914ev on li-ion is alive

[David Hale]

Hey guys, just wanted to share that I have my 914ev back on the road again, as of last night! I did the initial ElectroAuto conversion with the Azure AC24LS in Jan 2009. I put about 12,000 miles on it over a couple of years before the lead acid pack died. I couldn't stomach another set of heavy, messy, high-maintenance lead acid, but I couldn't afford lithium, so the car just sat. Last year someone gave me the idea of using batteries from a crashed Leaf. What I actually ended up with is batteries from a crashed 2013Chevy Volt. I have one complete Volt pack plus part of another, which I took apart and reassembled for a total (nominal) 216v 90Ah pack, 19.4kWh.

No pictures or data yet, but I drove about 5 mi last night and another 29 mi today. The car feels a bit peppier than I remember it, and seems to handle a little better. I suppose it ought to. I shed 800 pounds of lead! Plus, I'm running the Azure system on 216v instead of 144v (at best).

It's good to be back on the road again.

Dave

[Peter Thompson]

Congrats! Once you get used to the lower weight you should be a lot happier.

Cheers, Peter

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[Richard Rodriguez]

Congratulations.
I've heard the azure system runs much better on higher voltage.
Good luck with the volt batteries.
Richard

[Randy Pollock]

Congratulations, Dave. It was nice to see the car yesterday - huge improvement over the lead power car. Keep the updates coming…

Speaking of updates, I’ve had my car on the road for ~3 months now. Driving it to work several days per week and it is running great. I’ve probably got well over 1,000 miles since I got it running again and it has been rock solid. Lots of little things to do to the car (mostly getting a battery state of charge gauge working), but really been enjoying the car.

Good luck to everyone out there,

Randy

[David Hale]

Thanks Randy. Your car is running great!

Yes, the Azure AC24LS is doing MUCH better with a higher voltage. I'm quite happy now with the Li-Ion. If I drive through all of the gears, 1, 2, 3, etc. then it has plenty of pep. I kind of don't like that though and usually start in 2nd. I can get by around town (35 mph) in 3rd. I can start in 3rd but it's a dog (as in, people driving around me wondering what's wrong).

I have to say though, Randy's 914 with the, what is it, AC51?, is fantastic. It has a lot of acceleration, even starting in 3rd!

So I have a few glitches still to work out; any suggestions?... First, when fully charged, I press the accelerator and I can hear the motor turning, not quite enough to move the car yet, and then BAM! It launches, squealing the tires. This is not a regen issue (that's next) and it is only for the first couple of blocks. Second is the regen issue. Initially, regen isn't allowed because the battery voltage is too high. Once it drops a bit, then regen starts to fade in, but it oscillates, a little current comes in and then it shuts it off, so then a little current comes in, etc. and it hits bang/bang/bang. I could switch off regen for the early stages but it would be nice if I could find a way to adjust it nicely.

Dave

[David Shields]

Congratulations.
 

[Steve Lacy]

Congrats! Would love to see some photos!

[Michael Brown]

Jack and the team at EVTV developed the GEVCU which allows you to graphically define your acceleration and regen curves.  It knows how to manage an Azure Dynamics DMOC controller, not sure about yours.  http://store.evtv.me/proddetail.php?prod=gevcu

--

Mike Brown

Not my circus, not my monkeys.

[Mark Brems]

Hey David,

What was your source for the used battery packs (Volt, Leaf, etc.)?

(My 120 volt CALB SE180Ah 36 cell pack has 22,000 miles and is still running strong with the HPEVS AC50.)

Cheers,

MarkB

[Randy Pollock]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the pointer, but I think I will end up writing my own interface.  I want to integrate the Manzanita Micro BMS & charger, the Curtis controller, a GPS to get realtime speed and elevation change and a vacuum florescent display that will serve as my battery gauge.  In addition to real time info while driving, I want it to allow me to have timed charging at home.

I have bits and pieces of the code running right now, so I know it is all possible, but need work to get less crazy for a while so that I can spend time integrating it all.

And, yes Dave, it is the AC51.  I bought it from EVWest last summer:  

http://www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=8&products_id=172&osCsid=6inpmaakr2dtoaeg5ad7bob1c1

Awesome little motor.

Randy

[David Hale]

Hi Mark, I found the Volt batteries at a salvage yard, which I located via car-part.com