Nevilleh's BMW

[Nevilleh]

Well, I was going to get the twin turbo model, but its only 5.5 litres!

[coulomb]

I've received notification that my new car is on its way...

Is this notification from the boss that pays you or the boss that you married?   

[Johny]

I've received notification that my new car is on its way and its NOT an EV, its powered by a 6.3 litre, gas guzzling, V8. (Hides head in shame).

The only (well at first) 6.3L V8 I can find with google is the AMG Mercedes Benz engine. Is that it? Wow!

[Nevilleh]

Is this notification from the boss that pays you or the boss that you married?   

Actually from the dealer, but it came about because the boss that I married inherited a substantial amount of money last year and took pity on me having to drive around in a 1988 BMW, however "practical", so the AMG C63 Coupe is on its way. Completely poles apart! But my philosophy now is that the oil is going to run out, so make the most of it while you can.

[Tritium_James]

Well, the faster you use it up, the more incentive there will be for people to transition to EVs. So go for it!

[BigMouse]

But my philosophy now is that the oil is going to run out, so make the most of it while you can.

Uh oh, we've lost you. Go ahead and tow your EV BMW down to the dock. I'll give it a new home in Wollongong. It'll keep my E36 company!

[Nevilleh]

No, not lost, just gone before.....

I am still a firm believer in EVs and the electric BMW will find space in the garage for a while yet. I will still use it for my day-to-day running and short trips, but I've always needed another car for the times when I need to drive a couple of hundred k's or more. Which seems to be about 2 or 3 times a month.

I did think about a Tesla, but that's a bit too hard at present. Maybe in a year or two, particularly if a) they stay in business, b) they make a RHD version of the new 4-door, and c) they will sell me one here where there is no support!

I've been pushing EVs in this country for about 6 years now, importing and distributing electric motor scooters and motorcycles - EVT and lately I imported an eRider motorcycle (what a piece of crap that turned out to be, beware of China!) but trying to generate interest in "clean, green New Zealand" is like pushing s@#t up hill with a pencil.
The only people that are interested are the Greenies and they are the ones with no money.
Sigh!
Meantime, I will do my bit to hasten the demise of the petrol engine.

[PlanB]

It's interesting to watch the internal conflict in folk when it comes to energy. A guy I know loves to fly his squirrel helicopter around, a gas guzzling brute of a thing that burns 120 lires of kero per hour, but his daily drive is a Prius.
I can think of a few roads in NZ that your Merc will do justice to Nev, the little built of guilt at the fuel burn will only sweeten the experience, like stolen fruit.
Whenever I get depressed at my inability to get an EV build happening I go for a drive with my brother in his Dodge charger, it feels so naughty!

[antiscab]

lately I imported an eRider motorcycle (what a piece of crap that turned out to be,

yeh, the build quality is pretty bad

did you get one with the sevcon controller?

if so, they run ok while they work, but getting those panels off is a real PITA.

Doing second hand vectrix is more profitable - similar price point but way more margin and way higher build quality (mine has done 60'000km so far)

There is another possibility btw - I have a dead Elcon 2000W charger.

I've opened it up, and the PFC front end is still alive, still puts out 390V.

If you're interested I can find out how much shipping may be

Matt

[Nevilleh]

I can think of a few roads in NZ that your Merc will do justice to Nev, the little built of guilt at the fuel burn will only sweeten the experience, like stolen fruit.
Whenever I get depressed at my inability to get an EV build happening I go for a drive with my brother in his Dodge charger, it feels so naughty!

Oh yes, there are some quite challenging roads around here. I have another guilty secret: My last "other" car was a Jaguar XK 4.2 (the Al body one) and I took it in a thing called the Targa Rally Tour last October. The tour follows the rally route - all sealed roads, by the way - and you get to drive on the closed roads before the rally cars come through. You leave at 3 second intervals, strictly NO overtaking and the tour leader sets the pace.You are not allowed to exceed 160 kph.
Well, I discovered that the "TrackIt" device that monitors your speed and position only samples every 12 seconds, so you can exceed 160 as long as your average in that 12 sec interval is no more than that. I saw 220 on the clock more than once! Anyway, to cut a long story short, I ruined the tyres and went through a fence on the second last stage on the last day. Rolled it down a bank and the insurance co wrote it off. Hence the impending AMG Mercedes.
One of the more pleasing things I saw was the fuel computer showing a consumption rate of just 3 kms per litre when driving with right foot firmly planted on either one or the other pedals.
Now I can buzz down to the shops in my clean, green electric BMW and everyone thinks I am saving the planet! I am. For me.

[Nevilleh]

After several cycles of top balancing, I decided the shunting threshold was set a bit high and after looking at the charge curve for a CALB cell, I dropped it 3.360 V with much better results. I am now finding some 30-odd cells are shunting when the first one reaches the cut-off of 3.60 V. ie 30 cells are above 3.360 and below 3.60. Still 15 cells to drag up there, but it is happening. One thing this tells me is that if you are going to top balance, you'd better balance them all before fitting them to the car. The bms then should be perfectly capable of keeping them so.
One interesting tip: an old cell phone charger - of which we all have several, I'm sure - puts out around 3.6 - 4 V depending on the model and will deliver an amp or so. Connect one to your low cell for a few hours!
Further info on top balancing: I'm finding that the average voltage of the battery has increased by perhaps 3 volts or so, due no doubt to running the cells higher up the discharge curve. This means the amps have dropped slightly (for the same power, obviously) and that means I can go further than before. Who'da thunk it?

[Nevilleh]

lately I imported an eRider motorcycle (what a piece of crap that turned out to be,

yeh, the build quality is pretty bad

did you get one with the sevcon controller?

if so, they run ok while they work, but getting those panels off is a real PITA.

Doing second hand vectrix is more profitable - similar price point but way more margin and way higher build quality (mine has done 60'000km so far)

There is another possibility btw - I have a dead Elcon 2000W charger.

I've opened it up, and the PFC front end is still alive, still puts out 390V.

If you're interested I can find out how much shipping may be

Matt

Sorry Matt, I've only just read your message.
The controller appears to be Chinese, I think made specially for eRider. It cuts out from time to time for no apparent reason and recovers all by itself, again for no apparent reason.
The machine had a faulty cell when it arrived and that also caused it to cut out - bms detecting 2.5V and shutting it off. NBG.
Not sure what you are telling me about the Elcon charger?

[antiscab]

ah, then you have the crappy controller - those burn out pretty quickly, not a good design internally

re the elcon - I posted in the wrong thread :p