New Product / Idea

Conversion Kits
1

I have come up with a new product intended to make the conversion process easier. Though I have built 5 complete units (one has been temporarily appropriated for use in a demo case), the idea is still young and can be tweaked. This product is a central wiring point for all of the required or desired interlocks on an EV, such as the potbox switch, inertia switch, clutch switch, motor thermal switch, or charger. All of those devices connect to clearly marked terminals on the board. There are also inputs for the ignition and start positions of the key, so that you have to turn the car to start once to enable the system. The board then provides output to a main and a run contactor, as well as an auxiliary output for the controller to indicate that the vehicle is ready to run. The board also provides outputs for dashboard status lights.

The bottom line is, the system mostly eliminates the need for coming up with your own interlock wiring. The packaging is such that you can route wires through the box; connections are made with spade terminals. There are 120V and 230V connections to indicate that a charger is plugged in, as well as another charger interlock that can be used for a charger door switch. The interlocks are all very flexible and there are enough provided for almost any application.

This product is most useful when used with controllers such as the Curtis, that do not have enough sophistication to control their own contactors. The manual provides a complete wiring example of an Advanced DC motor and Curtis controller combination. This could also be used with a Zilla / Hairball interface by connecting the output to the charger enable input, and that enable programmed inverted (I had drawn up a complete example, but it was lost when my hard drive crashed).

My main focus right now is not to sell what I have, which is why I am not posting any prices. If you are interested in buying one, just email my user name at earthlink.net and we can work that out. I am trying to gauge interest and feedback.

Manual: http://home.earthlink.net/~kittydog42/EVICC/Manual.pdf

Outside Picture: http://home.earthlink.net/~kittydog42/EVICC/Outside.jpg

Board Picture: http://home.earthlink.net/~kittydog42/EVICC/Inside.jpg

2

wow, I REALLY like that. from what i can tell it looks like it will be a BIG help for most conversions. How much though roughly?

3

Probably around $100 (actually $99.95, of course) if I can generate any sort of volume, but for now it is around $120.

4

not bad at all, PM NewDawn on the forums here and see if he might be intrested at all.

5

Wow, great product. I know what you mean about not having interlocks on the current controllers.

I’m actually working with a company on integrating some of that, but I like the idea of having it external, with the ability to control interlocks one place.

Is it all done via hardware? or is it software controlled?

6

It is all done via hardware. It is pretty simple. It does have jumpers to allow each individual interlock to be sinking or sourcing, and you can also tap into an existing ground or power signal in lieu of connecting to a switch.

7

So what does this do that the hairball does not?

8

The Hairball doesn’t work with any controller other than the Zilla. The Hairball also does not have inputs for individual interlocks, as far as I can tell from reviewing the documentation. The Hairball does have a 12V input for a charger, however. So, in summary, the two products serve different needs, so they really can’t be compared directly.

9

The hairball does have interlock control. It is option -S. This looks like a cool idea, unfortunatly I have the Zilla and hairball already. Those who do not have this system should look into yours.