[sokoloff]

I have a battery test unit that I use on my two 451 ED's. Will that unit also work on the 453?

Len
2014 EV Coupe 13,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 2,500 miles

 

[Yinzer]

The easiest way to find out is to plug it into the OBD connector of the 453 and find out. Hopefully, someone has written new programming for the 453 that you can re-flash onto your unit if it doen't work.

 

[sokoloff]

I know that, but that is WAY easier said than done. In the two years since I've owned my Smart, I have never seen another electric Smart around here, let alone a 453. Now if there are any 453 owners near the Myrtle Beach/Wilmington area and would like to be a test car, please let me know.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 13,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 2,500 miles

 

[Yinzer]

Then I wouldn't worry about it.

My main EV, a Current Motor Company electric maxi-scooter, is made by an enterprise that is technically still in business, but they are treating the no-longer-manufactured scooter as "abandonware" that they refuse to provide any service and support to becasue they still claim it and any service information as their "intellectual property".

 

[Ken Roach]

Len,

Is your device the "ED BMSDiag" Arduino-based device developed by Forum member Odyssey ?

My reading of the notes for that device (I built one and have used it a few times on my 2014 ForTwo ED) say that it is only for the 451 model and doesn't know anything about the BMS on the 453.

Today I got my car down to 10% SOC and it's on the 208V charger now, so hopefully it will go through the full battery diagnostic cycle. When I bought the car the BMSDiag tool reported that it had not done a diagnostic cycle for 40 days or so, and evidently just taking it down to ~40% SOC doesn't initiate the test.

 

[sokoloff]

Yes, that's the unit. My son built it for me. However, there was an update or two that he installed and he also added a few features that weren't in the original version and sent that info on to Odyssey to see if he wanted to include it in his directions, notes and downloads.

I actually have three of the units on hand that I plan to offer for sale with more likely to be available at a later date.

That's the main reason I asked the question about the 453.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 13,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 2,500 miles

 

[Johannesl]

Yes, that's the unit. My son built it for me. However, there was an update or two that he installed and he also added a few features that weren't in the original version and sent that info on to Odyssey to see if he wanted to include it in his directions, notes and downloads.



I actually have three of the units on hand that I plan to offer for sale with more likely to be available at a later date.



That's the main reason I asked the question about the 453.



Len

2014 EV Coupe 13,000 miles

2014 EV Cabriolet 2,500 miles

Following. I like gadgets that help keep an eye on my vehicle.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[wrumbarger]

I would be interested in purchasing one of these units for my 451 ED

 

[Ken Roach]

They aren't built and sold commercially, as the technical skills and tools to build one are common among hobbyists.

I had an Arduino Uno R3 board around, so I bought the recommended CANBus Shield and cable from SparkFun, soldered the headers on, loaded the Arduino "sketch" firmware, and plugged it into the car. The hardest part was putting the library files into the correct directory.

As a Forum member and EV enthusiast, I'd be happy to sell you the one I built for the cost to build another; send me a PM on this Forum. I also offered to loan mine out, which is still an open offer after I get through another charge cycle.

From the popular vendor SparkFun, the retail bill of materials comes to about $75 plus tax and freight.

DEV-13262 CAN-Bus Shield Board $25
DEV-13975 RedBoard Arduino $20
CAB-10087 OBD-II/CANBus cable $10
PRT-00116 Breakaway headers(2) $3
PRT-10088 Arduino Project Box $12
CAB-10215 USB Micro-B Cable $5

 

[InjuredAgain]

Ken, I'd happily pay more than the cost of parts to get a pre-assembled unit, and would love to take you out to lunch if you'd show me how to use it and interpret what it is saying.

 

[sokoloff]

Ken, I'd happily pay more than the cost of parts to get a pre-assembled unit, and would love to take you out to lunch if you'd show me how to use it and interpret what it is saying.

Getting the data off of the battery test unit is a really easy operation even for someone like me who is often electronically challenged. Might not be quite as easy as changing the desiccant cartridge, but it's not far behind that job.

We should have all the details sorted out for the units we are building and have that info ready for publication next week I hope. It's pretty much going to be a plug and play deal.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 13,750 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 2,750 miles

 

[jimsokoloff]

Yes, that's the unit. My son built it for me. However, there was an update or two that he installed and he also added a few features that weren't in the original version and sent that info on to Odyssey to see if he wanted to include it in his directions, notes and downloads.

I actually have three of the units on hand that I plan to offer for sale with more likely to be available at a later date.

Hi, first post here.

I made a few code changes to Odyssey's original work and submitted them back to him for inclusion. He'll likely merge those changes sometime quite soon, but in the meantime, anyone is welcome to grab the updated code from my github repository and apply it to your unit.

Tested on sokoloff's 2 451 EDs over Thanksgiving; I'll see if I can find time to track down a 453 ED and try it there as well. I built a few extra units (I was hoping to get them to work on my LEAF, but as I dug into it, it's obvious that's not going to be a small endeavor and I have more CAN debugging to do on that car to have any hope of making it work, so these are 451 ED only for now.)

They aren't built and sold commercially, as the technical skills and tools to build one are common among hobbyists.

<snip>

From the popular vendor SparkFun, the retail bill of materials comes to about $75 plus tax and freight.

That's exactly right; these skills are common among electronics hobbyists, but not necessarily common among car enthusiasts. The overall project is quite easy if you have the electronics/Arduino skills, but fairly daunting if you don't. Ralph (Odyssey) gets the credit for bringing the idea to reality; I just made a few minor mods to make it a little easier to use, soldered a few kits together, and 3D printed a little case with the Smart logo on the lid.

You need a computer with a USB port and a serial terminal program to grab the data.

 

[InjuredAgain]

Awesome! I'll be first in line when these units are available!

 

[odyssey]

Dear Jim, thanks for continuing with the development of the original code. You really added some nice new features to complete the tool. But I am sorry to disappoint you and others, that the CAN bus protocol of the 451 and 453 are totally different!

The heritage of the new electric drive (BR 453) is from Renault ZOE. They share most of the ECUs and use the same motor. Daimler modified the charger unit and uses their own battery pack with theit own BMS - but they use almost all common CAN bus IDs of the ZOE with modified protocols and request replies.

I am working on this and found a nice codebase on the CanZE project for the ZOE. I will try to port the CAN matrix findings to the Arduino as soon as possible.

 

[jimsokoloff]

Awesome! I'll be first in line when these units are available!

Available now.

See this thread for more information or to get one.