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WhiteBird

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Revision as of 22:21, 25 October 2006 by Rjf (talk | contribs) (→‎Press Release (in progress): Updated "Use", "Future", and Contact info)
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"WhiteBird" is the name of the Chelan county’s Advanced Vehicle Initiative<ref>http://www.plugincenter.com - Chelan county’s Advanced Vehicle Initiative</ref> Prius PHEV conversion which was finished in early October 2006.

Press Release (in progress)

The build crew during the conversion of WhiteBird

Since the unprecedented success of the PHEV conversion of Ryan Fulcher’s PriusBlue at the Inaugural Maker Faire last year, with much help from CalCars (http://www.calcars.org) and the San Francisco EAA (http://www.sfeva.org). Ryan, a member of the Seattle EV Association (http://www.seattleeva.org) and a contributor to the EAA-PHEV web site (http://www.eaa-phev.org), has been furthering the cause for PHEVs throughout the Pacific N.W. Through these public relations efforts Ron Johnson-Rodreguez, head of Economic Development for Eastern Washington State’s Chelan County contacted Steven Lough, president of the Seattle EV Association, and a fruitful working relationship has developed over the last 6 months. After several trips back and forth between Seattle and Wenatchee Washington, plans were set in motion to convert several county Toyota Prius vehicles to PHEV.

Using CAN-View technology from Hybrid Interfaces of Canada (http://www.hybridinterfaces.ca), and the very versatile AC-to-DC & DC-to-DC capable charger from Rich Rudmands Manzanita Micro company, (http://www.manzanitamicro.com) and much volunteer help from Seattle EV Association members, Chelan county’s Advanced Vehicle Initiative, (http://www.plugincenter.com) and the Automotive Technology program at Wenatchee valley College, The first project was put on the road in PHEV mode this October 15th. 2006.

Both the PiPrius vehicles PriusBlue of Ryan Fulcher, and the just completed Chelan County car named “CCPort WhiteBird” utilize a PFC40 charger which doubles as a DC-to-DC converter. In DC-DC or run mode the PFC40 is connected between the Add-On pack and the Prius OEM pack thereby maintaining the Prius battery voltage during extended periods of low speed exclusive (EV-Only) or higher speed enhanced (Mixed-mode) driving. In the systems final configuration both DC-to-DC “boosting” of the Prius pack, as well as Grid charging of the Add-On pack are switched automatically. As the CAN-View reads data from the Toyota computer systems it acts as both user interface and management device to orchestrate various aspects of the PHEV modes automatic operation. The Battery Management System (BMS) consist of a Mark 3 Rudman Reg for each of the 15 Genesis lead-acid batteries which fully protect each battery from over and under voltage events. The regs help to direct the chargers actions and are interactive and programmable via a standard serial port (RS232) found on most laptops.

Chelan county’s Advanced Vehicle Initiative is plans to use WhiteBird for display at events, conferences and festivals in addition to driving to and from meetings in Washington and other County business. In the future they plan to create a fleet of Plug-in hybrid vehicles for lease to potentially use for event shuttles, area tours, rafting shuttles, delivery services. We plan to monitor these vehicles for fuel efficiency, emission reduction, battery capabilities, charging speed, etc.

Contact Ron at info@ [at] plugincenter.com (509) 663-5159


Feel free to contact Manzanita Micro’s Rich Rudmand, or the Seattle EV Association for more details about PiPrius conversions.

Submitted for your review, and editing by: Steven S. Lough Pres. SEVA

References

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