PHEV conversion using CAN-View and BMS+

Sigh.... The never ending "conversion". I'm up to 6 batteries and I finally bought those darn $11 capacitors after blowing up several $2 ones. I figured out the hard way that two cheap multimeters cannot share a common power supply when one is set to 'amps' and the other to 'volts'. They both die as soon as the charger is plugged in."

I blew up a battery but only cost $200.

My crazy commute continues at 55 miles each way. I am averaging 72 mpg but now that the weather is colder, that number is dropping. It's very speed sensitive too-today I was running late and had to drive 60mph+ and only got 62 mpg.

Oh, 6 batteries equals 24AH from 240V down to 200V. Sorry, I'm havin to type this on my iPhone so a little abbreviated.

My charger still looks like spaghetti but I keep taking it apart and fixing/breaking it. Soldered connections suck! It pulls about 28A at 117V and delivers about 11a at 2xx volts. About .7x power factor.

 

LOL "mount" is not the word I'm afraid. More like where do they slide around. Ok, I'm exaggerating, three are in the rear, one sits on top of the oem pack and one sits behind driver's seat. The one over the oem pack is unsecured. I'm the only one in the cars I'm the only one likely to be injured.

 

Remember 28a is at 117v (US mains)

 

That kilowatt isn't wasted, it's just looped through the mains. Get's everything hot but I don't pay for it, and to be honest it's probably gobbled up by all the refrigerators in the neighborhood.

 

FYI: That kilowatt isn't wasted, it's just looped through the powerlines. Get's everything hot but I don't pay for it, and to be honest it's probably gobbled up by all the refrigerators in the neighborhood, or other devices who uses induction motors.

Think of it this way: 300watt frig compressor times 15=4500watts. Now my air compressor at home has a power factor of 50%, don't know if it's representative but if so: there is 2500 watts of electricity from fridge power that needs balancing.

Ok maybe a stretch.

 

I agree with the weight estimate. I haven't added bracing yet but I should. I keep the fuel tank half full max and no spare or jack, no retractable cover in the back, etc. I know those are small things but I figure all my added wt is little more than an adult male passenger and some luggage. BTW wow MrBig, your setup sure looks professional. I think I'll try mounting my batteries longways like yours.

How will you get 24kw??? I figure my current setup is giving me 4.2Ah or about 1kw per bat. That's only 6 kw. Where would you put another 18 batteries? Or are you using LiFePo for extra? Isn't the chevy volt only like a 12kw usable battery?

 

It takes 2 1/2 hrs to charge to 236v. Then I let it rest overnight and top off with 30 minutes. ( it has dropped to 233v over 8 hrs, although it quickly rises so voltage not a very accurate measure of SOC)

After the top-off I'm off to work at 240-242v. I have fans that I just leave on at night but even without them the batteries only go up a couple degrees. I had this one pack that kept getting really warm right after I bought it. It had 50k miles on it. One night I charged up to 235v, packs were all about 75 deg. F, a few degrees above ambient. This one pack was about 5 degrees warmer. I went to bed and six hours later, KABOOM. don't know why it kept getting warmer - maybe it was just fresher and so its charging curve didn't match the others? But the pack I replaced it with doesn't get warm at all, in fact it acts like the "broken-in" packs.

 

It takes 2 1/2 hrs to charge to 236v. Then I let it rest overnight and top off with 30 minutes. ( it has dropped to 233v over 8 hrs, although it quickly rises so voltage not a very accurate measure of SOC)

After the top-off I'm off to work at 240-242v. I have fans that I just leave on at night but even without them the batteries only go up a couple degrees. I had this one pack that kept getting really warm right after I bought it. It had 50k miles on it. One night I charged up to 235v, packs were all about 75 deg. F, a few degrees above ambient. This one pack was about 5 degrees warmer. I went to bed and six hours later, KABOOM. don't know why it kept getting warmer - maybe it was just fresher and so its charging curve didn't match the others? But the pack I replaced it with doesn't get warm at all, in fact it acts like the "broken-in" packs.

 

Hey all, sorry haven't posted in awhile. After one of my packs caught on fire and burned off the back of my passenger seat I've been too busy to put everything back together.

Plus my BMS+ stopped working, which I traced initially to a bad solder point on the PCB. I never could get it to stop throwing red triangles though. I rebuilt my harness, then tried a new battery computer and I even redid all the splices - no luck. Since then I've just been too busy with work and a new baby.

I still have four good batteries, and I drive around with two in the car. It was a fun project, except for the three battery explosions! I did find a local place to recycle the damaged batteries.

I have serious misgivings about the way the electric car movement is progressing, at least in the US, where the grid is still so dirty. My original goal had been to use solar on my roof to offset this but funds were too low and time too short. (you could argue I'm just making excuses - it might be true )

Anyway, I believe strongly that fuel efficient hybrids and diesels are a much better solution than electric cars for now, since the hybrid ICE surpasses the efficiency of the electricity generated at the source, i.e. power plant, never mind losses in the lines, batteries, etc. Don't get me started on the Volt.

I recently switched to the Consumer Reports' recommended Kumho Solus tires. They are such a gigantic improvement in noise level that I can't believe I waited so long - it's like driving a whole new car. There was a small dip in fuel economy (I think) from the Ecopias but it's hard to tell because they just switched to the winter blend fuel and economy took a dive. I typically got 48-50 mpg on my 114 mile commute. Now I get 42. Tire pressure appears to have no effect on mpg. I tried every hypermiling trick I could reasonably stand today and got just under 44mpg. I miss summer gas.

I get a red triangle every day now. It pops up the minute I'm either stopped or driving on really smooth pavement. If I'm driving on a bumpy road, the triangle never appears. I have to assume I've got a loose wire or something somewhere but I just haven't had time to trace the source. No errors on CAN-View, although thank goodness for CAN-View! Without out it, I wouldn't be able to quickly clear the code while I'm driving or restart the car later. This has been going on for months without any ill effect so I just ignoring/clearing the triangle. I guess I'll eventually break down (no pun intended) and pay someone to hook up the car and read the code.

Good luck to everyone!