Rig for silent running… the story of an electric VW bus conversion project
This site is mainly a place for me to keep my notes, links, datasheets, etc in one place so I can find stuff I need to remember. If it proves useful to you for a another project then that makes me happy. Cheers!
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thestealthbus
EV Album: http://www.evalbum.com/2133
DIY EC: http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?p=138913
Click on the component in the image above go to related section. See below for detailed links to all sub systems including older revisions
Other components
| Config | Cells | V/Cell | Pack | Capacity | Total | Weight | 30 mph | 60 mph |
| AGM | 12 | 12v | 144v | 138 Ah | 19.9 kWh | 1200 lbs | 43.6 mi | 25.7 mi |
| GBS | 48 | 3.2v | 153.6v | 100 Ah | 15.3 kWh | 370 lbs | 48.5 mi | 29.0 mi |
| Tesla | 6 | 22.8v | 136.8v | 242 Ah | 31.5 kWh | 330 lbs | 96.7 mi | 56.0 mi |
Primer going on
Not all the bus was metal…
Range testing today ended probably the only way was going too… randomly loosing power to the control circuit just as we pulled into the liquor store… then dropping dead about a mile from home with a load sensor error. A sketchy tow home and now for some more diagnostics… current actual range is 25miles… that is about half the calculated range? Hmmm… To cap it off while chucking the ball for Bentley, somehow managed to hit the antenna and snap it clean off… bugger!
3D model of new RPi based head unit.
Stealthy got to top of hill and then shutdown⦠seems that at some point in the past the DC-DC inlet fuse blew and so for last few trips the aux battery has been slowly running out⦠it finally hit 9.5v and the main controller decided that was not quite enoughâ¦
In keeping with all new EVs having an iPad glued to the dash. I’m upgrading from my JVC headunit to a RPi touchscreen!
Removed the troublesome cells 40 and 44⦠rejigged the pack, adjusted settings on Soliton and BMS⦠Running much better! Have upgraded the monitoring system to automatically log data for offline analysis⦠and got the inspection done!!! Yayâ¦
Stealthy out from winter storage⦠run a bunch diagnostics on the pack⦠ending up removing 4 cells from the pack. Cells #40 and #48 were really not working right. Now running 44s1p configuration⦠adjusted soliton config accordingly. Need to adjust the BMS settings. Seems the GBS 100Ah cells just sag really badly. Canât see them actually achieving 3C discharge. Have enough trouble getting to 1C. Will try running them again for the summer and see what happensâ¦
Cell #48, cleaned, crimped a new lug on the cable, liberally coated in NOOXID…. end result Voltage sag+Thermal rise… same as before – Bugger!
