Automotive Electronics
Nissan’s Future Electric Vehicle
As car manufacturers prepare
for coming Californian legis
lation
requiring the availability for sale of
zero emissions vehicles, the trickle
of electric cars is becoming a deluge.
All still lack the fundamental requirement which would enable elec
tric
cars to really take off – a compact
and lightweight battery – but the use
of conventional battery materials is
advancing slowly.
Nissan’s Future Electric Vehicle
(FEV) uses a nickel-cadmium battery
pack. This battery has advantages over
conventional lead-acid batteries in
terms of power density (200-240Wh/
kg versus 130Wh/kg for lead-acid).
In addition, the battery pack can also
be partially recharged in a very short
time. Nissan claims that the battery
can be recharged to 40% capacity in
as little as six minutes – comparable
to the refill time of a petrol-powered
vehicle.
The battery, which has a mass of
200kg, is cooled by air circulation. The
need for cooling has been lessened by
a reduction in the battery’s internal
resistance and the reaction heat generated during charging.
Stop/start engine for VW
Golf Ecomatic
4 Silicon Chip
Four different battery charging
systems are utilised; (1) slow recharging overnight using the charger in
the car; (2) recharging using the
super-quick battery charger previously mentioned; (3) recharging
from a roof-mounted solar panel;
and (4) recharging via a regenerative braking system. The last two
methods are essentially
used to ‘top-up’ the battery.
The storage battery generates
an output of 280V and drives two
high-speed (15,000rpm) 20kW 4-pole
AC motors via a 10kHz inverter which
uses Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistors (IGBTs). The drive reduction is
through a 1:12 ratio planetary gear
train.
The bodywork of the car features
an aluminium frame to reduce mass
(although Nissan does not quote a kerb
weight), while the aerodynamic drag
(Cd) has been reduced to just 0.19.
This Cd figure is extremely low for
a passenger car. The vehicle’s accel
eration, top speed, range and cost
have not been released by Nissan,
suggesting that a production electric
car utilising this technology is still
some way from reality.
While the automotive world continues to await a breakthrough in the
energy density of rechargeable batteries, Volkswagen has recently released
an urban car which makes the most of
conventional design elements. Featuring a diesel engine, the Ecomatic
Golf compact car achieves excellent
fuel economy and very low pollution
emissions by having the engine off
for up to 60% of the time during city
driving.
When the accelerator pedal is released under certain conditions, the
engine is stopped and a vacuum servo
clutch disen
gages, allowing the car
to free-wheel. An electronic module,
which includes inputs for engine
coolant temperature and road speed,
is used to switch the engine on and off.
If either the gearstick is moved or
the throttle is depressed, the engine
restarts. Ancillaries such as power
steering and brakes – which are
normally operated by engine-driven
devices – are maintained when the
engine is not running by a battery pack
and electric motors. The car is driven
as if it has a manual transmission but
without the clutch.
Because so much city driving is
of the stop-start type (especially in
Europe), the engine is off for up to
60% of the time. During this period,
zero emissions are generated and
the fuel normally consumed by the
idling engine is saved. The urban
fuel consumption of the car is just
4.6 litres/100km (60mpg). Carbon
dioxide, hydrocarbon and oxides of
nitrogen emissions are down by about
22% and carbon monoxide emissions
are reduced by 36% compared to a
conventional model.
There are no plans at this stage to
sell the car in Australia.
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If anyone doubts the direction in which car design is heading, particularly
as it relates to electronics, then this photo from Holden should dispel
them. It shows Holden engineer Gary Carroll with nine electronic control
modules which are used as standard equipment in the top-of-the range VR
Commodore Calais.
These electronic modules are used in the engine management system,
automatic transmission, anti-lock braking system, airbag deployment, trip
computer and body computer, the latter looking after the operation of the
interior lights, headlights and so on. In addition, there are electronic keys
to switch the alarm on and off and to control the central locking system.
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June 1994 5
