Using MightyBoyEV - Battery Upgrade October/November 2010 - Page 1
Background
Now that we are back in Australia and things are settling down the time has come to complete the Mightyboy conversion as planned many years ago. The next stage is to fit a state of the art power source. With the current strengthened Australian dollar, I purchased Sky Energy (or CALB - China Aviation Lithium Battery Co., Ltd) batteries. The cost justification to purchase these batteries is still hard to accept but as a hobby and long term interest, I have taken the jump.
These are Lithium Iron Phosphate (or LiFePo4) cells with a high energy density. The LiFePo4 chemistry is both capable and safe. CALB batteries offer a higher continuous output compared to Thundersky cells allowing for smaller battery packs that have a higher continues current rating than larger Thundersky cells.
Why choose CALB?
(The following is based on information derived from the CALB website)
CALB is a Chinese new energy and high-tech specialized company producing Li-ion batteries and battery management systems (BMS). They are jointly funded by the China Aviation Industry Corporation (AVIC) and Luoyang Optoelectro Technology Development Center (LOEC) .
With the mission of promoting energy-saving and developing low-carbon economy, CALB has becoming a global supplier of lithium battery with its advanced technology, reliable quality and customer satisfaction. Based on an aviation technology background with the support of central and local Chinese government, CALB has been a leading company producing high capacity, high power and long life Li-ion battery and undertakes the major national 863 project of developing high-capacity phosphoric acid Li-ion power batteries and dynamic modules. Products of CALB have been applied to many military fields such as ships, armoured vehicles, UPS, aircraft and other military equipment and civil fields such as electric vehicles, locomotives, energy storage, communications base stations, power tools, etc. After several years of development, CALB has established the first-class teams including scientific research team, marketing team and so on. CALB employ over 510 people. The company has 10 functional departments which include a marketing division, technology centre, manufacturing division. The annual production capacity of CALB is 60 million single batteries, 20000 sets of BMS, power modules. Cooperative development with Tsinghua University, Xiamen University, Beijing Jiaotong University, Germany’s PRETTL Group and others, the scientific research level and product quality of CALB has been greatly improved. CALB has applied all kinds of patents (more than 30 to date) The products of CALB have passed the quality system certification of ISO9001A, the test of 863 Project Power Battery Test Centre, and the certification of CE, UL to international markets.
Local Support
EVPower (Western Australia) imports these batteries at a reasonable cost. EVPower has invested a lot of time in developing a very efficient/simple management system to take care of these cells. They also market a charger that integrates with the system providing a complete solution. Check out Rod's services and products at http://www.evpower.com.au/
I wish to acknowledge Rod's work and his technical support for this upgrade.
Other useful related information on this technology is available thanks to Leo
Kerr's (also in Western Australia) site at
http://www.myelectriccar.com.au/batteryeco.html
The batteries (and associated bits) arrive in perfect condition from EVPower....
The upgrade components....
(Including two spare batteries)
Now to start fitting them in the Mightyboy using the original battery frame (with minor modifications).....
All fitting and prewiring will be done using the dummy wooden battery model as shown above
The original battery frame (with minor modifications) now fitted....
MCU (Master Control Unit) (A) for the BMS (Battery Management System) now mounted as well.....
The Elcon charger (B) is mounted in an area with good air flow as by design this project uses no cooling fans
The "BATTERY FAULT" LED (C) added to the fault/service panel....
The MCU flags any errors in the charging/discharging of the 24 Li-Ion cells
Audio and visual indications of any such faults are provided