openinverter forum

Hi!

I want do to a conversion with a 160kW EM57. I am trying to figure out what would be the best (or rather most cost effective) combination of vcu, charger, dcdc, bms and batteries.

I think Zombieverter would be a good choice as that would allow me to use the leaf charger and dcdc,
For batteries I am thinking about using VW MEB modules. Using SimpBMS I should be able to use the VW slaves. However, I am not quite sure how all this would work together. Will the bms be its own thing and communicate charge parameters and battery info to Zombie? And does Zombie control the contactors and precharge, or should Simp do that? Maybe someone has already done a conversion with these components?

StefanMX wrote: ↑Tue Apr 15, 2025 9:58 pm does Zombie control the contactors and precharge

Yes

StefanMX wrote: ↑Tue Apr 15, 2025 9:58 pmUsing SimpBMS

From where? They are no longer made so you would need to find it ported to another microcontroller or port it yourself.

StefanMX wrote: ↑Tue Apr 15, 2025 9:58 pm Will the bms be its own thing and communicate charge parameters and battery info to Zombie

Yes this is the idea, BMS worries only about the batteries and tells the zombie the limits.

Okay I see. I am only familiar with EMUS so far which controls the contactors and the thunderstruck vcu that only drives the motor. However, I'd like to use the charger and dcdc from the leaf and the vw slaves to save costs.

Regarding simpBMS, is there a new project going on now or would there be easier solutions to use with the vw slaves(with balancing)?

I produced this product after SimpBMS which is an evolution https://citini.com/product/evs-battery- ... ent-system

I am not aware of someone porting the VW code to another micro controller but I have not looked.

I am
https://github.com/jsphuebner/stm32-car ... mebbms.cpp

It's not quite as universal as SimpBMS code as it hard-coded targets only the 2 48-channel modules but is easily adopted

johu wrote: ↑Wed Apr 16, 2025 5:56 pm I am
https://github.com/jsphuebner/stm32-car ... mebbms.cpp

It's not quite as universal as SimpBMS code as it hard-coded targets only the 2 48-channel modules but is easily adopted

sure, but its not "easily" adopted to be used if you cannot code.

Thank you both for the replies. I remember coming across your evs products but somehow didn't notice them in my last few searches.

If I were to use your vcu, what options would I miss? I can use the meb slaves and control the motor, but not the dcdc and charger which zombie would be able to do right?

I am somewhat educated on programming but canbus communication is new to me. I feel like I should be able to take the parts from zombie and implement them into the evs vcu, but I also know trying to come up with things myself is probably going to take a lot more time

StefanMX wrote: ↑Wed Apr 16, 2025 10:11 pm take the parts from zombie and implement them into the evs vcu

Not possible it is closed source.

StefanMX wrote: ↑Wed Apr 16, 2025 10:11 pm If I were to use your vcu, what options would I miss?

Charging is not implemented at this moment.

Where are you based?

I'm based in the Netherlands.
Yeah forgot about that. So that would mean Zombie + evs-bms would be an option(i imagine that works when you set the bms parameter in zombie to simp?) Most elegant solution would be to program 1 thing that can do it all ofcourse, but right now I can't really gauge how difficult that would be.

StefanMX wrote: ↑Thu Apr 17, 2025 8:22 am I'm based in the Netherlands.

Are you going to certify your conversion? It is not that easy in the Netherlands.

Yes good point. I will have to check that but I think it will be okay before 2026. I have some experience with ev conversions using EMUS which is certified, but I am looking at other options now to make use of the pdm and save quite some costs. Might not be smart but I will figure out the certification later haha.