On Tue, 2009-02-10 at 10:33 +1300, Alf Crowe wrote:
>
> I am attaching 3 attachments which show letters to and from the
> Minister and from his reply the future looks good. Using an amp meter
> I use 125 amps @ 50 km/hr and 225 amps @ 70 km/hr, will cruise at 85
> km/hr with 2 up.
> To hell with the outdated rules I had an auto electrician install an
> onboard charger which plugs in through the original petrol filler; As
> I only have a 72 volt system there are three 24 volt chargers
> connected.
> A lovely little silent car with a Range of about 30 km, which I
> think will improve once the batteries are run in, they are Exide
> batteries of only 115 amp/hr
>

My certifier (Neil Fraser of http://www.certz.co.nz/ ) says that I can
install a permanently mounted charger but I will need a electrical
certificate of fitness, just like a caravan would if you connect it to
the mains. This seems quite appropriate given the infancy of electric
vehicles in New Zealand. Perhaps in the next revision of the standards
there will be some way to avoid the separate mains certification, but
I'm not complaining.

The High Voltage stickers on enclosures containing high voltage are
entirely appropriate and I would oppose any attempt to strike this
requirement. I would expect all production hybrids to have these
stickers, you've built a on-off vehicle which no-one has seen before,
you must provide safety warnings to anyone who has to work on it.

I don't believe I will need a high voltage warning label on my
dashboard.

Voltages above 48V is considered "high voltage" and dangerous, your 72v
is more than enough to kill someone in the wrong circumstances.

The current rules are out of date, but not in the ways that you are
complaining about. They are also only a guide, and certifiers aren't
bound by them. Which certifier did you use?

I've been in discussion last year with the Technical Officer at
Motorsport New Zealand about updating these rules. I'll see about
writing up my recommendations and concerns publicly in the next few
weeks.

In the future, please don't post large attachments to this mailing list,
and if you must post scans, please use a more efficient format than the
windows bitmap. I converted one of your files to a 2 colour PNG and it
came out 181 times smaller than your file.

Congratulations on building your car. Mine progresses maddeningly
slowly.