Sutho's DMC EV Electric DeLorean

Post by **Sutho** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012, 00:34

Hi All,

We recently completed a conversion of a 1981 DeLorean. Photos and details are below:

The build incorporates the following major components:

- EVO Electric AFM140 Axial Flux Motor
- Tritium Wavesculptor 200 Motor Controller
- A123 Systems Nanophosphate Battery Modules
- Tritium BMS
- Brusa Charger
- Meanwell DC Converters

For more details and photos on the construction see:

DMCEV Facebook Page
EV Album Page
YouTube Video of Test Run

Cheers,
Sutho
Solar Power Australia

Post by **weber** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012, 00:58

Great work guys! A work of art.

Website · Post by **htial** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012, 02:19

Wow...

Post by **coulomb** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012, 03:05

I especially like the really shiny exhaust pipe ends, with the blue lights in them. In a subtle-as-a-brick way, it tells you that these pipes are not being used for the purpose of exhausting poisonous or greenhouse gases.

Post by **PlanB** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012, 15:45

Flew my whirlybird up to Rafferty's on Lake Macquarie yesterday for lunch Brett. Had a good look down at Hillsborough Rd, I was gonna land if there was a DeLorean parked outside I swear! Looking forward to a squiz come Aug 18th, sounds sooo good on that Utube video.

Post by **Sutho** » Wed, 18 Jul 2012, 20:27

Ha....that would have been good to see.

See you on the 18th.

Post by **BigMouse** » Thu, 19 Jul 2012, 01:43

Great stuff! Are the A123 modules you got the pre-assembled blocks? I found a seller somewhere in Europe on Alibaba selling some and was curious about their condition and availability.

Post by **Sutho** » Thu, 19 Jul 2012, 03:27

Yes....A123 7s3p modules.

In my opinion they are one of the best packaged cell options currently available, but they can't be sourced new for love or money. As such, the only option to obtain these modules is to run the gauntlet with online traders. This proved to be a very painful process for myself and others. I needed to purchase 50% more than I required to get enough modules of the right standard.

In the batches of modules I received, some were near new, some were older and many were damaged. Managed to pull together a good solid pack of the newer modules with no, or very little, damage.

The modules deliver 6C+ without breaking a sweat. They are capable of 20C.

Good luck!

P.s. Most were ex-Fisker modules with labels and stickers detailing dates and a few other notes. They are presumably from the A123 recall due to some cells in some modules produced in the Livonia plant having a potential misalignment issue.

Post by **PlanB** » Thu, 19 Jul 2012, 15:02

So did they come with BMS Brett or you rolled your own?

Post by **Sutho** » Thu, 19 Jul 2012, 17:26

They come with their own BMS which didn't seem to work.

I used Tritium's BMS. The BMS nodes were about 40% of the size of the A123 units and fit quite well under the factory cover plate.

Photos below show Tritium BMS node in the end of a module.....and one of the Fisker date labels I mentioned in a post above.

Post by **coulomb** » Thu, 19 Jul 2012, 17:34

Sutho wrote: I needed to purchase 50% more than I required to get enough modules of the right standard.

Any plans for the rest of what you bought? Outright damaged cells are pretty useless, I guess, but those that just don't come up to standard for a high-end EV might have some uses elsewhere.

Post by **Sutho** » Thu, 19 Jul 2012, 21:07

I plan to repair some to keep as spares for this vehicle.....and maybe use some of the components from the rest to build packs for another project.

Post by **Sutho** » Fri, 20 Jul 2012, 01:08

Our local News done a story on our Electric Delorean tonight. For any that are interested, it can be viewed here:

NBN News - Electric Delorean - Back to the Future

Cheers,
Sutho

Post by **BigMouse** » Fri, 20 Jul 2012, 02:06

Haha, nice! They had some fun with the special effects on that video.

Another question about those A123 modules: how are the cells connected internally? There's a ton of talk about the AMP20 cells and everyone seems to have their own way of connecting them. It'd be cool to see some photos of how the factory does it.

Post by **PlanB** » Fri, 20 Jul 2012, 02:43

Nice app on the Android tablet about a minute into that movie, is it this?

Post by **Sutho** » Fri, 20 Jul 2012, 18:26

BigMouse wrote: Haha, nice! They had some fun with the special effects on that video.

Another question about those A123 modules: how are the cells connected internally? There's a ton of talk about the AMP20 cells and everyone seems to have their own way of connecting them. It'd be cool to see some photos of how the factory does it.

A123 insert link plates over the tabs and then laser weld them which also shortens the tab considerably. This method would be near impossible to replicate without the same machinery.

Post by **Sutho** » Fri, 20 Jul 2012, 18:27

PlanB wrote: Nice app on the Android tablet about a minute into that movie, is it this?

Yes....that's the one. Works quite well too.

Post by **BigMouse** » Sun, 22 Jul 2012, 04:16

Interesting. I had read they were laser welded, but had never seen how it was actually packaged. Curiosity satisfied. It's a shame A123 is so terrified of hobbyists. These modules would probably sell quite well if they offered them to end users directly.

Post by **Sutho** » Sun, 03 Mar 2013, 01:21

We have upgraded the motor controller in our Electric DeLorean from the 300Arms Tritium Wavesculptor to a 450Arms Rinehart Motion Systems (RMS) PM100DXR.

Rinehart usually reserve the 450Amp DXR model for race applications only, but they agreed to us using it for this vehicle so we could unlock the full potential of the EVO Electric Axial Flux Motor.

The 450Arms allows the EVO motor to produce an incredible 612Nm of torque....and I must say, the performance is now amazing! Have only been able to test in the rain so far, but even with new tyres it breaks traction at 50km/h in 3rd gear. This is the performance we have been looking for.

The vehicle now incorporates the following major components:

- EVO Electric AFM140 Axial Flux Motor
- Rinehart Motion Systems PM100DXR Motor Controller
- A123 Systems Nanophosphate Battery Modules
- Tritium BMS
- Brusa 3.3kW Charger
- Delphi 2.2kW DC Converter

Cheers,
Sutho

Post by **woody** » Sun, 03 Mar 2013, 01:50

Are you selling your wavesculptor? 300A is enough for me

Post by **Sutho** » Sun, 03 Mar 2013, 02:12

Yeah...I no longer need the Wavesculptor, so I guess it's for sale. A few people have expressed interest, so maybe PM me an offer?

Post by **jonescg** » Sun, 03 Mar 2013, 03:28

Great to hear mate! So you can use field weakening to wick it up to full speed?

Post by **Sutho** » Sun, 03 Mar 2013, 03:45

Yes....definitely getting more RPM. There are a few parameters that can be adjusted to control field weakening.

I will monitor and fine-tune some of these parameters more when it stops raining here...

Post by **tsport100** » Sun, 03 Mar 2013, 04:13

Just curious how you are measuring that torque output?

Post by **Sutho** » Sun, 03 Mar 2013, 04:29

Torque figure is from EVO specifications with a motor current of 450Arms. This figure is in line with RMS's calculations and experience.

The PM100DXR motor controller calculates motor torque based on motor currents and parameters of the motor. This figure can be viewed in a Watch List while driving, but I need to try that with a co-pilot as I was having trouble doing both.