Completed the gear shifter, 4 position change-over switch built into an aluminium carrier and mated to a Ford Rotary Gear selector. This provides selections for Forward, Reverse, Neutral, and Park positions

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Once installed in the car, this is how it looks.

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Once I had fitted the drive shafts I moved to complete the rear battery box.

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Got the high-voltage safety disconnect installed as well.
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I missing some photos from the battery box put together but will surely update them once I extract them from my endless pool of photos!
 

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At the same time, I completed the high-voltage contactor box

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Installed that as well into the trunk space mount I had built earlier

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Currently working to wire up the charger and the rest of high-voltage.

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I got time till the end of August to complete this build, so I will be pushing it along rather quickly, if I don't I may have to wait until next year same time due to work commitments.
 
Great to see more progress here, all looking good. :)

Two things about those contactors.
1. They draw a lot of current therefore tend to overheat, can you build a circuit to reduce the current after they have closed? A simple capacitor and resistor will work but I think some of the guys in OI have been working on a proper circuit to control contactors.
2. They fuse together for fun if you get the precharge timing wrong. Don't ask how I know.
However it is easy to miss if it happens so be careful to monitor them and ensure they always open.

Will you have DC fast charging?
 
Thanks for the heads up. I will look into that. The precharge is controlled by the Tesla drive unit so hopefully nothing goes wrong on that front.

No DC fast charging here, just 7KW charging.
 
@Alibro Funny thing is I think I read through your thread where you fried your Precharge resistors 😁
Not fun times I figured 😅
LOL, I've fried more than one but the most recent left me stranded at the side of the road. It was just a silly mistake on my part but these things happen.
 
Do the EV manufacturers have the same problem, or simply access to contactors without the issue ?
 
Thanks for the tips @Alibro
Since there are no spec sheets for these contactors, my assumption was that they are aligned to Panasonic's line of EV automotive contactors and thus already had current limiting built in. Guess I need to look for an economizer then.
 
Do the EV manufacturers have the same problem, or simply access to contactors without the issue ?
I think they use full voltage to energise the contactors and ensure they close correctly then reduce the voltage to prevent them overheating. You can buy contactors that have economisers attached to the side of them and will do this for you.

Thanks for the tips @Alibro
Since there are no spec sheets for these contactors, my assumption was that they are aligned to Panasonic's line of EV automotive contactors and thus already had current limiting built in. Guess I need to look for an economizer then.
A year or two ago I measured the current drawn by the contactors I had to see what they would draw and it was around 700 to 800mA at 14V so around 11W or 12W which is enough to make them warm or even hot and may reduce their working life.
You would need to try yours to see what they draw.

I believe a lot of folk don't bother and just drive them directly but this is not how it should be done.
 
Sounds like they would benefit from a driver circuit silar to that used on the P38 EAS solenoids. Obviously would need scaling up a bit for a contactor, but the principle is pulsed waveform rather than just 12V followed by lower voltage.

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Sounds like they would benefit from a driver circuit silar to that used on the P38 EAS solenoids. Obviously would need scaling up a bit for a contactor, but the principle is pulsed waveform rather than just 12V followed by lower voltage.

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You can buy them but they are expensive so it would be cheaper to buy a contactor with the economiser built in.

Some guys use a resistor and capacitor in parallel then connected in series with the contactor.
When you apply 12V (or really 14.4V) the capacitor behaves as a short circuit across the resistor allowing the full voltage across the contactor. When the capacitor charges it goes open circuit so the resistor now reduces the voltage across the contactor.
I don't know the values they use but it shouldn't be hard to work out.
 
Been a while since I posted here, but the project is more or less done. Work and time, also the fact that I am working on this alone, has meant I have not been able to take photos of everything. I just put my head down and get the work completed.

Already had about 10kms worth of test drives. And I get custom Landrover Freelander EV badging :D

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Ended up having to convert the front struts to coilovers using custom machined conversion parts to fit the stock tube since there is no engine and it's empty.

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@Alibro I need help getting to clear the TC and HDC lamps from the dash. These have stayed on for me regardless of which CAN messages I send to the ABS ECU. Is there something I am missing?
 
@Alibro I need help getting to clear the TC and HDC lamps from the dash. These have stayed on for me regardless of which CAN messages I send to the ABS ECU. Is there something I am missing?
Do you have a code reader to identify why they are on but not the ABS? May be related to a gearbox switch or summat that you'll have to replicate.
 

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