[nimblemotors]

Jeff, this is a very exciting project!

Are you planning to use the prius transaxle in the rear and eliminate the VW transaxle?

I also have a junkyard genI prius transaxle and inverter. I haven't had time to mess with it yet, actually wanted to use it as an ICE engine dyno as my first use of it. Might get on that project soon, and would love to have someone else to work with on it.

I have built a BLDC controller for the 16hp Mars motor, that powered my Electric Jetski (project not finished). I could pull out that controller and try to get it working with the MG, but it needs bigger power switches (inverter) to handle more than 16hp. That is what I hope the prius inverter would allow. Seems the worse case is just to use the IGBT's in it, or really my thought is even just the water-cooling technology is worth the $75 I paid for the inverter.

For an EV, I think you want the MG1 and MG2 tied together so it operates as a single electric motor. It would be very complicated to do anything. KISS. I wouldn't weld the planetary, but pin or spline the planetary gears so they don't spin.

I'm not sure what effect it has if MG1 windings are different so it spins faster at the same voltage than MG2. This might be a problem with tying them together?

[Mike D EV]

Hi guys,
Happy to see that someone is finally getting this concept to the operating stage.
I put this up over three years ago.
http://99mpg.com/Projectcars/evinsight/

I will be getting back into this very soon, as I have finally cleared the decks in my workshop.
While using the unmodified Synergy drive would allow many interesting possibilities, it seems to me that combining of the motors via the welded planetary may be the most efficient way to use the drive.
I have two second gen drives, so I will try it both ways.
The ICE shaft also runs the transmission oil pump, so from a lubrication standpoint, it is better for that shaft to always be turning to fully lube all the internal bearings.

This combined motor system also allows removing all the final drive gearing, to drop over 100 lbs of weight and the use of the ICE input shaft as an output shaft to drive any transmission, thus allowing this to power large vehicles.
The combined motors should be able to push my light weight Insight with no other transmission to well over 80 MPH.
You mention using an analog devices resolver decoder evaluation board for feedback?
What board did you use?
Mike

[jddcircuit]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

Jeff, this is a very exciting project!

Are you planning to use the prius transaxle in the rear and eliminate the VW transaxle?

I also have a junkyard genI prius transaxle and inverter. I haven't had time to mess with it yet, actually wanted to use it as an ICE engine dyno as my first use of it. Might get on that project soon, and would love to have someone else to work with on it.

I have built a BLDC controller for the 16hp Mars motor, that powered my Electric Jetski (project not finished). I could pull out that controller and try to get it working with the MG, but it needs bigger power switches (inverter) to handle more than 16hp. That is what I hope the prius inverter would allow. Seems the worse case is just to use the IGBT's in it, or really my thought is even just the water-cooling technology is worth the $75 I paid for the inverter.

For an EV, I think you want the MG1 and MG2 tied together so it operates as a single electric motor. It would be very complicated to do anything. KISS. I wouldn't weld the planetary, but pin or spline the planetary gears so they don't spin.

I'm not sure what effect it has if MG1 windings are different so it spins faster at the same voltage than MG2. This might be a problem with tying them together?

Thanks for the interest. I am very excited. My plan is to not use the vw transmission. My donor car suspension needs some modification so it can accept a CV joint. It is a 66 which has a swing axle arrangement that I need to change. Then I need to make a Prius to VW axle. I am learning as I go but I think it might work.

I am not going to weld the planetary gear together yet. I want to get car rolling using MG2 first. I can keep the carrier shaft spinning using MG1 at any speed I want to keep lubrication pump going.

I then have some crazy ideas about how to use MG1. If I hold the carrier shaft stationary with a brake or gear then it will transfer 2.6X MG1 torque to the wheel through the planetary gear. I can use this for a low speed acceleration. I can then release the shaft to spin under the control of MG1 to lubricate and to run an air condition compressor or such during cruising. I could also use MG1 as a generator for my batteries when the car is parked with a small ICE and some type of pulley arrangement on the shaft if I am camping out somewhere. It would also be a cool campsite generator.

[jddcircuit]

I used the AD2S1210 resolver to digital eval board. I plan to layout my own board with the motor control, resolver and current sensing integrated together eventually. The two eval boards I had were for me to learn how the commutation works. I still have quite a bit of work ahead of me to get a well syncronized commutation at high motor speeds.

[Mike D EV]

thanks for the AD2S1210 info.
I was looking into the resolver interface chipset that is used in the prius, but this looks easier.
It was great to see the video of the unit actually running off the eval board.
Gets me motivated to get back on the project.

Have you tried running the motor open loop?

The dev board I purchaced for the task:
http://www.microchip.com/stellent/id...cName=en537020
Good luck

[jddcircuit]

Originally Posted by Mike D EV

thanks for the AD2S1210 info.
I was looking into the resolver interface chipset that is used in the prius, but this looks easier.
It was great to see the video of the unit actually running off the eval board.
Gets me motivated to get back on the project.

Have you tried running the motor open loop?

The dev board I purchaced for the task:
http://www.microchip.com/stellent/id...cName=en537020
Good luck

I got it spinning open loop first before I got the resolver board. I don't have a lot of current capacity so it was tough to get any torque during start up.

I need to build a high voltage dc supply to test out the prius inverter that I got. I want to see how fast I can get it spinning.

[Mike D EV]

You can get a prius battery pack with BCM and contractors for $400-$600 from most junkyards as well as e-bay.
We plan on using them for another project:
http://99mpg.com/Projectcars/phevinsightiigetti/

A simple HV CC charger can be built from off the shelf switching supplies to charge it up.
http://99mpg.com/Data/resources/down...d_charger1.pdf

Of course it will not get us far in an actual car but it is a good test power source capable of > 100A.

[jddcircuit]

Originally Posted by Mike D EV

You can get a prius battery pack with BCM and contractors for $400-$600 from most junkyards as well as e-bay.
We plan on using them for another project:
http://99mpg.com/Projectcars/phevinsightiigetti/

A simple HV CC charger can be built from off the shelf switching supplies to charge it up.
http://99mpg.com/Data/resources/down...d_charger1.pdf

Of course it will not get us far in an actual car but it is a good test power source capable of > 100A.

Thanks Mike
I will seriously consider these options. I definitely want to try and capitalize on junkyard parts as much as possible. Junkyard EV is the theme of my project. I am willing to try buck and boost type of arrangements in order to make existing battery packs compatible with my system.

[jddcircuit]

I got the engine out. If I am going to use the entire prius transaxle inplace of the VW transaxle then I am going to have to convert my swing axle suspension over to Indepenent Rear Suspension. I didn't know what this was until I started taking things apart. It turns out that if I bought a model later than 1973 it would already have the suspension I wanted.

[jddcircuit]

I removed the swing axle transmission and torsion spring frame. I got a later model suspension frame and trailing arms from various different make and models. I painted and assembled the new suspension.