Simplest way to bench test Outlander stack?

[Scrappyjoe]

Hello.

I am just getting started with converting a vehicle to EV, using an Outlander rear drive unit and inverter. My shipment of goodies, which includes the Outlander stack, also comes with a configured Openinverter board, a Volvo Eltec charger, Tesla DC-DC converter, and a few peripherals.

Following along with the forum advice, it seems step 1, before pulling bits off a vehicle or buying batteries, is to set everything up on a bench and get things turning.

Now I am in a bit of a quandary. I am unsure how I should power the HV side of the motor for my bench testing. It's important to note that, from what I can see by combing the forums, I need at least 200V DC in order to get an Outlander motor and inverter to work.

Options I can think of:

1. Get 60 18650 lithium cells, wire them in series, and connect each end to the inverter (will be a PITA to recharge)
2. Get some sort of AC to DC converter and plug it into the mains and then plug the DC end into the inverter

What does everyone else do?

Constraints -

1. I'm in South Africa, so salvage EV batteries are hard to come by.
2. Similarly, I can't buy quickly from eBay etc, but I can take links to products and then try find analogues in SA.

Any general guidance (i.e you really should watch X YouTube video before proceeding) much appreciated. I've spent about 2 years reading about this stuff, but am still very much a novice.

[bigmotherwhale]

If you can turn off regen, using a variac and a rectifier to supply the HV bus is an option, you could also probably use the Eltek as a PSU as long as you dont draw too much current, again absolutely no regen or things will certainly explode.

[Scrappyjoe]

I'd like to use what I have, so Eltek sounds like a good option with regen off. I'm not going to be doing anything wild, just verifying that I can actually connect everything up and get the motor to turn when I manipulate the pedal.

[bigmotherwhale]

I have used the eltek as a power supply in the past, it will also limit the current so as long as regen is off it theoretically should be fine, you should try the lowest voltage the inverter will work at which is i think 180 - 190v if my memory serves me well.

[arber333]

I would recommend using a hybrid battery as Outlander or Chevy Volt, VW Golf GTE or Hyundai hybrids. They can be get for low $.
Any electronic converter would hazard destruction as motor will try to regen back into power supply... I think Eltek charger is too valuble to expose it to experiments...

Or simply connect a series of 12V car batteries. To get anything meaningfull from Outlander things you need at least 220Vdc i think.

[Scrappyjoe]

No significant hybrid packs in my country I’m afraid. Closest is Prius, and a used battery is $750 if you can find it.

What do you think arber? 20 lead acids? Or 60 little 18650 Lipo?

For the actual EV pack I’ll have to buy in from China. It’s economical for 20kwh+ but not for a little test battery.

[arber333]

Well that is a problem. What kind of a battery do you have in mind?
Commercial 18650 can withstand only 12A in series. You sould have to get those strong INR series cells like Samsung INR18650-25S or similar.
https://eu.nkon.nl/rechargeable/li-ion/ ... h-25a.html
https://eu.nkon.nl/rechargeable/li-ion/ ... h-25a.html

[Scrappyjoe]

I suppose this opens up a follow up question, which is, how much current would I need for bench testing? To be honest, I thought I would need a few amps, as all I am doing is ‘booting it up’, getting access to the interface and maybe spinning it at a few RPM to verify that it’ll work.

I’ve read enough of your posts to know that you experiment extensively. It’s a good data point - how many amps is a ‘minimum threshold’ to test that everything is connected and operating correctly?

[bigmotherwhale]

Is there any reason why you cant use something like a large TVS MOV or multiple of them as a voltage clamp, they can handle a few thousand amps for a short period of time, might allow you to do your tests without fear of pumping your bus voltage if the regen happens unexpectedly.

[arber333]

I suppose this opens up a follow up question, which is, how much current would I need for bench testing? To be honest, I thought I would need a few amps, as all I am doing is ‘booting it up’, getting access to the interface and maybe spinning it at a few RPM to verify that it’ll work.

I’ve read enough of your posts to know that you experiment extensively. It’s a good data point - how many amps is a ‘minimum threshold’ to test that everything is connected and operating correctly?

I have seen normal free rotor spinup with solar DC fuse 25A. This changed immediately if i would put any load on the motor axle.
I think you could get away with 25A at 240Vdc.
I am just putting the rear motor in my car and i am making a can interface to run the motor-inverter-charger combo from my VCU.
If you would be interested i can offer you my ESP32 VCU interface.

[arber333]

......
Options I can think of:

1. Get 60 18650 lithium cells, wire them in series, and connect each end to the inverter (will be a PITA to recharge)
2. Get some sort of AC to DC converter and plug it into the mains and then plug the DC end into the inverter
......

You already told us you have Eltek charger. I think that charger works from 220Vdc to 420Vdc and it can provide up to 10A limited to 3kW power so you can charge from 230Vac directly just by providing it with correct CAN telegram...
https://leafdriveblog.wordpress.com/201 ... w-charger/

[Scrappyjoe]

bigmotherwhale, no reason other than my total lack of technical knowledge . I think I'll stick with small batteries for now as it seems more feasible to me.

arber, than you for your input. You have really helped me think this through, and I feel like I have the shape of a plan -

1. Get 64 lipo cells capable of providing 25A for a voltage of 236.8Vdc
2. Balance them and wire them up in series
3. Figure out how to connect and operate the Eltek charger (thanks for the link!)
4. Wire up the stack and connect the batteries!

That''s probably about 3 months of weekends for me, but it should cost very little money, and by the end I should have made good progress on the fundamental skills required:

1. Working with HV
2. Building a battery
3. Using CAN
4. Creating wiring diagrams

[Scrappyjoe]

Just closing the loop here, I went with 70x3.7v lipo cells in series, 4.8Ah, 3C continuous rating, 5C max.