Quick charge project

[Jimbo]

I have been following your quick charge project for some time now and I am curious to know how you have hooked up the CAN info to the Chademo connector to control the charger. All of the rest of the safety switches and controls are obvious in the wiring drawings. I think this would really spur Ford to add fast charge capabilities to the Focus if owners started adding their own to the car.

 

[SteveZ1]

Wow,

I have been on the fence in regards to getting a FFE for years. We had a Volt and now have an ELR. I don't think we will ever buy another car without at least 50 miles of EV range.

There this project inspires me to continue my search for a used FFE and think about adding this upgrade if offered to us.

This is great work you are doing, I hope you offer this as Tony has to the Rav4EV community.

All the best!!

Steve

 

[sefs]

Bump. Update? Parts list? Price?

Would do you need the BRUSA if you don't want a second level 2 charger, but just want Chademo charging? What part of the country do you live in?

Very crude parts list:
Chademo port: $800
Two Gigavac contactors: $240
Cabling: $100
Enclosure: $75
Terminals: $30
Cable glands: $100
Arduino stuff: $100
Mounting Hardware: $200
Aluminum to make a new high voltage junction box lid: $20

Approx total including misc: $2k

Now that is a pretty basic parts list. I'm sure I've left stuff out, but for doing the Chademo part, that's about it. I'm also taking a pretty big leap and assuming that you have the ability to reset and read codes with some OBD2 type program. I'm using IDS, but I think you could get something cheaper that would do the trick. I'm assuming that you already have a bunch of the necessary tools. One that might not be obvious would be the crimper tool to crimp nice ring terminals on the ends of the cables. Now the only reason I bought the Brusa was to prove that current could be injected to the system while the car was running and it wouldn't shut down. Once I proved that point, I decided just to keep it to have a bit faster Level 2 charging. The Brusa is not necessary for the Chademo retrofit. I also had the aid of my father-in-law for all of the welding and cutting of the steel mounting setup. I will say that my mounting setup is all bolt-on, and is completely removable.

I live near Pittsburgh, PA.

I'm still working on the project at the moment. I got to the point where I was able to semi-automatically fast charge and taper, but I haven't worked on it since. I have been away on business on and off since the beginning of June. I do intend to pick the project back up and finish it, but I still have a bit more business travel ahead.

 

[sefs]

I have been following your quick charge project for some time now and I am curious to know how you have hooked up the CAN info to the Chademo connector to control the charger. All of the rest of the safety switches and controls are obvious in the wiring drawings. I think this would really spur Ford to add fast charge capabilities to the Focus if owners started adding their own to the car.

I have an Arduino with two CAN channels. One on the car's EV-CAN bus, and one on the Chademo CAN-bus. I have picked out the necessary messages from the vehicle to control the charging session, and with some software I wrote for the Arduino, the Arduino controls the charging session. I wish Ford would have provided this from the beginning, as it is a really easy process (for an OEM), but alas, I don't think there is very much interest from them.

 

[WattsUp]

I have an Arduino with two CAN channels. One on the car's EV-CAN bus, and one on the Chademo CAN-bus. I have picked out the necessary messages from the vehicle to control the charging session, and with some software I wrote for the Arduino, the Arduino controls the charging session. I wish Ford would have provided this from the beginning, as it is a really easy process (for an OEM), but alas, I don't think there is very much interest from them.

Does your custom software just monitor the car "passively"? (and control your custom hardware in response)

Or, does it actually "actively" control aspects of the car?

 

[sefs]

I have an Arduino with two CAN channels. One on the car's EV-CAN bus, and one on the Chademo CAN-bus. I have picked out the necessary messages from the vehicle to control the charging session, and with some software I wrote for the Arduino, the Arduino controls the charging session. I wish Ford would have provided this from the beginning, as it is a really easy process (for an OEM), but alas, I don't think there is very much interest from them.

Does your custom software just monitor the car "passively"? (and control your custom hardware in response)

Or, does it actually "actively" control aspects of the car?

The car's EV-CAN bus is only monitored. I don't send any messages to the car. I use the car's data to control the charging session.

 

[Josephus]

I'm also taking a pretty big leap and assuming that you have the ability to reset and read codes with some OBD2 type program.... I'm assuming that you already have a bunch of the necessary tools.... I also had the aid of my father-in-law for all of the welding and cutting of the steel mounting setup.

Alas, no. And I live near Portland, OR. I need something pre-made that I can drop in that's fairly plug and play with instructions and pictures. I may have to wait until Ford decides to add a Combo port and get an aftermarket Chademo adaptor. Ford has had one thus equipped touring around this past year at car shows.

 

[sefs]

Quick update on the project. I have now fully automated the Chademo charging process. As soon as START is pressed on the charging station, everything takes off automatically. Full charge takes about a half hour. Now I just need to package the Arduino and all associated circuit boards to permanently install it in the car. Right now all the circuits are sitting on the backseat of the car and control wires run to the charge port under the hood.

 

[marxx]

Respect :!: Your project is one of a kind

Looking forward to details. Are you planning to make the source code for the Arduino "open source"?

That would be a dream ...

 

[sefs]

Hey guys,

Sorry it's been so long since I've posted an update. I've been traveling for work non-stop for the past few months.

An update Chademo capabilities: I now have the Chademo quick charging process completely automated, complete with charging time estimation. In my area, we have three types of Chademo quick chargers: Eaton, Signet, and Nissan brand. I started this whole process on the Eaton Quick Charger, it was by far the easiest to control. After I got that fully operational, I started work on the Signet brand of Quick Charger. This one took a couple days, but ultimately I got this charger to the fully functional phase as well. The Nissan brand chargers are farther away from me, and I've only tried one once. Right now the Nissan brand isn't working, but it will probably just take a Sunday afternoon at the Nissan Dealer to sort that one out; but it isn't too high on my priority list right now. I've attached some photos of the Chademo charging sessions.

This is the FFE charging at the Eaton Quick Charger. This was genesis.



Here is another Eaton charging session at the airport, but with a shot of my internal display estimating time remaining.



Here is a shot of the FFE charging at the Signet brand Quick Charger. This one was at a local Nissan Dealer.





An update on the FFE Display side project: Awhile ago I posted a shot of my side project to make a display for the FFE that would show me all the stuff I wanted to see, but Ford neglected to make available to the driver (I don't really blame them, I'm a lot more interested in this stuff than your typical driver would be). This started as a way to easily display the parameters I had sorted out in the process of writing the code to make the Chademo session work. As time went on, I decided it would be cool to add some more parameters. As it stands, I have the following parameters displayed: total vehicle Power (kW), Voltage (V), Current (A), Torque (lb ft), Braking Mode (Blank "No Braking", Regen, Blended, and Friction), SOC Displayed (%), SOC Actual (%), Energy to Empty (kWh), Main Contactor State (Open/Closed), Battery Temp (F), Battery Coolant Temp (F), Speed (MPH), and RPM. When the car is in a Chademo Quick Charging session, the MPH and RPM displays go away, and a Time Remaining display and requested Chademo Current (A) display appear. The display is just a simple Visual Basic application that reads the Arduino's serial communication and updates the screen. I have a Windows 7 car PC in the trunk area where the OEM charger and tire sealant are located. The screen is driven through an aftermarket device called "Lock Pick" that allows a composite input to be selected on the My Ford Touch screen. The input is toggled through holding in the voice command button for 5 seconds. When the car starts up, the PC boots up quickly (SSD), and automatically. It senses 12V ignition and starts on its own. It also gracefully shuts down on its own upon loss of 12V ignition. It also has a constant 12V for actually powering the computer, the ignition 12V only signals the computer to boot and shut down. The Arduino is the same one that I'm using to control the Chademo session, mounted under the hood in my junction box.

Here is a shot of the FFE Display during powering.



Here is a shot of the FFE display during Regen braking.



Here is a shot of the FFE display during Blended braking, meaning the electric motor is providing braking torque and the friction brakes are operating. The "Blended" display is hard to make out in the photo.



Finally, here is a shot of the FFE display during Friction only braking, meaning the electric motor is providing no negative torque. This happens either when the battery is full or at very low speeds. This is clear on the stock FFE by the absence of the regenerative circular arrows over the battery display.




Next steps: I only have a few more things that I'm going to do with this project. The first one will be getting the final type of Chademo quick charger in my area to work, the Nissan brand. The second will be to have a final PCB/shield made of all the various parts I needed to make the Arduino Due work with the Chademo charging process. Right now, all the parts are in a "bread board" state and need finalized. The final step will be revising the display a little, making it a bit more clean. I'll probably put the break down of power consumption between the drivetrain, HVAC and accessory. Maybe I'll also put the throttle and brake percentages on the screen. I'll probably also put a Tesla style Level I/II AC voltage and current input to the car, as well as what the pilot signal is advertising as the ampacity of the EVSE. Beyond that, I don't think there's too much more I can do with this project. :lol:

 

[triangles]

sefs,
Am I missing something? The "lockpick" for the screen seems awful pricey just to enable a video input to the screen. Does it do anything else?

 

[sefs]

sefs,
Am I missing something? The "lockpick" for the screen seems awful pricey just to enable a video input to the screen. Does it do anything else?

No, you're not missing anything. It definitely is pricey for what it does. The only other thing it does is to allow you to disable the "no navigation entry while in motion" lockout. You can also toggle between the backup camera and four other inputs while driving. However, I couldn't find an area in the cabin to mount an additional display. Reusing the MFT display was the only way I could do what I wanted to. I suppose you could have done a little dot matrix 1.5" LCD or something driven directly from the Arduino, but I wanted a larger color display that I pack a bunch of information on.

 

[hybridbear]

Braking Mode (Blank "No Braking", Regen, Blended, and Friction)

What module reports this? I haven't noticed this in FORScan... It would be useful to see. Thanks!

I really like your customized FFE display screen. Thanks for sharing more info about your work!

 

[sefs]

Braking Mode (Blank "No Braking", Regen, Blended, and Friction)

What module reports this? I haven't noticed this in FORScan... It would be useful to see. Thanks!

I really like your customized FFE display screen. Thanks for sharing more info about your work!

Unfortunately this is not a stock reported parameter. I created this parameter by monitoring motor torque for being negative (indicating it's in regen) and hydraulic brake pressure (indicating the friction brakes are operating). You could monitor this by looking at the brake pressure from the ABS module and noting when it goes >0 PSI, indicating the friction brakes are on.

 

[hybridbear]

Unfortunately this is not a stock reported parameter. I created this parameter by monitoring motor torque for being negative (indicating it's in regen) and hydraulic brake pressure (indicating the friction brakes are operating). You could monitor this by looking at the brake pressure from the ABS module and noting when it goes >0 PSI, indicating the friction brakes are on.

That explains why I hadn't found it. I have seen the brake pressure PID in the ABS module. Thanks!

 

[skyguy_6153]

Can we get a instructions list of how you did this? I'd really love to do this down the road from now, after I buy my FFE.

 

[awefulspeller]

I made some progress today on my project to add additional charging capability and/or add chademo capability. Today I used a brusa charger to charge the battery via the high voltage junction box.
http://i.imgur.com/h7L5dEn.jpg

Sefs,

Thank you for sharing your work. It is very interesting, and impressive. If you get a chance, please see my question below...

When you say the "high voltage junction box", what exactly are you talking about and where is this located on the FFE? I'm trying to figure out where you 'inserted' your additional power source.

Did you insert power on the battery-side of the Battery Charger Control Module (BCCM), or the charger port side of the BCCM?

I'm finding these terms on this .pdf:
http://www.motorcraftservice.com/content/pdf/2013_Focus_Electric_Modifer_Guide1.pdf


Again, nice work on your project. It has been keeping me entertained all day!

 

[triangles]

he tapped into the battery by removing the top cover of the motor/drive/gearbox assembly. Not sure what the proper term is.

You have to remove the black plastic cover and then it's a few screws to pop the top cover off. If you look at the center of his picture you can see the metal cover is missing. It should go without saying that this will expose the high voltage so don't be stupid and electrocute yourself.

 

[sefs]

he tapped into the battery by removing the top cover of the motor/drive/gearbox assembly. Not sure what the proper term is.

You have to remove the black plastic cover and then it's a few screws to pop the top cover off. If you look at the center of his picture you can see the metal cover is missing. It should go without saying that this will expose the high voltage so don't be stupid and electrocute yourself.

This is it. Ford calls this entire motor/gearbox/junction the TCM.

 

[coulomb_carl]

If you have motor torque, current, voltage and RPM PIDs you can calculate motor efficiency? Might be interesting to see how efficient the motor is in both power and regen. A bit confused since in your display showing regen the torque and RPM computes to 4.1kW but volts and amps are 6.2kW?