Engineer shares how to build an electric vehicle from the ground up -- Part 1: Design choices

Frustrated by fast-rising gasoline prices, John antini, vice president of engineering at !D" Power, decided to turn his creativity and problem-solving s#ills toward developing his own electric vehicle$
By Steve Taranovich, Contributing editor -- EDN, July 6, 2011

Editor's note: In part 1 of this two-part series, we look at the core technology and design choices behind this electric vehicle. In part 2, we will discuss some mechanical and structural challenges and solutions, the specifications, road test results, and what will be next in improvements for this amazing !" effort.

Electric vehicles (EV) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) are advancing rapidly. We see a parade of solutions including the Toyota Prius (the number-one-selling hybrid) !ord !usion "ith #$-mpg city mileage %hevy Volt "ith &'-mile stretches of all-electric driving and the (issan )eaf as the first affordable mainstream all-electric five-passenger car. (o" let me introduce you to yet another EV---the $*++ Pontiac !iero ,donor car., -. in truth only the front suspension and steering gear "ere used from the Pontiac donor car that has gro"n into /ohn / 0antini1s ground-up design. 0antini is the vice president of engineering at T23 Po"er in Hac4ettsto"n (/ a company that has been in the po"er conversion industry for more than '5 years and has been providing po"er e6uipment in mobile hybrid and electrical vehicle applications for more than 7' years. !rustrated by fast-rising gasoline prices 0antini decided to turn his creativity and problem-solving s4ills to"ard developing his o"n EV. !he goal While 0antini1s original goal "as to build a plug-in hybrid vehicle the fast-falling cost of lithium-ion ()i-ion) batteries spurred the decision to"ard the end of the pro8ect to postpone the engine9generator and to add some "eight bac4 in as additional lithium ion batteries. :s a result the current vehicle is all-electric although the space remains to add an engine-generator in the future. 2oing so "ill increase the cruising range of the vehicle "ell beyond the *5-mile range of the current system. The total vehicle "eight "ith batteries is no" 7 5'5 lbs. !he pro%ect The pro8ect is a light"eight t"o-seat commuter car. The frame is a space-frame design inspired by the )ocost pro8ect cars and similar construction vehicles. 0ome bac4ground; : )ocost is an economical home built ,clubman, style sports car based on the concept of the original )otus <. =ou construct a )ocost by follo"ing >on %hampion1s boo4 #uild $our %wn &ports 'ar for as (ittle as )*2+, and -ace It., 0econd edition.) or .eith Tanner1s boo4 ow to #uild a 'heap &ports 'ar. Part of the inspiration also came from a %ornell ?niversity EV built in $*<'. The body is a custom design fitted around the frame made of one-inch-thic4 0tyrofoam covered "ith one to three layers of 5.55*-inch-thic4 fiberglass cloth and epo@y. Technically it1s a three "heeler as the rear "heel is a solid assembly "ith t"o tires and the drive pulley in the center. The belt drive is more than **A efficient "hile even a simple t"o-speed transmission "ould li4ely incur losses of up to$5A. &attery charger The battery charger comprises a pair of T23 Bercury '#V +5: chargers one for the lo"er #+V and one for the upper #+V pac4 "ith $7597#5V :% input t"o in series "ith battery center-tap to 4eep the batteries balanced. 0ee !igure $.

!igure $; T231s Bercury battery charging converter. T"o are used in series "ith battery center-tap.

0o at #.&4W the !D" 'ercury battery chargers perform a typical bul4 charge in less than one hour and there is plenty of time to soa4 up a full charge during the day. The original chargers "ere only $.74W Bercury units that charged at &5:. %harging used to ta4e all day at "or4 as four hours "ere 8ust needed to 8ust ,top off, the battery. 0antini has also added a ne" circuit that detects battery current greater than C5: and turns the bra4e lights on. The regenerative bra4ing is turned up pretty high so "hen you fully bac4 off the gas pedal the bra4ing is pretty strong. 0antini rarely uses the hydraulic bra4e system so he has noticed some surprised drivers very close to his car1s rear endD Plans are afoot to lo"er this to &5: so the t"in rear bra4e lights and rear "indo" bra4e lights go on under most all regenerative bra4ing conditions---this is merely a modification of the threshold to an on-board comparator. He has also converted his tail lights to )E2 to be fast-acting brighter and to use less energy. 0ee !igure 7.

!igure 7; !ast-acting )E2 bra4e lights are bright and energy efficient.

The mechanical bra4ing system in this car should last beyond $'5 555 miles because they are mostly used "hen at a stop sign or traffic light on an incline after regenerative bra4ing has ta4en effect to stop any rolling. () motor The :% motor from %urtis 3nstruments is rated at $+.< 4W almost as much po"er as the old EE motor 0antini had in his Electric %orvette design bac4 in $*<'. 3t "eighs only $C' lbs and "ith an +#V input it "ill operate at constant tor6ue up to around &555 rpm and then constant horsepo"er (hp) up to C555 rpm. The drive uses a single C7-mm "ide gear belt "ith a single reduction of around C.&;$. 0ee !igure &.

!igure &; %urtis :% motor for the gear drive to the "heels.

() motor controller The %urtis :% motor controller is a ne" model that "or4s "ell "ith a *CV nominal battery pac4. 3t has all the features needed for a complete vehicle controller including regenerative bra4ing. 3t is rated at C5 4W (+5 hp) "ith this battery9motor combination. The finned heat sin4 has ducted air through it from the body-side air inta4e in this all-air cooled vehicle. 0ee !igure #.

!igure #; %urtis :% motor controller "hich gives +5 hp "ith the battery9motor combination.
Continue reading: Lead-acid vs lithium-ion batteries *ead-acid vs lithium-ion batteries The original batteries "ere lead acid "eighing in at +55 lbs. Ho"ever over the three-year span of the pro8ect the cost of )i-ion batteries dropped in half and their cycle life doubled. The ne" &'5-lb )i-ion batteries are from Thunder 04y. Thirty 755:H cells form a $55V 755:h pac4 (75 4Wh) "hich gives around *5 miles rangeD 0antini does not have a battery balancing circuit right no" but the cells stay in balance pretty "ell "hen ne". 0tay tuned for the ne@t steps for further improvements. 0ee !igure '.

!igure '; (e" 754Wh )i-ion batteries. Each cell no" has a "ire running to a data logger so all the cells can be monitored during discharge as "ell as charging.

*ead-acid batteries pros and cons

-ne of the lo"est energy-to-"eight and energy-to-volume battery designs in e@istence ma4ing them very big and heavy for the total amount of po"er they can put out. Very high surge-to-"eight ratio meaning they can deliver a big 8olt of electricity all at once. This ma4es them perfect for applications that need a big sudden surge of po"er such as car starters. 3ne@pensive to produce. (ot very good in roles that re6uire a steady lo" or middling supply of electricity over a long period of time. )ong recharging times.

*ithium-ion batteries pros and cons

High po"er-to-"eight and po"er-to-volume ratio so are light and small as compared to lead-acid. 0pecial types have high surge capacity but those are more e@pensive. >egardless an EV does not need ,cran4ing, po"er to start the car li4e a gas engine. The :% motor only dra"s higher currents during acceleration. 2o not have fre6uent maintenance needs li4e lead-acid.

0ee !igure C for a summary of )i-ion1s advantages.

!igure C; )ithium-ion battery advantages---lighter smaller high energy density. (%ourtesy of Bicro Po"er Electronics) : lead-acid discharge curve is sho"n in !igure < and a lithium ion in !igure +.

!igure <; CV lead-acid battery discharge curve. The F a@is sho"s state of charge = a@is sho"s batter voltage. (%ourtesy of Tro8an battery company)

!igure +; )ithium batteries have a fairly flat discharge curve "ith sharp shoulders. 0tate of charge (F-a@is) vs battery voltage (=-a@is). (%ourtesy of Ener2el)
+ow it drives 0antini allo"ed me drive the car so that 3 could convey to !/01s audience the feel of an EV and describe the differences from a gasoline engine vehicle. When 3 started up the vehicle "ith the 4ey 3 e@pected to hear the engine ,cran4ing, noise as heard in a gasoline engine and starter but there "as only silence. The dashboard lights came on and the panel meters came to life. !inally "hen 3 put the vehicle in reverse to bac4 out of the par4ing space the ,!or"ard9>everse, stic4 "as on the center console as 3 e@pected but 0antini e@plained that this "as only for familiarity to the driver. He originally had planned to put a toggle s"itch or similar device on the dash board panel since that is all the :% motor controller needs to reverse the motor direction----no transmission in this vehicleD Gecause the vehicle is belt driven by an :% motor the only sound "hen driving is the "hine of the drive belt. This sound begins to dissipate at high speeds. The top speed is <5 mph. 3 too4 a corner at #5H mph at 0antini1s suggestion "ithout any bra4ing and the vehicle held the road really "ell. The battery "eight up front provides some very good traction. :s for the bra4ing system it ta4es a couple of times before you are comfortable "ith the fact that the bra4ing is ade6uate to stop the car by 8ust bac4ing off the accelerator. 3 got used to it after three or four times. Stay tuned for part two of this article where we will discuss some mechanical and structural challenges and solutions, the specifications, road test results, and what will be next in improvements for this ama ing !E" effort#