I leased one small van with 3500kg capacity and took my car to 400km distant Munich TUV sud company in Germany which seems to be acredited to provide TUV services also to other countries.
I arrived in the morning to my friends place and there i made some final preparations. In the afternoon i went to TUV for inspection.
They were very thorough. Here is a list of some of the demands they made:
1. All HV cables visible need to be in orange colour (or shroud). I used orange tubing…
2. Additionaly all HV wires need to be fixed into place, not subject to vibration, i use metal clamps wrapped in some heatshrink tube
3. All HV cables going through metal walls (boxes) need to be fixed/gripped by plastic gromets so vibration would not chaff the cable insulation
4. All items need to be firmly gripped, bolted on, plastic ties etc…
5. Battery box covers need to be sealed! I am talking of O-ring or window seal.
6. Battery box needs to be insulated on the inside where battery sits. Especially the cover. I used Tesla battery separators to insulate metal under my cover. I glued it with black car gasket glue.
7. Batteries need to be firmly installed inside box. They check that by hand!
8. HV connectors on the outside the car need to be waterproof IP65 rating.
9. All connectors that can be dissassembled by hand only, need to be protected by another cover.
10. All components installed need to have visible labels or one needs to present them with a photo evidence. Guess what… i need to make a photo of my inverter cover plate!
11. They make a test drive
12. There has to be an emergency plan. Like a drawing on the HV cable routing and location of HV devices and emergency switches etc… it is called “Rettungsplan”
13. There is a demand to declare battery box content in battery cell configuration and in kW. I made stickers on the cover.
14. Maximal voltage is derived from that parameters. I surprised them when i declared lower maximal voltage they expected. I explained them i will not charge more than 4.05V per cell and that ammounts to 389Vdc. They expected 4.2V per cell.
15. Also they demand battery box has a vent on the lowest part to vent gas that may form inside box. I used 2x regular 8mm tire vents and simply bolted them from the inside out.
16. Also all removable battery box covers, battery boxes, DCDC, Charger, inverter and motor that is not welded in need to be connected to car chassis by 6mm2 discharge cable. I used braided copper cable shield from some cables that i took apart for signals. In any case you need good connection between motor – inverter- chassis because of signal immunity!
17. You need to weigh an empty car when conversion is complete. I did it at a scrap yard where they can also issue you some official receipt. Mine is now 1.450Kg whereas with old gas guzzler it was 1.650kg! Quite an improvement over all hydraulic ATX and large 3,0L V6 engine.
18. We derived max speed from motor max declared RPM divided by final drive ratio. I think it is 158km/h which is still respectable i think.
They raised some findings though. Mainly on my finishing work. I needed to answer them with photo or video evidence.
1. When the driver opens the door and the car is started there is insufficient sound warning. Answer: I went and put a single piezo speaker under the door and wired it to the door switch and 12V contact supply. If the key is turned or the car is started when doors are opened this sound will warn the driver.
2. I couldn’t show the inverter data plate at the time of audit.
Inverter is made for GM(Chevrolet Volt and Ampera) byAC Delco. The long number is the serial number. P/N for ordering GM parts is 12625132. Smaller number on the right states it was made 2012 on the 70th week.
3. Exposed connector in the charger AC wiring was not waterproof. Answer: I replaced the connector with a waterproof AC junction box where AC wires are joined inside.
4. Insufficient fixing of power cables in the exhaust duct. Answer: I clamped cables at intervals with metal ties.
5. Webasto heater exhaust pipe not fixed at the end. Answer: Webasto exhaust pipe extended and clamped to prepared fitting.
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