed it after the inspection). ‘High Voltage’ warning labels should be applied in visible locations in engine bay and trunk.

These are just some items that a checklist could have on it. For any EV supplier it’s an essential read; for themselves as QA, and for the customer who would have his/her own ‘delivery inspection sheet’. While a customer is not expected to know all this, a checklist of essentials is reassurance for an expensive investment.

- And that’s the way it should be; like getting a new car off the showroom floor, and in a sense, that’s exactly what it’s about.

* Oh, and don’t forget the citrus smell. Nice.

Driving happily in my EV and something starts to stink badly. It wasn’t so obvious to start with but when I returned home I traced it to the rear-battery tank. Suspecting foul play I lifted the lid on a charred battery management pcb where the connector is – apparently the busbar couldn’t hold the current. These were made up for me for this section of the battery pack as the Thunderskys are mounted end-to-end (the Thundersky connectors didn’t quite make the length a comfortable fit (being designed for side-by-side battery connection instead)). And as others have said, nothing decent has existed – until now.

I love the smell of PCB in the morning, not.

Another view.

Lucky for me the BMS is okay and the battery voltage is balanced. Lucky also that EVWorks have started selling flexible braid connectors for Thunderskys, including an end-to-end connecting solution (type 80-8) which is a few millimeters longer. I had always wondered why the generic flexible earth-strap connector concept wasn’t current-upgraded and customized for use with high-current traction packs. The Thundersky connectors are a little rigid (though they do use multiple layers of more flexible thin copper that’s heatshrink bound – not a solid piece of copper, possibly jarring the posts).

More info on the EVWorks connectors here: http://www.evworks.com.au/index.php?product=148

Of course current draw is an important issue for EVs. Demanding too much can damage the lithium phosphate lattice when demand digs below the bottom safe voltage level over an extended time, shortening the life of the pack – I’ll talk more about this in a later post.

A possible Bloom Box Boom?

As a digression, is Bloom Box just vaporpower? You decide… http://mashable.com/2010/02/21/bloom-box/

Trexa are promoting the latest in DIY modular electric car systems with a battery base from which you literally ‘build-up’ your desired vehicle – kind of like ‘EV Lego’. The type of scalable vehicle would range from utilitarian to sports cars, with an impressive touted battery range and performance. The versatility of design compatibility will prove popular with the well-heeled (and well-wheeled), who like to change their car as much as their wardrobe. Trexa are offering an open source platform for would-be designers and experts alike.

The Trexa.

Their site is flashy (of course) and I must say that Flash is such an annoying feature of web content; it’s so Web 2.0 one could say (especially when there’s no ’skip’ button) – but I digress. Like another company seeking venture cap contacts that approached me recently with beautiful CAD graphics and no technological guts, I gotta wonder how many tracks Trexa will make in the EV market, and if it will become another vaporware anomaly. I hope not, as it looks good. Someone mentioned here, local government regulations may dictate the commercial non-viability outside the US, let alone from state-to-state.

More info here:

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/02/trexa-electric-car-platform-will-cost-upwards-of-us15999/

www.trexa.com

Meanwhile, I drove my humble little Staz up to the local ham club meeting last night and got a few ‘oohs’ and ‘waahs’, and then later heard some bagging out the batteries, the range, the performance et al of electric cars and stating ‘not ready yet’… ‘not ready yet’… (like a frog croaking in a pond of gasoline).

Last Saturday was very wet and windy with 90% humidity. A little nervous, I ventured to the shops and parked on the street and of course no water affectations occurred.

I just thought I’d care enough to share this with you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvwTMZNWGuk

Something to consider if you want BMS for 160Ah batteries: http://www.evworks.com.au/index.php?product=BMS-CM160-V6

These are more robust and compact than the Blade BMS. Battery management hardware is also available from their re-vamped website.

And other stuff now available for EV switcheable shifters (as many EV converters are removing the gearbox altogether):

http://www.canev.com/KitsComp/Components/Shifter.html

And remember the Chevy Volt? More news:
http://news.drive.com.au/drive/motor-news/first-drive-chevrolet-volt-20100115-maj1.html

I know many of you liked the Nut Rider 80s retro electronic instrument cluster. All those LEDs looked cool and would have gone nicely with my retro 80s ham gear. But there was simply no decent geography to put in a decent visible-easy battery gauge. Having run out of money and deciding not to get the Curtis digital gauge (also for reasons of accuracy with the LiIons) I cheaped out and bought a cheap voltmeter at a hamfest trash and treasure. Not quite the same thing but at least I can see the voltage at a glance and analog meters are much better on the eye than a LED bar graph that flickers (I know, one can adjust the refresh timing).

Thing is, and what I like about the Starion analog instrument cluster, is that it’s symmetrical and easy to read. What’s more, the old turbo gauge diameter is nearly the same as the voltmeter I got. I built this into the instrument cluster during the holiday break. I’ll consider LED illumination when time permits but not fussed about it for now. I’ve got a shunt for a smaller ammeter to go somewhere, haven’t decided where yet. Also got some neat face plate replacements.

Re-volting? I like it.

As the car is now registered and on the road, I must now pay attention to interior trim which is pretty shoddy in places. And some folks who helped me on the car didn’t consider the finish and some panels were damaged. Lucky me I have spares!

Fun Stuff

Here’s a neat concept in reducing gas consumption: Boat Tail on Car

Lots of rear-view restriction blind spots of course – but could be a clear plastic, ha hah.

And still in holiday mode despite lots of work to dive into, a digression out of pure entertainment’s sake: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/14294813/Avatar-Scriptment-by–James-Cameron

And yes, let’s hope 2010 gets off to a flying start: http://yuneec.co.uk/

Tinkering, always tinkering.

As usual, the shiba-inu of EV development at Toyota is evident in their next incarnation of the Prius (pron; ‘pry-arse’), i.e., the puppy is a little more mature. Article below.

And did someone mentioned ‘lease’? Will we ever learn? Toyota execs need a 144vdc plugin up their collective proverbials.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/15/despite-qualms-toyota-will-bring-plug-in-hybrid-to-market/

“Despite earlier statements from top Toyota executives in the United States that the plug-in hybrid is a dog that doesn’t hunt, the company now plans to start selling them in 2012. The Toyota plug-in hybrid is a version of the Prius with greater battery capacity and wall-charging capability. It can travel 14.5 miles on batteries only.”

Uhuh.
*

…While 100% competitor EVs charge ahead*

Now here’s a breath of fresh air…
http://www.themotorreport.com.au/38743/nissan-leaf-electric-vehicle-revealed-coming-to-australia-in-2012/

And on that note, and feeling rather flat and desperately needy of a recharge, I’ll bid you all Happy Holidays and an interesting 2010.

Yes, a number 4 Finish but a winner in so many other ways! While this is belated praise following the World Solar Challenge (due to me wrangling over steering rack issues in my car), I thought it worth mentioning seeing as they made an appearance in the December 09 issue of Silicon Chip magazine. Tokai Challenger was the overall winner, finishing almost a day in front of the rest, but the IVy result was a darn good one considering the much talk-about competition from the Brits were left way behind, along with other competitors.

Silicon Chip magazine has all the details, or see an excerpt here:
http://www.siliconchip.com.au/A_111771/cms/article.html

Well done team!

The IVy uses home brew A300 silicon cells with significant improvements over other silicon cells. There’s plenty of solar cell improvements happening out there, spurned on by a need for better efficiency and by the rising costs of silicon cells (we know silicon’s cheap and abundant, but global increased demand for the stuff is affecting panel prices). One improvement is to slice the silicon into strip wafers and separate them, i.e., use less silicon on the same surface area, spaced apart instead of covering the entire panel. Use of a polymer overlay is then applied in such a way to scatter/spread the light across the silicon strips resulting in marginally-reduced efficiency but for far less silicon cost.

So much of the broad technology used in the IVy and others will find its way into regular electric cars for supplemental charging, instrument management etc, helping to get more EVs out there for Joe Public, and the quicker the better. While politicians pander to each other and juggle short-term monetary gain verses the future, time is running out.

The other day someone mentioned an old Spielberg movie which showed that there won’t be any humans alive on the planet in two thousand years. Yes, well one doesn’t need a scientist to know that our future is dire if nothing is done. The near-sightedness of some politicians needs to be stretched a little outwards right now, to avoid the frightening far-sighted possibilities.

Meanwhile, the opposition party haggle over emissions trading with a large proportion still disbelieving in a global greenhouse impact, while the government try to push a watered-down carbon trading scheme that’ll cost the public while paying gas and coal giants millions. Thanks to smhblogs for this one…

Coal and Gas Opposition Leader Tony Abbot sssspeaks...

Other Stuff

Some other links worth noting; my good friend buddy pal man extraordinaire superperson who wears his metalizer underwear on the outside has been getting some more publicity for the ev cause. Check it out here: http://www.evcapri.com/

Also, a link to yet another ev auto site: http://www.evcarco.com/

Oh, and something else I was toying with but decided not to as someone else was doing it anyway (and had better resources):
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/nov/16/electric-cars-halosonic

Here’s the link; enjoy…

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vk2io/sets/72157622717922616/