Guru
Joined: 15/07/2006
Location: AustraliaPosts: 676
| Posted: 08:18pm 12 Nov 2011 |
A great weekend. A long drive in a short time. Lots of information to take on board, and some to impart.
Well it all started some weeks before. We were invited by Graeme at Suzi Auto (a fellow EV converter business in Brisbane). How do we make it all happen? How do I get the EV Hilux to the show? I looked at many options. Car and trailer, truck (freight), generator etc.
I bought a MTM 4.4kva generator from AGR machinery. This unit is light for what is supposed to produce.
http://www.agrmachinery.com.au/buy/mtm-4.4kva-inverter-gener ator/MTM-4400I] http://www.agrmachinery.com.au/buy/mtm-4.4kva-inverter-gener ator/MTM-4400I[/URL]
The plan was to have 5 of these generators to give me the power to drive the EV Hilux to Brisbane. The website says it should do 4400w max & 3000w continuous. It is also name plated on the generator to the same. I have measured my Zivan NG3 charger to draw 12 amps at 240vac, that's 2880 watts. This generator should run it. It won't. They said I can pull it apart to identify any faults. AGR Machinery have since become very unfriendly. They try to change the story. They try to make it sound like I don't know what I am talking about.
The website thought I was spamming. It would not let me add another entry in such a short time. I was planning to add the AEVA weekend in several entries. So becomes edited here to complete the story.
I did try to put this on the forum days ago but computer died when I tried to submit it to the forum, so now I write it again. This is a new computer.
We looked further into some options. Not enough time left to consider more with small generators. We tried a number of hire businesses but nothing. The expense seemed too high on options that were available. Diesel generators were available but thought to be close on 1200kg for a 15kva. I would not like to dump that on the ute tray (too heavy for my trailer) and drive to Brisbane.
Then we found Volt Edge of Mackay. They had an 18kva diesel generator on a trailer. The trailer lights plug was even the right one to suit my EV Hilux. The price was very good in comparison to the other hire places. The question was though, can the EV Hilux cope with pulling it on a constant basis, at what speed and what would the power consumption be pulling the extra weight.
I went to see the generator. It seemed to be lighter than anticipated. The fellow allowed me to take it out for a test the weekend before I needed it. We needed it Wednesday after noon. This allowed me plenty of time then to mount the 3 phase Thundersky charger and run the charge cable professionally with trailer hooked up on the tow bar. Made the job so much easier. Thanks heaps to Volt Edge. I really appreciate your help.
We (Marcy, Dale and I) left Wednesday after work (teaching). My teaching colleagues thought it rather funny to see us drive off with the generator running. The generator run the 3 phase Thundersky charger, 60 amps and both Zivan NG3’s (the normal EV chargers, 17 amps each). That give a total of 94 amps, enough to keep us going at around 80km/hr. Here is camping on Wednesday night. We slept on the back of the ute with the marquee over us, no side walls.
We got going early the next morning.
I didn’t keep track of the hours for driving only. It was around 20 hours counting stops, breaks, breakfast, lunch, fuel stops, pit stops etc. This does not count the time to sleep.
The batteries got quite hot, 70 degrees Celsius. We were about 20km from Childers. We stopped and pulled the tray off to allow it to cool some. Seemed to take forever, only about half an hour, there was a dark storm cloud coming over head, we decided to cover the batteries and move off. Just as we were loading the stuff on the tray, and strapping down, the rain started. Got in to Childers, removed the tray, put in water around the batteries, twice, draining out hot water. This was much quicker, but wanting to keep going, put in 4 kg of ice, put the tray back on and got going again.
Arrived at Redcliffe late Thursday. Stayed with friends at Redcliffe. Charged there over night.
Friday was the AEVA Conference. We got going early to ensure car parking at the Parliamentary Annexe in the centre of Brisbane. We left the generator at Redcliffe, driving on battery only.
A great day with so much to learn. Almost every vehicle manufacturer are working on EV’s and most will have something on the market in a few years. You may already know about the Toyota Prius Hybrid. There is a company making battery packs to convert them to plug in. Mitsubishi iMIEV is currently available, it is pure EV. Infrastructure is being planned. Some places already have charging stations.
It was great to hear the update on Telsa. The roadster is currently available in Australia too, with the Model S & X in planning/development. It was great to hear about the development of the lithium battery industry, the types of chemistries and their properties. Listened to the update on Tritium too. Tritium are the super 3 phase speed controllers (& made in Australia too).
It was an excellent day.
Here is some photos in front of the Parliamentary Annexe.
Trev @ drivebynature.com