[Driving] Freelander EV With Gen1 Leaf electrics and Original EVBMW VCU

[vwbrady]

Since I have the EM61 (shouldn't have gone this route) with inverter, and I already have one of Damien's controllers soldered up, I'm better off using that to move it around. But when i saw your Freelander start moving in the video i was like how did he do it!?

I'm thinking a bunch of 18650s should due to move about the driveway.

I eagerly await more progress, Ali!

[Alibro]

Since I have the EM61 (shouldn't have gone this route) with inverter, and I already have one of Damien's controllers soldered up, I'm better off using that to move it around. But when i saw your Freelander start moving in the video i was like how did he do it!?

I'm thinking a bunch of 18650s should due to move about the driveway.

I eagerly await more progress, Ali!

I did it with a rubbish quality 36V ebike battery so that's all I needed I also have a load of old UPS 12V batteries I could have used but the ebike battery was handy.

[Alibro]

I've been very quiet here for a couple of weeks as nothing much has happened with life and work getting in the way, but I had a bit of fun today.
As I needed to get the car back in the garage to see what I can do about fitting batteries under it, I decided to have a go at connecting the Freelander accelerator pedal to the ebike controller.
This was partly for convenience as using a hand throttle while trying to turn the steering wheel without power assistance is not easy, and partly because tracing the throttle wires back to the ecu and identifying them is an important job anyway.
So after a lot of faffing about and misreading the connections I wrote several months ago I finally got it working.
At first I planned to use a different more powerful controller so spent a bit of time linking up a few of my 12V ex UPS batteries to make 48V. Unfortunately I had issues with the 48V controller so instead I decided to plug the 36V controller into my new 48V battery.
I wasn't really surprised that nothing bad happened as these controllers are often used with different voltages so it looks like this is OK.
Here is the pack and controller taped onto the front of the car.

It seemed to go a bit better than with the 36V ebike battery but it was always a gutless battery anyway and needed charging so that's no surprise.
What was a surprise was when I was heading for a wall, lifted off the throttle and the car kept going.
I'd forgotten a wee quirk of this controller is when you maintain throttle for a few seconds it goes into cruise control so after a bit of panic standing on the brake (no servo) I blipped the throttle and it stopped again. I think I need to connect the brake kill switch for this before something bad happens and also the ignition switch because all this happened with the car turned off.
Anyhow the car is back in the garage so I had a quick look under and I don't think I'll be able to use much of the original eGolf pack mounting points. I think the battery box at the rear may have to be made in two sections as the subframe and rear axle will be in the way but I'm not too worried about this as I never expected this part to be easy.

[JaniK]

Surprise cruise control

Good thing you had some working brakes, and not testing with no brakes as some do..

[Alibro]

Surprise cruise control

Good thing you had some working brakes, and not testing with no brakes as some do..

It caught me out a few times when I had it on my bike.
Thankfully no harm done but I'll probably try to hook up the brake pedal switch to the brake sensors on the controller. That way if I touch the brakes it will kill the controller without me having to blip the throttle.

[JaniK]

Surprise cruise control

Good thing you had some working brakes, and not testing with no brakes as some do..

It caught me out a few times when I had it on my bike.
Thankfully no harm done but I'll probably try to hook up the brake pedal switch to the brake sensors on the controller. That way if I touch the brakes it will kill the controller without me having to blip the throttle.

That sounds like a good failsafe system to wire up, even for temporary testing .

[Alibro]

Latest video.

[Extremetaz]

Jee-sus-christ - Talk about being shoehorned in there, that VW cell mapping it mental!

[Alibro]

Jee-sus-christ - Talk about being shoehorned in there, that VW cell mapping it mental!

LOL, I agree. I guess that's what you have to do when the car has been designed for ICE and you're trying to cram in a load of batteries.

[Bigpie]

Did you come across any wiring diagrams for the battery pack external connector? My neighbour has an egolf so I've picked up a inductive can reader to see if I can get some logs from the car. Would be useful to know which is can h & l and which bus is which.

[Alibro]

Did you come across any wiring diagrams for the battery pack external connector? My neighbour has an egolf so I've picked up a inductive can reader to see if I can get some logs from the car. Would be useful to know which is can h & l and which bus is which.

You should contact Janik as he has been working on an eGolf pack for several months and knows a lot more about the BMS and CAN than I do.
I haven't come across any wiring diagrams as yet.

[Alibro]

So I hope to be building the battery fairly box soon and wondered what weight steel you guys would suggest I purchase. I haven't finalised the shape yet and there will be more CAD design for that but as a rough guide are we talking 2mm? 3mm? Can the lid be made of lighter grade steel since it will not be carrying the weight?
I suspect the shape will be a little more complex than a square box to try and fit as many modules in as possible so it will gain some strength from having a few corners. Does this mean I can use lighter steel.
I want to keep the weight sensible but still strong so appreciate your thoughts.

[SciroccoEV]

The two battery boxes in my Scirocco were made from 22 Swg = 0.028” / 0.711mm.

Each box held 8 Lead acid Optima BlueTops weighing 160kg. They were constructed using 4mm steel rivets with stiffening ribs and localised reinforcement.

BBOX1.JPG (12.12 KiB) Viewed 75172 times

[Alibro]

The two battery boxes in my Scirocco were made from 22 Swg = 0.028” / 0.711mm.

Each box held 8 Lead acid Optima BlueTops weighing 160kg. They were constructed using 4mm steel rivets with stiffening ribs and localised reinforcement.


FBOX3.JPGBBOX1.JPG

Thanks mate, the VW box is 1.5mm so I guess if the design is right and it's built properly something like 1mm to 1.5mm should be fine.

[Alibro]

Oops, double quote.

[Alibro]

Oops, treble quote.

[Alibro]

So after several goes at making the fuel tank box this seems to be the best option. It may not be perfect and maybe I could fit more in but I'm being cautious as this is my first attempt at this.

However until I figure out exactly how to bolt the modules together fit them in the box I can't be certain this will work.
So I've started making the brackets to hold the four large modules together.

The idea was to have the 4 large modules bolted together with threaded bar then bolted to the box. I plan to have studs on the floor of the box but as I haven't sorted that yet I haven't drilled the brackets.
To help with cooling I'm spacing the modules with 3mm washers and have made the middle part of the bracket from 3mm steel.

This is the four brackets made and they are a tight fit. I'm waiting for some threaded stud connectors to screw onto the ends of the threaded bar as I've no access to tighten nuts. Originally I planned to weld the inner brackets together but I think it will be easier to manage two modules at a time rather than 4.

[JaniK]

Looking good. Should I just wait until you solve this puzzle and then copy, edit, paste your solution to my project

[Bigpie]

I'm finding the battery box the hardest and most frustrating part of the project. I've thrown away my fibreglass attempt and now trying PVC sheets on a metal box section frame.
I like your full cardboard mockup idea, I just mocked up a single module.

[Alibro]

Looking good. Should I just wait until you solve this puzzle and then copy, edit, paste your solution to my project

Good idea.

I'm finding the battery box the hardest and most frustrating part of the project. I've thrown away my fibreglass attempt and now trying PVC sheets on a metal box section frame.
I like your full cardboard mockup idea, I just mocked up a single module.

The space I have available is complex due to the rear diff being in the way but also mounted on rubber bushings so I need to allow for it moving. Making a cardboard box allowed me to see what will fit the space best and how many modules I can fit in.
What was wrong with the fibre glass box?

[Bigpie]

The person that made it (me) wasn't very good with fibreglass. It was bubbly, too large and was frustrating to work with. Probably inexperience. I should have had a practice run on something simpler. Hopefully get V2 sorted this weekend.

[Alibro]

The person that made it (me) wasn't very good with fibreglass. It was bubbly, too large and was frustrating to work with. Probably inexperience. I should have had a practice run on something simpler. Hopefully get V2 sorted this weekend.

I've done a fair bit of fibre glass in the past but I'm not sure I would take on making this box from it.
Without a good mould it would be very difficult but even then it is not easy.

[Alibro]

So I've finished making the brackets to hold two large modules. I might tweak them a bit but his is the general shape.

And this is how I made the securing screws

And how I plan to bolt them down. When I get the box built I'll drill the holes and weld in studs.

I've made a start on the fuel tank battery box too.

I've decided to build a frame with 3mm angle steel to give it strength and will clad it with 1.6mm sheet. This is the base built but I still have to weld in corners and top but this is enough for today.

[Alibro]

I've been struggling to decide the best way to link the battery modules inside the battery box and I figured it was important to sort this out before going any further with the box fab.
The screw terminals are close to the sides of the box and I wasn't completely happy bending ring terminals at 90 deg. The original solid copper cables are really hard to bend and many of them are not suitable for the position I have the modules now. At first I thought I wouldn't be able to reuse them but a mate suggested just cutting and joining them so after a bit of fettling this is the current idea.

I just need to trim back the insulation, drill holes in them and bolt them together. I might twist them 90 deg so it's easier to isolate the bolts from the battery case but I'll decide that when I have the case finished.

They are solid copper bars 35mm2 It looks like they're soldered to the connectors so at first I was thinking of soldering the bars together but there is one good reason why I can't do that nor weld them. I need to be able to screw the connections to the battery modules BEFORE I set them in the box.
If you look at the position of the terminals on the modules many of them will be impossible to access after they are set in the box. I only realised this when I went to tighten the connections nearest the two uprights.
I will probably have to change the center links for this reason too as I will not be able to set all four modules into the box bolted together.
Insulating them shouldn't be a major issue and is why I'm thinking of putting a twist in the bars so the bolts will be horizontal.

Any thoughts guys?

[Bigpie]

I'm redoing my fibreglass battery box. Cladding it with pvc sheets. Im really happy with the stuff. Lightweight, pretty tough and easy to work with. It's sold as hygienic wall cladding.