elEVen- Summer 2010

Hey everyone, EVT is back at it again this summer working on our 2010 Mercury Milan all-electric conversion.

Last summer the team was able to successfully remove the vehicle's original hybrid drive system and install a 250hp oil cooled 3 phase AC induction electric bus motor (courtesy of Satcon) along with a 20kWh A123 prototype battery pack consisting of 2,700 A123 26650 cells (many many thanks to A123). The elEVen first moved under its own power last August, but the conversion was far from complete.

This summer we have a new crew ready to pick up where last summer's crew left off on the elEVen. The two main goals for this summer are getting the battery pack ready for rapid recharging and making the elEVen street legal. To do this we will need to install an air cooling system for the battery pack, design a charging port capable of handling the huge power flux that rapid recharging will require and interface with the BMS (battery management system) motor controller and the car's own CAN networks through a Texas Instruments cRio programmable automation controller. There are also a whole bunch of other small projects that also need to get done so that the elEVen is the safe and reliable glimpse into what might be the future of automobiles.

Look for more blog posts about what everyone is doing soon.