gholm's Morris J2 Van- 1966

Post up a thread for your EV. Progress pics, description and assorted alliteration
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Post by Johny »

Good point but I found that you just can't get enough weight in batteries into the front anyway. The batteries weigh a lot less per volume than cast iron engine blocks, heads, manifolds, starters, generators......
This comment mainly applies to older vehicles.
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Post by EV2Go »

In a top heavy van you don't want to put too much weight forward anyway. Remembering the driver and passanger sit well forward compared to normal. If the back is too light you might just turn it into a drift van. I would be aiming for a 50-50 split, which might mean you put the battery pack between the rear wheel arches.
Last edited by EV2Go on Tue, 05 Oct 2010, 06:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by a4x4kiwi »

Can you mount them (or some) in trapdoors under the floor?
That way they can be attached to the chassis rails rather than the sheet metal floor.
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Post by EV2Go »

Yeah I was wondering that myself or if that hangs too low do a partial above partial below box. I realise that makes it a bit harder to take back to stock but you could always fabricate a plate to go over the hole as can be found in many vans. I think the lower centre of gravity would be well worth the trade.
Last edited by EV2Go on Tue, 05 Oct 2010, 06:43, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by gholm »

The floor is flush with the main chassis rails anyway so I can bolt through the floor onto some u-brackets around those rails. I'm deign to cut away the floor plate and I don't really think I can get enough depth to house the cells anyway because of the main drive shaft right down the centre.

As it is, bare bones van, it really is skittery around the rear. I haven't loaded it up with anything heavy yet, but will definitely appreciate some extra weight to hold it down. It's designed to carry 15cwt (750kg) so it should be OK with the 250kg of batteries back there.

The ICE weighs in at 220kg according to the workshop manual, and I'll be replacing it with a 70kg motor, 2x7kg chargers, 1x10kg controller plus adaptor plate (10kg?) = ~100kg back in for EV equipment. Net loss of 120kg up front, gain of 250kg to middle/rear so rear traction should pick up a lot.

I'm thinking of designing a sliding rail system for the pack, so I can slide it along the line of the van (and right out the back for service/replacement!). Held in place by a cotter pin or three, I'm sure I'll find the optimal position for the pack in what passenger/cargo combo I'll be carrying at the time.
or.. I'll just fix it under the rear seat and be done with it :)

Will perhaps see some of you at Rouse Hill this Saturday. I'm bringing the van to check out some of the AEVA vehicles. Feel free to come by and see it in its final days as a ICE J2.
cheers
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Post by AMPrentice »

I really like this van, Ive always wanted one in moss green and electric
so to see this unique project here is a real joy to me.
Is there a chance you can fit/move the motor as rearward as possible
so its really close to the differential? Also have you looked at a stronger
differential like a cheap Dana, hilux or other commercial diff setup?
The reason is because it will be easier to play with ratios in the
diff from common modern rwd vehicles rather than wear the original.
At the same time you could fit better rear leaf springs and Koni dual way
shockers all round to improve the ride 10 fold.
If the Warp can fit near the diff then your batteries should fit where
the ICE and gearbox originally resides.
220kg for engine and 30kg for the box will equal the battery pack and then
the 70kg motor will balance the rear somewhat.
It would be nice to open the doors and see nothing but big empty space with
bamboo interior, tatami floor, ready for that rolled up futon secured
against the separator behind the seats :)
Last edited by AMPrentice on Fri, 05 Nov 2010, 16:42, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by gholm »

Been a while so I'd thought I'd update with the latest for anyone reading.

oh...Thanks AMPrentice for your encouragement, I do like the idea of rattan mats and rolled futon... need a couple of those Wobble-headed Hula dolls and a bead curtain to top it off!! Classic.

Big news... I've decided to go with a Kostov R20 motor instead of the Warp9. Basically for the same price, I'll achieve a higher torque and higher rated power.
Plenty of room in the engine bay for either, and for the extra power I figured it the better choice.

I have heard however there are some issues related to the larger motor's inductance and its suspected involvement in blowing up Curtis controllers (yikes) so I'm reasonably tentative about it and will definitely be babying it along until I get a feel for it. Any one out there with ideas on how to prevent a blow up? Its not exactly a hoon-mobile so no worries on that front, but if there's any tips or tricks to prevent blowups, I'd be very appreciative.

Aside from waiting on batteries (the last thing for me to get) I've been keeping myself busy and awake at nights, planning how my battery box will be built.

I bought an old rear seat out of a Hiace, and will eventually get it re-covered in the same brown vinyl as the front seats.

In the meantime I jumped into my favourite 3d program, Blender, and mocked up a few permutations of battery box that
a) holds the batteries securely,
b) holds the seat on top and
c) might be able to hold up to the careful scrutiny that the RTA engineer will no doubt afford it.

I went to town in 3d, measured the whole back of the van, substructure and all, so I now have a good feel for how big I need to make things.

Here're the final results. I'm reasonably confident it'll hold up, but please feel free to comment on any likely weaknesses, or engineering hurdles this design presents.

Van sub-structure in green
Image
Image

Battery size in relation to van. There are 45 x 180AH CALB cells... currently being loaded onto a boat in China and (hopefully) will be in Sydney end of Nov.
Image

Cage made of 25mm square tube with 3mm walls.
Image

Bolts in red. They bolt around the substructure (not through it!)
Image
Image

The cage has a lid in red, hinged at the rear (left of the pic is rear of van)
Image

Seat sits on top of the lid, but the seats load is born by on the two front silver brackets and 4 grey rubber blocks which rest on the top green horizontal tube. The seat has a locking mechanism which locks to a rod (not shown) on top of the side middle green 25mm vertical tube.
Image

The seat folds in half and then forward on its silver bracket (bolted to the front of the battery box.
Image
Image
Image

Under the seat you can see some silver struts which will rest on the red horizontal beams of the box lid. When the seat's mechanism is up and locked, these struts will prevent the red lid from opening.
You can also see the grey rubber blocks which bear most of the seat's weight. They rest on the topmost side green horizontal.

I'll likely use wood blocks mounted on the red lid to hold the batteries down, and also wood spacers inbetween battery packs to prevent battery expansion. I might even strap them to each other with that polyester packing strap stuff you find on large packages.
Image
Image
Image

edit (immediately after posting): grammer/spelling/readability       
Last edited by gholm on Tue, 09 Nov 2010, 16:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by antiscab »

gholm wrote: Big news... I've decided to go with a Kostov R20 motor instead of the Warp9. Basically for the same price, I'll achieve a higher torque and higher rated power.
Plenty of room in the engine bay for either, and for the extra power I figured it the better choice.

I have heard however there are some issues related to the larger motor's inductance and its suspected involvement in blowing up Curtis controllers (yikes) so I'm reasonably tentative about it


Good choice with the R20.
it is a good motor.

controllers *like* inductance.
its that lack of it that causes them to go bang.

in general bigger motors have less inductance (and resistance)
higher voltage rated motors have less inductance (in hendrys)
motors with interpoles have more inductance.

I would suggest *not* using a curtis (any of them).
even a cheap kelly 800A unit is better.

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Post by gholm »

@antiscab... too late, I already own the Curtis. Why you against them? (merely out of curiosity since my budget can't stretch for a different controller yet!)

Also.,.forgot to mention. I ran the van's fuel down to almost empty and took it to a weighbridge.

Empty, it's 1280kg total, 800kg on front axle and 480kg on back.

Putting the 250kg pack toward the back axle (like I plan to) will definitely balance the vehicle out towards that magic 50:50 on each axle.

cheers
Last edited by gholm on Tue, 09 Nov 2010, 16:38, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by antiscab »

gholm wrote: @antiscab... too late, I already own the Curtis. Why you against them? (merely out of curiosity since my budget can't stretch for a different controller yet!)


ah well.

the difference isn't sufficient to go out and sell the controller.

the curtis controller is of analogue design.
the throttle signal controls target motor voltage.

motor voltage roughly controls motor speed.
motor current controls motor torque.

throttle on a normal car controls torque.

the effect is that on startup, you accelerate very fast with a jerk to a minimum speed, regardless of throttle position.

that minimum speed could be 1kmh or 10kmh.

it depends on your setup.
don't rush out to sell it, build the car and try it out first.

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Post by EV2Go »

Unless you have a particular reason for leaving a gap between the battery packs I would ber inclined to push them together to stop the batteries swelling. Even with the deviders you could make each section snug.
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Post by gholm »

@antiscab : OK yes I get that explanation. Will be interesting to see if min speed is 1kph or 10kph.. What affects that? Gearing I'd guess.

@ev2Go : The reason for the spacing between those packs is to address a few issues.
Firstly the seat's weight bearing verticals need to line up with seat's design which I don't want to change.
The outer two verticals of the box bear the weight of the seat, and the two other internal verticals are spaced evenly for strength and to hold the box onto the chassis substructure.

So currently I have 4 verticals, whereas to pack the batteries closer together would mean I'd need two more (more steel).
It entirely possible that I might still need to do that in order to meet the Engineer's requirements for strength.
I'll definitely fiddle around in 3d to see what the "design" filter lets through.

Secondly my thinking is that the spacing would allow for better cooling airflow (I'm designing around longevity not performance, since I'm also aware the batteries perform better when warm)

Thirdly I'm planning on using wood blocks/wedges to pack the batteries in by compression to them swelling. That way, cells would be easier to remove if need be. Once the box is closed, all wood would be locked in place.

Either way, it all has to get past the Engineer from whom I'll first be after for preliminary approval based on these designs.

ciao
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Post by Tritium_James »

You should also allow room inside the battery box for your fuse (they are NOT small!) and your HV contactors. This way when 12V power is cut to the contactors there is no exposed HV outside the battery box. Have something in place to fasten these items to.

Think about where your busbars and BMS on top of the cells will fit. They are large-ish objects and can't just trivially bent around struts etc. You should design the box to accommodate them.

Think about where the + and - cables will join onto the cells, and where the conduit carrying this cable will exit the box. You don't want force from a cable being bent being applied to a cell terminal, so ideally a cable being bolted to the top of a cell should be approaching the cell horizontally and straight in. Neither the cable or conduit has a very small bend radius, so it can rapidly take up a lot more space than most people bargain for - allow 100mm radius bends at a minimum for the cable, and 150-200mm is best for the conduit. The actual crimp lugs on the cable take up a surprising amount of room too.
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Post by woody »

Also with 45 cells you will have to think about which order you will connect them in so you can exit your + and - ends in convenient locations.

e.g. a simple N pattern will give you + and - at diagonally opposite corners

You should work out where your contactors and conduit will be and how you are going to connect them in the right spots.
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Post by gholm »

Indeed. The battery interconnects are coming with the cells, so I could need to raise the height of the box once they arrive in case they don't fit as current design..

And yes, cable run is important. Big cable needs lots of room.
I'll likely end up using all that space inbetween the batteries and more. Its no big deal to make the box bigger for that, since I have a LOT of room in that van cargo bay.

BTW, I planned to only have one HV contactor, and its a great idea to put it into the box (I was originally planning on having it on a control board with the fuse and controller) but it makes total sense to isolate the HV to inside the battery box.
With the current design, theres's just enough space to fit fuse and contactor if wiring is judicious. You can guess what I'll be wrangling up in 3d now!

Tritium_James wrote: You should also allow room inside the battery box for your fuse (they are NOT small!) and your HV contactors. This way when 12V power is cut to the contactors there is no exposed HV outside the battery box. Have something in place to fasten these items to.

Think about where your busbars and BMS on top of the cells will fit. They are large-ish objects and can't just trivially bent around struts etc. You should design the box to accommodate them.

Think about where the + and - cables will join onto the cells, and where the conduit carrying this cable will exit the box. You don't want force from a cable being bent being applied to a cell terminal, so ideally a cable being bolted to the top of a cell should be approaching the cell horizontally and straight in. Neither the cable or conduit has a very small bend radius, so it can rapidly take up a lot more space than most people bargain for - allow 100mm radius bends at a minimum for the cable, and 150-200mm is best for the conduit. The actual crimp lugs on the cable take up a surprising amount of room too.
Last edited by gholm on Wed, 10 Nov 2010, 15:40, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by gholm »

OK on battery box design, here's a few more mock ups.

1) Bit of a mess but minimises use of steel while packing boxes tightly
ImageImage

2) Box design I showed earler.. allows for airflow between "packs" and perhaps space for contactor and fuses.
Total steel weight for 25x25x3mm square tube = 41.2kg for 21.8 metres of tube
ImageImage

3) Pushes "packs" to side and makes the space in the middle for fuse and contactor., Unbalanced, but biased to left to counter driver on right (diagonal balance (?) Each cell is 5.6 kg so total misbalance is 16.8kgs at 11cm off centre, which I'm sure won't rock the boat too much. Big single space for fuse and contactor and cable loops too. A solid contender.
Total steel weight for 25x25x3mm square tube = 41.2kg for 21.8 metres of tube
ImageImage

4) A design that packs the batteries toward center with extra verticals at inner edges. This makes a small space at each end to put fuse/contactors etc.
This one is much stronger/heavier so might have to be the choice.
Total steel weight for 25x25x3mm square tube = 43.7kg for 23.1 metres of tubing
ImageImage

edit 11:20pm 10Nov : Added steel weights.
Last edited by gholm on Wed, 10 Nov 2010, 17:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by gholm »

Current flow plan for Box v04.
Image

Interconnect plan
Image

My current thinking is that this will be the better option to keep the contactor and fuse inside the box.
Also the cables run to the motor up front, along the underside centre of the van, probably strapped to one of the substructure elements, making this layout better for sake of cutting out only one cable entry point closest to the substructure.

Feel free to point out problems or anything I've overlooked.


Last edited by gholm on Thu, 11 Nov 2010, 17:26, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by Richo »

gholm wrote:Feel free to point out problems or anything I've overlooked.


A roll down test Image

Not much point if you already have decided on a motor and batteries tho.
You could always have a 2nd car behind you with a camera on thier speedo.
As long as they keep at a fairly constant distance behind you should work out close.

Any shots of the drive train?
I haven't seen the gearbox, tailshaft or diff.
So the short answer is NO but the long answer is YES.
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Post by Richo »

Oh that's some nice 3d work.
Looks like the batteries are really there Image
So the short answer is NO but the long answer is YES.
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Post by soyachips »

Yes very nice 3D work! I'm not an engineer but on some of the designs there doesn't look like there's much room between the batteries and the frame. If the batteries swell the frame will press against the batteries unevenly. Have you considered putting plate on the box or on the ends of the batteries if strapping them together to distribute the load? Also I'm not sure how much heat the battery pack will generate but have you considered some kind of ventilation?
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Post by CometBoy »

Very nice work gholm!

I very rarely read this forum but enjoyed your efforts to date....

Have just gone through this with an upgrade on the Mightyboy (now running a SE 180Ah pack) and can make a couple of suggestions that might be of use?

I agree with the use of containment plates of some type to limit swelling. But not a big fan of strapping.

Have you considered using angle in place of rectangular tubing on the frame base? This makes it easy to accommodate tight fitting “plates” and provides a level base lip for the cells that is part of the structure. Explained better in these photographs.

If interested, the completed pack upgrade is covered here. (You may need to hold the "Ctrl" key down to use the next/previous page link on the bottom of each page? Something odd about the linking on this forum)

Hope maybe some of this helps your concept.

BTW Great project choice!!

Cheers

Bruce
Last edited by CometBoy on Mon, 15 Nov 2010, 03:16, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by gholm »

Richo wrote:
A roll down test Image

Not much point if you already have decided on a motor and batteries tho.
You could always have a 2nd car behind you with a camera on thier speedo.
As long as they keep at a fairly constant distance behind you should work out close.

Any shots of the drive train?
I haven't seen the gearbox, tailshaft or diff.


Yeah, neglected that roll down test to date.
Couple of reasons and having decided on the motor and batteries is only one.
The other is weaker I suppose but is that the speedo is quite unreliable and I don't yet have access to an accurate GPS.

In the end, there's nothing I can do about the Coef of Drag or RollingResistance, except perhaps some highpressure "green" tyres which will be on the cards once these 30yr old Firestones get flagged as tired. The motor choice wouldn't have been swayed either way since I'm restricted by budget and the battery capacity might be higher, but my reading suggests I'll get plenty of capacity since most of my daily commute is under 60kph.

I'll definitely do it out of interest, (the roll down test) but not really a priority.

On the photos of the drive train.. hard to get a photo down under there that makes any sense. I had the van up on a mechanic hoist during the first blue slip inspection.
It's pretty straight forward rear wheel drive.. and I'm definitely investigating swapping it out for a more modern setup once I find a similar mounting pattern.

Here's a couple of shots anyway. And no, it's red dirt, not rust! :)

View from under driver side toward the front. You can see the front left suspension springs and wheel. Can't wait to get all that oily crap out and give it a good pressure spray.
Image

A hacked together photostitch view from under passenger side about half way down the van.
You can see the newish exhaust which is hiding view of the drive shaft. The rear suspension spring bushing is at the top of image (bit rusty around the spring). The tyre at bottom left is the front driver tyre. A LOT of metal under there that will come out on conversion.
Interestingly there are some holes in the substructure cross beam to left of image near that oily patch. They'll come in handy when routing my main cables.
The battery box will sit directly above that suspension bushing.
Image
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Post by gholm »

soyachips wrote: Yes very nice 3D work! I'm not an engineer but on some of the designs there doesn't look like there's much room between the batteries and the frame. If the batteries swell the frame will press against the batteries unevenly. Have you considered putting plate on the box or on the ends of the batteries if strapping them together to distribute the load? Also I'm not sure how much heat the battery pack will generate but have you considered some kind of ventilation?


Yeah, did that on purpose and I'll likely build in an extra 10mm or so at either end of the battery banks (making the centre gap that much smaller) and slide in some 10mm thick cards of polypropylene or plywood (think cheap kitchen chopping board).. that way I can "easily" pull the cards out via handles, releasing the tension from swelling and get access to each cell if I need.

Ventilation? No, haven't given it thought. I don't believe they need it for cooling but I'll certainly keep a close eye on it. Always possible to stick in a strategically few computer fans and a vent or three to get a cross breeze.

Should I be concerned about the pack's heat?
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Post by gholm »

CometBoy wrote: Very nice work gholm!

I very rarely read this forum but enjoyed your efforts to date....

Thanks man, I appreciate the encouragement.

Have just gone through this with an upgrade on the Mightyboy (now running a SE 180Ah pack) and can make a couple of suggestions that might be of use?

I agree with the use of containment plates of some type to limit swelling. But not a big fan of strapping.

Have you considered using angle in place of rectangular tubing on the frame base? This makes it easy to accommodate tight fitting “plates” and provides a level base lip for the cells that is part of the structure. Explained better in these photographs.

If interested, the completed pack upgrade is covered here. (You may need to hold the "Ctrl" key down to use the next/previous page link on the bottom of each page? Something odd about the linking on this forum)


Took a look at that link, wow that's a nice welding job. Love to get mine like that.
On the angle iron versus tube, I agree the base of the angle provides for a nice bed for the cells, but I have so much space and I figured the tube would be a stronger choice. (heavier though).
I'm yet to approach the engineer with this design and he might well say it's over or under strength. I did have an angle iron design early in the piece, but overlapping edges and corners etc was doing my head in. Square tube to me is so much easier to conceptualise with. Each to their own I suppose.
The whole battery box in the end will be covered in thin MDF and carpet, so it doesn't really matter what its made of, as long as it has the proper strength.
I figured the extra weight of rear seat and passengers might warrant the extra strength of the tube instead of angle. I'll wait to hear from the engineer before I de-engineer it.

BTW Nice work on the MightyBoy.. tis a great choice for such a uniquely designed car.
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Post by gholm »

Bit more news.. sorry, heavy posting day for me!
I've decided to swap out all the incandescent lamps in the van to be LEDs... interior x 2, blinkers, warning lights, brakes and rear night lights (I can't yet do the headlights but am pondering options.. they'r currently 50W incandescents and draw too much power for my liking)

Jaycar have a great set of LED modules in waterproof housings. Comes in a chain of 10 x 3 white leds for 12v systems, built with the load resistor already and waterproofed to IP67 standards. (Jaycar part ZD-0490 = $24.95)

I hacked and glued together a few of these into groups of 2, 3 and 4 and am fitting them into the lens housings for each of the interior and exterior lights, which I'll merely wire up once the glue dries and the weather clears up.

The blinkers have proven to be a different kettle of fish. My original blinkers are driven by a current-driven thermostrip which needs the current draw of an incandescant bulb in order to "blink".
Since LED don't have any where near that current draw, I can't use them until I find a suitable replacement blinker driver... no doubt my next weekend at Jaycar or AutoOne will bear some fruit.

Oh and the front warning lights (underneath the head lights) are very badly crazed.. not yet cracked but nearing the end of their life. Thankfully I found some identically sized trailer lights in AutoOne, and have retrofitted some of the Jaycar LED modules to replace the current feestoon bulb,...twice as bright and 10x less power drain. I don't even have to change the base, such is the perfect fit to the chassis. Nice.

Image
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