eVFR 2.0: 72V 20Ah test pack
During the upgrade to Lithium, I started working with a friend of mine, Eric Cha. Eric and a couple other his colleagues are working on a 3-wheeled commuter vehicle. He aproached me last year and I started helping him with the electrical system. In the end, we ended up with the same DeltaQ, Headway, Elithion, Vicor, Curtis and Hi Performance Golf Cars system.
He also happens to be an iPhone developer. We started talking and both realized we wanted some sort of integrated display. We started looking at some hardware we could use to talk to the controller and BMS and settled on a design. We have the hardware that can talk to the iPhone in our hands, and he’s got some code started. He has released details about the product on his website.
In order to begin on the iPhone display project, we had to get a pack with BMS running so we could start talking to it. We bought the crimper and connectors and assembled the 72V 20Ah pack and installed the elithion BMS system. We plugged it in, wired up power and plugged it in. It immediately came up on the computer screen using a terminal program.
Here are some pictures of the 72V 20Ah test pack:
So now that the pack has been built, and the elithion system is communicating, Eric has started working more on the coding for the iPhone. He got the hardware talking to his computer the other night. Our intention is to integrate the BMS and Curtis Controller to the iPhone via their serial connections and a Wifi connection to the iPhone. The gauges will be very customizable depending on the users needs. After we get the initial development done, we’ll start to add features and other device support.
The BMS we’re using reports back the State of Charge, the voltages of all of the cells, current coming out (going into) the battery pack, the temperature of each cell board and status of the system components. The Curtis controller has a Speedometer output, Battery Discharge Indicator, Battery Amps, Battery Pack Voltage, Motor RPM and Motor temperature. We’ll be using the BMS for Voltage and Amperage measurements and the Controller for Temperature and RPM related information.
Other updates:
- Motor Mount/endplates were delayed a couple weeks.
- My 192 Headway cells had to be sold and my replacements have arrived at EVComponents. I will be picking them up this weekend.
- I got a Pelican iPhone enclosure that is waterproof and allows viewing of the phone inside the case. I’ll attach it to the gauge area on my bike and replace the gauges on the bike.
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