EV Inspection at Regency

For South Australian Members of the AEVA
Forum rules
All may view this forum, only AEVA Members may post here.
Post Reply
drowe67
Groupie
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri, 18 Apr 2008, 20:14
Real Name: David Rowe
Location: Adelaide
Contact:

EV Inspection at Regency

Post by drowe67 »

Hi Guys,

I just had my EV inspected at Regency Park. I didn't pass, but am actually quite happy with the outcome. Mainly a bunch of minor things (window tinting, a frayed seatbelt, some electrical wiring touching brake lines).

The guys there were very friendly, and actually very excited about the car. At one stage I had about 5 guys checking out my EV! I imagine their job must be a hard one some times, so I am happy I made their day more interesting.

A few of the more interesting items they want addressed:

1/ They need the motor to be fully sealed (they were concerned about the open grill over the brushes and water). Or a letter from Advanced DC motors stating the motor can handle water/dust ingress would be sufficient.

2/ I need a chartered engineer to write a letter saying that the braking system (vac pump, tank etc) is up to ADRs. To save a few $ I will do some ground work myself on that (check out the ADRs, document my system, vacuum levels, volume of tank, circuit diagram etc), before contacting the engineer. At least it's not an engineers report on the entire vehicle, so hopefully I can keep this to a few hundred $.

I know others that have passed with identical motors/braking systems to me, but there you go. Much of it depends on the opinion on the day, and EVs are a gray area (my inspectors first one). Anyway, not too hard to fix.

All the things I was worried about (AGMs inside the unsealed boot, some small structural mods for battery racks, vehicle height, breaker location) were OK. Failing on some of these would have been real show stoppers.

Actually, looking back I feel I had a thorough engineers type inspection for $205. You know I came into this project from a pretty low mechanical skill level (couldn't fix cars or weld), so overall I am pretty happy with the results.

Re-inspection is just $68 and booked for a few weeks time.

Cheers,

David
Last edited by drowe67 on Fri, 17 Oct 2008, 10:25, edited 1 time in total.
Driving an EV every day
http://www.rowetel.com/ev.html
User avatar
Tim
Groupie
Posts: 67
Joined: Tue, 08 Jul 2008, 03:54
Real Name: Tim
Location: Adelaide

EV Inspection at Regency

Post by Tim »

David,

Sorry I don't get on here as much as I'd like at the moment, and didn't get back to you on your last question about inspection tips, but might be able to point you in the right direction/provide some short-cuts to info if you need it.

Regarding sealing the motor, I think that it not being sealed is a fairly important part of cooling it! The fan is certainly going to struggle to do its job with no air available... and the inability to vent brush dust will eventually cause problems (if the heat didn't kill it first).

I would think the more logical solution is to fit a belly-pan and guards to prevent any road water splashing onto anything important. I would be doing this anyway in the interests of all-weather reliability.

Cheers, Tim.   
Last edited by Tim on Tue, 21 Oct 2008, 16:56, edited 1 time in total.
Don't listen to what I'm saying... just understand what I mean.
drowe67
Groupie
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri, 18 Apr 2008, 20:14
Real Name: David Rowe
Location: Adelaide
Contact:

EV Inspection at Regency

Post by drowe67 »

Hi Guys,

Today I had my re-inspection and passed OK. So that's it - another inspected & registered EV for SA! I think thats about 6 or 7 for the state.

Re the motor sealing issue, I had Tonkins (engineers) talk to Alan from Vehicle Standards and it was agreed by all that the fully sealed clause is not appropriate (as Tim suggests above), and will probably be changed from a "must" to a "should" in future IB74 docs (or it's replacement).

I had Tonkins test the brake system and write a report.

BTW the waiting list for inspections is currently running at 3 weeks.

Cheers,

David

Driving an EV every day
http://www.rowetel.com/ev.html
User avatar
evric
Site Admin
Posts: 503
Joined: Sun, 20 Jul 2008, 01:57
Real Name: Eric
Location: Adelaide SA
Contact:

EV Inspection at Regency

Post by evric »

Excellent Dave !!!
Prius Plug-in Conversion: http://www.evplus.com.au ...Holden Barina EV: http://www.evric.kestar.com.au
User avatar
ev1
Noobie
Posts: 20
Joined: Fri, 11 Jul 2008, 03:05
Real Name: dickson beattie
Location: adelaide

EV Inspection at Regency

Post by ev1 »

congrats to you Dave!!
may i ask how much did Tonkins charge you??
drowe67
Groupie
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri, 18 Apr 2008, 20:14
Real Name: David Rowe
Location: Adelaide
Contact:

EV Inspection at Regency

Post by drowe67 »

$660 for the work they did for me (brake testing and report). Plus they also helped me sort out the motor sealing issue with Transport SA.
Driving an EV every day
http://www.rowetel.com/ev.html
Post Reply