The EV Console

Worked on installing the Heinemann circuit breaker and some of the gauges into the console today. From early circuit diagram development, I was figuring out where to place the manual circuit breaker, or kill switch. Placement is pretty important, because if things get out of hand while driving, I want a reliable method to cut the HV battery pack circuit. BUT, I didn't want to expose passengers to any more of the HV cabling than necessary. My solution - through the console.

Here is the partially completed console from front...






















And from the back.

Installing the Hall Effect Pedal Assembly (HEPA)

Mechanical accelerator pedal - GONE!

Electrical accelerator pedal - INSTALLED!

I ordered my Z1K-HV motor controller configured with the -P option, which basically sets the HB2 up to accept control input not from a pot-box (the old way), but from a Hall-effect pedal assembly (the new way). The HEPA is also manufactured by Cafe Electric. It will be more consistent and last longer than a pot-box in the long run, and I am glad I selected the option. It really is getting close to the drive-by-wire concept though!

Cafe Electric states that the HEPA may not mount well in every vehicle. This is true in the case of the cabby as well, where the bottom bolt could not go through the firewall in its current position - it would interfere with the manual steering rack mount. I crafted an aluminum extension, which worked pretty well. It's now in, and the signal cable has been routed through to the engine compartment.

Now if I only had my Zilla. Still on back-order, and it will hopefully get here within the month.

Roberino - Makin' cables

Making the HV cables has jumped to the forefront recently, since I just received my Juli Tools YYQ-120A hydraulic cable crimper and HS-125 cable cutter from China via ZEVA (www.zeva.com.au). These are the heavy duty tools that will make my job of making many, many battery cables a little easier. I am excited! There are manual cable crimpers out there, but I am not interested in a workout here. I did a test crimp using the hydraulic, and the crimper worked great - no effort, and a very sturdy crimp. The only downside was that the crimper is metric and the closest die was 70 mm2, where 2/0 welding cable is actually 67.5 mm2. So not exact, but close enough.


Look at that crimp! No effort at all.

More useful links - manufacturers

Cafe Electric, home of the Zilla motor controller - best on the market (I am using the Z1K-HV).

Electro Auto, home of the VoltsRabbit and VoltsPorsche conversion kits/books

Detailed HV Circuit Diagrams - front and back

Here is the circuit diagram for the front, basically mostly contained in the engine compartment. I have been very explicit about keeping the HV and auxiliary circuits separate whenever possible.

I have separated the components into functional circuit blocks, for FCBs, which will physically be mounted within the engine compartment. I have several candidate locations, but will wait for the front battery rack to go in before finalizing the install. Until then, I will start assembling the FCBs.



Considerably simpler than the front diagram, here is the rear circuit diagram. The only items back in the cargo area are the rear battery pack and rear FCB, containing mainly the charger. The charger AC supply will feed through the former gas tank feeder tube to the outside of the vehicle.

Note that I will have three HV cables running between the rear and front sections of the vehicle. The plan is to have these cables running along the underside of the vehicle in pvc pipe, following the path formerly used by the fuel lines which are now gone.

Inspirational Videos

White Zombie Feature

White Zombie Under The Hood

White Zombie vs. a "Gasser"

Some Related EV Links

Here is a link to the "EV album":
http://www.evalbum.com

Electro is listed here as well:
http://www.evalbum.com/1426

A useful forum for conversions is the Electric Vehicle Discussion List (EVDL):
http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html