[sokoloff]

My son built me a battery test unit for my Smart electrics so that I could keep tabs on the state of my batteries. He started out using the info provided by forum member Odyssey on this site - https://www.hackster.io/MyLab-odyssey/ed-bmsdiag-6bece5?. He then made a couple code modifications and sent those back to Odyssey. The modifications include printing the serial number of the battery which is identical to the car's VIN if it is the original battery. Another modification allows the battery test data to be read automatically upon connecting the unit to the car's OBD connection. Previously you had to type in a command to make that happen. Information regarding the cooling fan and pump, battery heater and vacuum pump are also now included by default. Below is a copy of what the results look like.

While he was at it, he made several extra test units in case there was an interest from any forum members to have their own unit. I think that $75 shipped is a pretty fair price for the units. Included with each unit are the two cables needed. One cable connects from the OBD port in the car to the test unit. The other cable is a USB cable that connects the test unit to your laptop. A couple of photos coming in the next post. I have tested each of the units in my car(s) to make sure they work.

Disclaimer: I do not know if these units work for the 453 Smart electrics. Be happy to refund your money (less shipping) if you buy one for a 453 and they don't work or if you can't sell it yourself to a 451 owner. Be even more interested to know if they do in fact also work for the 453’s. My son is also going to try to track down a willing 453 ED owner and do some testing or debugging to figure it out, but for now the situation with the 453s is unknown.

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

-----------------------------------------
--- ED Battery Management Diagnostics ---
--- v1.0.2                            ---
-----------------------------------------

Connect to OBD port - Waiting for CAN-Bus
.CONNECTED
-----------------------------------------
........Reading data....................OK
-----------------------------------------
Battery VIN: WMEEJ9AA3EK773721
Time [hh:mm]: 12:00,   ODO : 21255 km
-----------------------------------------
Battery Status   : OK

Battery Production [Y/M/D]: 2013/11/7
Battery-FAT date   [Y/M/D]: 2013/11/8
Rev.[Y/WK/PL] HW:2013/29/0, SW:2013/29/1
-----------------------------------------
SOC : 99.5 %, realSOC: 97.8 %
HV  : 389.0 V, -0.47 A, -0.18 kW
LV  : 14.2 V
-----------------------------------------
CV mean : 4163 mV, dV = 23 mV
CV min  : 4143 mV
CV max  : 4166 mV
OCVtimer: 1728 s
-----------------------------------------
Last measurement      : 4 day(s)
Measurement estimation: 0.795
Actual estimation     : 0.685
CAP mean: 17977 As/10, 49.9 Ah
CAP min : 17869 As/10, 49.6 Ah
CAP max : 18239 As/10, 50.7 Ah
-----------------------------------------
HV contactor state ON, low current: 216530 s
Cycles left   : 296198
of max. cycles: 300000
DC isolation  : 63931 kOhm, OK
-----------------------------------------
Temperatures Battery-Unit /degC:
module 1: 21.6, 23.0, 22.2
module 2: 21.7, 22.7, 22.4
module 3: 21.7, 22.5, 21.9
   mean : 22.2, min : 21.7, max : 23.0
coolant : 21.0
-----------------------------------------
# ;mV  ;As/10
01;4163;17632
02;4164;17576
03;4164;17745
04;4165;17604
05;4167;17632
06;4164;17632
07;4166;17632
08;4167;17632
09;4166;17660
10;4148;17548
11;4155;17604
12;4167;17576
13;4166;17548
14;4167;17576
15;4166;17548
16;4166;17604
17;4165;17660
18;4165;17717
19;4165;17660
20;4167;17689
21;4164;17576
22;4167;17689
23;4164;17576
24;4166;17717
25;4165;17717
26;4167;17604
27;4146;17520
28;4148;17492
29;4150;17520
30;4150;17576
31;4143;17492
32;4164;17604
33;4160;17576
34;4164;17548
35;4162;17576
36;4163;17604
37;4164;17604
38;4160;17492
39;4166;17492
40;4166;17465
41;4166;17465
42;4167;17520
43;4164;17548
44;4164;17548
45;4166;17492
46;4167;17492
47;4164;17520
48;4167;17576
49;4164;17576
50;4166;17548
51;4164;17576
52;4166;17410
53;4158;17437
54;4166;17548
55;4165;17548
56;4166;17604
57;4164;17492
58;4165;17604
59;4164;17632
60;4165;17548
61;4164;17604
62;4166;17604
63;4166;17548
64;4165;17660
65;4165;17604
66;4165;17548
67;4166;17548
68;4165;17660
69;4164;17604
70;4166;17604
71;4164;17492
72;4166;17548
73;4162;17576
74;4165;17660
75;4165;17548
76;4167;17520
77;4164;17548
78;4166;17548
79;4165;17717
80;4165;17660
81;4164;17660
82;4166;17660
83;4165;17660
84;4165;17604
85;4166;17520
86;4166;17492
87;4166;17548
88;4166;17520
89;4167;17548
90;4167;17492
91;4166;17548
92;4166;17660
93;4167;17576
-----------------------------------------
Individual Cell Statistics:
-----------------------------------------
CV mean : 4164 mV, dV= 24 mV, s= 4.73 mV
CV min  : 4143 mV, # 31
CV max  : 4167 mV, # 5
-----------------------------------------
CAP mean: 17579 As/10, 48.8 Ah
CAP min : 17410 As/10, 48.4 Ah, # 52
CAP max : 17745 As/10, 49.3 Ah, # 3
-----------------------------------------
Voltage Distribution (dV= 24 mV):
*----------------------------->----[|=]-*
4143   09 > [4164; 4165; 4166] < 00  4167
min         [p25; median; p75]        max
-----------------------------------------
Reading data....OK
-----------------------------------------
Status OBL Charger-Unit:
User selected : 16 A
Cable maximum : 204 A
AC L1: 0.0 V, 0.0 A
DC HV: 0.0 V, 0.0 A
DC LV: 14.3 V
-----------------------------------------
Temperatures Charger-Unit /degC:
Reported       : NA
Cooling plate  : NA
Inlet socket   : NA
-----------------------------------------
Reading data.OK
-----------------------------------------
Status Cooling- and Subsystems:
Temperature   : 20.4 degC
Cooling fan   : 0.0 %
Cooling pump  : 64.7 %, 22 degC
              : 13.8 V, 1.4 A
OTR:
Cooling fan   : 5 h
Cooling pump  : 2946 h
Battery heater: 0 h, OFF
Vaccum pump   : 15.774 h
Pressure 1, 2 : -610 mbar, -604 mbar
-----------------------------------------


-----------------------------------------
Battery VIN: WMEEJ9AA3EK773721
Time [hh:mm]: 12:00,   ODO : 21255 km
-----------------------------------------
SOC : 99.5 %, realSOC: 97.8 %
HV  : 389.0 V, -0.47 A, -0.18 kW
LV  : 14.2 V
-----------------------------------------

 

[jimsokoloff]

Odyssey on the other thread says that these will definitely not work on the 453 EDs, so these are 451 only per the expert.

Here's a couple of photos of the complete units. They include everything you should need except for a laptop with a USB port and some kind of serial terminal program (available for free for every platform out there).

The black cable is J1962 ("OBD2") on one end and a DB9 ("9 pin") connector on the other end and plugs from the car's OBD2 port near the driver's right knee into the 9-pin connector on the top of the side.

The blue cable is USB-A on one end and USB-B on the other end and plugs between the computer's standard USB port ("USB-A") and the USB-B connector on the bottom left. The other circular connector is not used and not needed in this application.

You need a laptop with a standard USB port and everything should just work on either Mac, Windows, or Linux with whatever serial port program you want to use on your platform.

I figured the EDs are green, so the cases are 3D printed in a translucent green ABS. My 3D printer is a hobby grade printer. The cases are fully functional, but no one will mistake them for a commercially produced injection molded polyethylene case.

Contact my dad (@sokoloff on the forum) for more information or to order one.

 

[InjuredAgain]

I'm in. How do you accept payment?

Thanks!

 

[jenkinskg]

would love to buy one, would also love to expand to a display in real time in the car.
how much for the one you have, my car is a 2013 ed

 

[Yinzer]

Quick question... why is the capacity reported as "ampere-seconds/10?

I know, ask the MB engineers...

Also, is the firmware in them re-flashable via the usual equipment for Arduinos or the like?

But yes, I'm probably interested in one too as I might be looking at some used ED prospects...

 

[jimsokoloff]

would love to buy one, would also love to expand to a display in real time in the car.

Built into the unit is the ability to periodically log output to the serial port (at a user-defined interval).

As an example:

log on 10

will configure the device to emit a log message every 10 seconds to the serial port.

Full documentation on the command line is here:
https://github.com/MyLab-odyssey/ED_BMSdiag/wiki/Command-Line-Interface

If you want to display on a nice little device in the car, you're into a project of some sort. I'd look towards perhaps using a phone and an app (and buying a BLE or wifi CAN dongle) or look to what some of the other EV projects that use OLED displays. I'd love to think along on such a project, but realistically, I'm not likely to find much time to dedicate to it.

LeafDD is one example I'd look towards (OLED display).
LeafSpy is another (Android phone; I wasn't able to get it to work, but I think I bought perhaps two different counterfeit ELM327s)
LeafSOC is another (uses a mobile phone LCD in a custom circuit/enclosure)

 

[jimsokoloff]

Also, is the firmware in them re-flashable via the usual equipment for Arduinos or the like?

Yes, it can be flashed/re-flashed using the Arduino IDE.

Odyssey's original writeup on Hackster (detailing how to build it yourself, if you're so inclined) is here.

I found the code easy to understand and modify. If you have Arduino electronics / programming skills, it's a quite simple project to DIY.

 

[Yinzer]

Thanks. I have a USB tiny, and my experience is limited to only re flashing my Arduino-based devices OpenEVSE charging station and an electric motor scooter). But I certainly have electronic soldering experience and I can always learn the software end. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

 

[jimsokoloff]

Thanks. I have a USB tiny, and my experience is limited to only re flashing my Arduino-based devices OpenEVSE charging station and an electric motor scooter). But I certainly have electronic soldering experience and I can always learn the software end. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

Definitely do! Lots of people can lend a hand if you get stuck, including me.

If you don't have the desire (or time) to learn about Arduino and CAN and just want the task accomplished, you can also buy them pre-assembled, so anyone has a workable path.

 

[Yinzer]

Any chance that you or your son can simply provide the .hex file and an AVRDUDE command batch file (which I can edit for the specific loading gadget and Atmel chip if needed) for flashing it?

That stuff about setting the "fuses" and the processor being permanently ruined if you mess up always sounded scary to me. You can PM me.

 

[jimsokoloff]

Any chance that you or your son can simply provide the .hex file and an AVRDUDE command batch file (which I can edit for the specific loading gadget and Atmel chip if needed) for flashing it?

That stuff about setting the "fuses" and the processor being permanently ruined if you mess up always sounded scary to me. You can PM me.

I would if I could, but I can't, so I won't.

If you're building on an Arduino, use the Arduino IDE (which is free as in beer)

Grab the code: mine from here (which has links to the original as well)

Connect the Arduino to your computer, select the board, open the sketch you downloaded in the previous step, and press "Upload". The IDE manages all the behind the scenes grunge (compile, package, upload, fuses, etc).

I would give you the .hex file if the Arduino IDE left it lying around, but it doesn't seem to. The IDE really is the way to get started I think. It's designed to make things easy and safe, and part of the Arduino brilliance was to make the bootloader on the chip such that it was easy to use from an IDE. Though I own some of the various physical programming devices, I've literally never used them. I just use the Arduino software IDE.

I'll help in any way I reasonably can to have other people get this working if they want to DIY. Please try the Arduino IDE first.

Even without owning the Arduino and CAN shield physical hardware, you can grab the code and IDE and make sure you can compile the code. If you get to that point and your computer has a USB port, you can be pretty certain that getting it onto the Arduino will be a yummy piece of cake.

 

[jimsokoloff]

Sorry for an additional post, but just for clarity on the above: you can program the Arduino using ONLY the USB port and the free Arduino software; you don't need any other equipment or software.

(There are valid reasons to want to use AVRDUDE or other programmers for other projects, but to get your feet wet and for this project to work, none of those are necessary or desirable. You will know when or if your advanced project needs more than the Arduino software; for this project, it doesn't.)

 

[MB DNA]

Here is the output after charging to 100% overnight. It is a brisk 25 degrees F. outside but about 45 degrees F. in the garage. Real SOC is said to be 93.8% while displayed SOC is 100%.

While he was at it, he made several extra test units in case there was an interest from any forum members to have their own unit. I think that $75 shipped is a pretty fair price for the units. Included with each unit are the two cables needed. One cable connects from the OBD port in the car to the test unit. The other cable is a USB cable that connects the test unit to your laptop. A couple of photos coming in the next post. I have tested each of the units in my car(s) to make sure they work.

Len,

Thanks to you and your son Jim for sharing with the smart ED Community!

Though I remain in search of my MY15 ED lease turn-in on the secondary market I may have to order this accessory just in case?

This "nichie" tool for the niche 451 ED could prove invaluable to those who find their smart Center no longer within range?

If you are an ED owner who intends to drive the wheels off your 451, you need this tool - write that check!

Tom

 

[wrumbarger]

OK
I am ready to order one of these for my 2013 451 ED cabrio (Miss Kitty).

I understand there will be units available sometime in Jan 2018?

Going price is $75 (inc shipping)

One important question (I think I already know the answer?)

would it be possible to read the diagnostics on an iPad (air) by running from the USB on the unit to the lightning USB on the iPad? (probably not, but thought I'd ask)

Otherwise I have to get a (cheap) laptop just for this unit?

 

[InjuredAgain]

wrumbarger, I don't know the answer to your USB question. On a Windows laptop, I installed a driver to present the USB as a virtual com port that the terminal program can access. But it will be interesting since you've gotten, by a significant amount, the greatest range on a single charge that I've ever heard of.

 

[jimsokoloff]

One important question (I think I already know the answer?)

would it be possible to read the diagnostics on an iPad (air) by running from the USB on the unit to the lightning USB on the iPad? (probably not, but thought I'd ask)

I have been thinking about this all morning and I don't think there's any way to do that.

Otherwise I have to get a (cheap) laptop just for this unit?

That does seem like a bit of a waste; if it's just something you'll do a few times a year, maybe you can park close enough to a desktop PC somewhere (or move a PC to the garage temporarily) or borrow a laptop?

If I come up with any better idea, I'll be sure to let you know, but this project kind of assumes the existence of a laptop or a garage PC.

 

[sokoloff]

Before I had a laptop or a Smart several years ago, I used a 15 - 20' USB cable and ran it from my car in the driveway, through the window in my home office and read the OBD data that way.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 14,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 3,000 miles

 

[Johannesl]

For a cheap “laptop” you could look into the nextbooks sold at Walmart. I’m not sure on pricing now, but a few years ago I bought one for mom and one for me. They both run full version windows 8.1, came with a year of office 365, have a full sized USB port on the detachable keyboard, and have been pretty tough. Hers was $89 and mine was $119.

Or this through Best Buy.

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/digiland-10-1-tablet-32gb-with-keyboard-black/5578069.p?skuId=5578069

 

[wrumbarger]

That's what I was thinking of!

Thanks.

 

[sokoloff]

Got one battery test unit left and ready to go from our second batch. Should have a few more ready before long. If you want this one, please drop me a note to my personal e-mail address - it's my user name "at" atmc "dot" net.

Len
2014 EV Coupe 14,000 miles
2014 EV Cabriolet 3,000 miles