Aveo EV

Hey guys...

thanks for the feedback, I really appreciate it...

I really, really wanted LiFePO4 batteries, but I just could not afford it... I will sell this Aveo and probably take the money and buy a nice 200 AH pack (which I will be short of money)

I also would like to have an AC motor, but I purchased this motor and controller for under 3K... and an AC setup (at least a nice one) will cost me a lot more... so money was a big factor on this conversion. Management (the wife.. LOL) screened every expense... and tried to make cuts... LOL...

Range right now still a little mistery, I've had it 50 miles, (combined city and highway) and it did it pretty good... Acceleration is a little better than the stock engine, but I kicked the power of the controller back a little to save battery life and increase the range.

I am still going to kick it back a little more to about the same as the stock 4 cylinder engine, which I should be able to squeeze a little more range without hurting the pack.

When I started the conversion, I wanted to add the Electric P/S and A/C ... but I couldn't afford it, so I designed the vehicle to "idle"...

in the setup phase, I've tested cont. and peak powers from the motor idling and electric power steering and AC... and different was not that much at all, in fact, playing with Warp 9 motor pulley size, I was able to get a slow idle (vurtually silent) and have full power steering and AC and it didn't pull much amps at all... so it turned out great.

The idle can also be turned off by the driver if he so wishes.

I am adding a custom BMS system (yes for the lead batteries... LOL) and a "smart" watering system.

The system (using 12V relays) will turn on the distilled water pump and top off all batteries with distilled water perodicly. Since the Nav system is a windows CE based device, I am writing all the code myself (saves money...LOL)

The screen will pop up and say "Self Maintenance Started" which will completly charge the battery bank (back to back) for equalization charge and turn on the watering system. once it's all done, the system will resume normal operations.

During the self maint. cycle (which I am setting for every 20th cycle now) the operator can ovewrite the cycle if he needs to use the EV and can't wait for it to be done.

with a pack about 40% DOD, the entire cycle lasted 8 hours... but I am trying to reduce that with the new 220V charger.

LiFePO4 batteries will be the next vehicle and I can't wait to see it.. it will another Aveo (but I thinking about the sedan model this time), but I can't find one that has manual tranny... does anyone knows if the sedan model is only automatic?

I've converted an automatic tranny before and it turned out great.. but I like the stick shift better. (this is why one of the reasons for the idle) I wanted to give a real stick shift experience... LOL...

Since the next one will also idle, I can do the auto transmission, but it will be less efficient and not fair to compare both.

maybe I could put an manual tranny on the auto tranny donor car??? any ideas??

I wanted this vehicle to look as OEM as possible... and when I drive it around, people don't know it's an electric, but when they drive it they love it... LOL...

to answer the PatricioIN question about the AC.

Yes, the AC is ICE COLD.. actually colder than the stock AC since there is no heat from the engine.

There is relay that controls the AC compressor, and it's on the 12V side of the house.. so as you hit the OEM AC button the AC compressor clicks in... BUT, since I use the OEM radiator fan, I bridged a relay and fuse to turn the fan on every time the AC compressor is on... so when you turn on the AC the fan cools the evaporator and give you a nice FREEZING air... LOL.

I am adding special thermostat that will control the evaporator temp (automaticly) and will turn on the relay fan only when needed to save some power on the 12V side of the house. but it won't be done until after thanksgiving.

I added 4 12V fans in the battery boxes (which are water proof) and added some vent tubing to prevent rain water to come into the battery box (so you can drive in the rain.. LOL) the reason for these fans was to prevent battery fumes from coming into the passenger cabin. they turn on automaticly when the car is plugged in.

They can also be turned on manually by the driver.

well, I write too much.

any questions, please ask.

Marcos.

The idle setup was great, because it saved a lot of money, it prevented me from having to keep the foot on the accelerator while the EV is stopped and while I am moving (even though you can't feel the drag from the AC and P/S) I don't have an aux source sucking juice up from the bank.

when I started this project, I wanted this EV to look like a "factory" EV.. you know? and I tried as much as I could to make it happen.

The electronics were one of the biggest challenges.

Also, this vehicle is now all legal Electric Vehicle in Missouri. I had to bring to safety inspection and emissions (yes, we have emissions test in Saint Louis) but the emissions guy had to inspect the vehicle anyways and granted me a waiver. which is now an standard operating procedure for my area... I did have some input in the safety part of the conversion, like ensuring the OEM air bags were working, ABS breaks, etc... which they all do work great.

My next step for this Aveo is:
Automatic Slip traction control
(computer controlled) I have the prototype ready and I am testing this week.

Intelligent charger with power grid feedback (allows me to sale the energy back from the battery bank at higher price, so I will actually make a little money with this EV) but the dischange will only be set to max of 70 DOD so I won't ruin my batteries. (the beta test showed me I could leave the batteries at 70 DOD for 16 hours without a charge and it didn't seem to affect the batteries( but more tests needs to be done)

Adjustable controller settings from the in dash nav system (windows CE) and will allow the user to set electronic "profiles" such as economy mode, performance mode, etc (this is already done) I am just finishing wiring on the controller pots to electronicly send the correct resistance to the controller.

Remote heater starter which will set the EV cabin temperature remotely.

EV Computer interface: This was a stand alone application that I created to control the EV from my house (thru my wireless network) and you can set pretty much from the computer (as long as the EV is in range, which my garage is)

so from my desktop, I can see voltage, battery status, miles until maintenance, re-schedule self maintenance and I will try to incorporate the Remote heater as well (maybe next week) so in the morning I can set temp from the desktop (I hate the cold... I am tropical!! LOL) and since I pretty much leave the EV plugged in all the time, I can also check the state of charge.

if the batteries are fully charged, I can use the AC power to heat the interior of the EV (well, let me explain)

I can turn the electric heater (144V) on and turn the charger on (1800 watts for charger and 1500 watts for heater) so if the heater is on (consuming battery juice) the charger is also connected to the wall supplying the juice back to the batteries (with about 200-300 watts to spare)

The charger manufacturer does not recommend charging the batteries while there is a load, but since there is no warranty on the charger, I didn't give a Sh$##$%. and it seems to work fine... so far I haven't ruined the charger... LOL...

The software allows me to download and upload files to the car computer system (the Windows CE nav system) which runs the EV software in silent background. I've created some watts log files but I am having a problem with debugging the program.. sometimes acts crazy.

You can also download and upload music.

The last step will be addind a GPS range warning... so when the user types an address further than the EV range limits, a window (full screen) will warn the driver that the destination is out of the EV range and opportunity charger maybe required.

If you guys have any other ideas, please let me know... I buy a lot of semi conductors and experiment a lot... sometimes they work great (note keyword: SOMETIMES.. LOL)

Marcos.

PS - here are some more pics of the power steering setup