Thanks Art for the great summary.
Up to 24 deposit on the ways, 8 cancels.
Grid charger purchace information will be available here:
http://99mpg.com/Projectcars/gridcharger/
I will be providing two basic models, a 1A overnight charger that can fill an empty hybrid pack (6.5AH)in less than 8 hours, and a less expensive conditioner charger that will be limited to 350ma.
Schematic of system (preliminary)
http://99mpg.com/Data/resources/down...gersystem1.pdf
All units:
1. would be configurable for any voltage range all the way up to 260V as built, and with future external voltage booster supplies to over 300VDC
2. would know when the voltage has reversed or stopped rising, at which point it would either
A. turn it self off
B. sound an audible and visual alarm, and continue trickle charging.
3. measure AH into the pack
4. have an LCD display and keyboard for viewing all of the measured values and allow entering calibration information.
5. run the fan, possibily with a variable speed based on temperature on the civics and prius
6. Have a pack inlet and outlet air temperature probe.
7. The PTC strip resistance will be measured, which will also allow automatic shutdown in the case of a cell getting too hot On cars without PTC, one of the stock thremistors can be used for pack internal temperature.
8. will have a timer that will shut off the charge after a preset time has transpired.
9. will have an auto shutdown mode where it will shut down after a setable amount of AH has been put into the pack.
The shutdown functions will all be able to stop the charger, so the one that hits the setpoint first will shut the charger down.
A battery maintenance mode which will have several submodes:
Delayed Charge
Charger is plugged into AC power and connected to battery. The delay time is set, and the charge start button is pressed. Charger will start after the time delay, and charge to full, then shut off. Time delay can be hours or months.
Auto maintain
Charger is set to recharge to full when battery volts drops to a certain value, or after a specific amount of time.
All settings in all modes will come set up with recommended default settings for the car, with the ability for the user to change them in non volatile memory as we learn what works best.
Overnight charger:
will charge at just over 1A until a programmable voltage setpoint at which point it will turn off the 700ma supply and continue at 350 ma, until it met the conditions for 2 above.
Once all the parts are at the vendors being made, we will finish up the code, and will likely add additional features.
As we get into the install documentation process, all of the features and modes of operation will be explained in much more detail.
The 12 key control panel will give quick access to the many functions without the need to run through many complex menus, the charger code can be reprogrammed with a programming jack, and a serial i/o port will be included for control/communication with future planed accessory's.
