# ZEVA motor controllers



## zeva (Nov 4, 2013)

Greetings from the land down under!

Some of you may have heard of ZEVA - we’ve been around for almost a decade now, manufacturing specialised components for EV conversions, mostly supplying to the Australian market. Just over 5 years ago we released our first DC motor controller, and about one year ago the third generation controller was released, offering higher efficiency and more functionality at a lower price point.

So far they’ve been well received here in the southern hemisphere, but we’re yet to send any over to the USA or Europe - and I’d like to change that. So I’d like to offer *one motor controller at half price* to someone in the northern hemisphere, in exchange for posting an honest review on DIYEC of your thoughts and experiences with it.

At the current exchange rate, this works out at about US$450 for an MC600C, or US$600 for an MC1000C. (Express shipping to USA or Europe is about US$65 or US$85 respectively, for reference.)

In brief, they’re suitable for series DC or PMDC motors, 12-144V nominal battery pack and up to 600A or 1000A maximum motor current. Most throttle types are supported (0-5Kohm 2-wire, 0-5V 3-wire, HEPA) and there’s a CAN bus interface for status/data reporting and configuring settings. The CAN interface is also plug-and-play with our EVMS Monitor, allowing you to view controller information on a colour touchscreen in the dash.

We recommend the MC600C for vehicles up to around 1000kg / 2200lbs, and the MC1000C for vehicles up to around 1500kg / 3300 lbs. Further information can be found at the following links, or feel free to ask any questions about them here!

MC600C: http://www.zeva.com.au/index.php?product=120
MC1000C: http://www.zeva.com.au/index.php?product=121


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## twright (Aug 20, 2013)

I am interested in your 1000 amp solution, but I may not be a good candidate. Here is my situation:

I currently own a working DIY EV with a 500 amp (max) controller. The car is 2600 lbs and I have 44 Hipower 100 AH Lithium Iron Phosphate cells.

I would love to try to get more performance with your controller, but I'm not sure my batteries can supply that much current.

Do you guys have any experience with smaller battery packs like mine?


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## zeva (Nov 4, 2013)

Hi twright, it's actually pretty common to use motor controllers which can deliver higher current to the motor than the batteries than can supply. At low speeds, the controller effectively acts like a buck converter (Wikipedia link), amplifying current while it steps down voltage, so you can get very good bottom-end acceleration without overworking the cells.

In most modern controllers, you can set battery current and motor current limit separately. With 100A prismatic LiFePO4s, you'll probably want to set battery current limit to say 300A (if being kind to them) or 500A (less kind but possible).

The ZEVA controllers are reprogrammed over CAN bus, which can be tricky if you don't have the right equipment (e.g EVMS Monitor) - but I could certainly program the settings for you before shipping.

Speaking from experience, moving to a 1000A controller from 500A/600A is like chalk and cheese - though it is not uncommon to start getting clutch slip or gearbox issues, depending on the vehicle!

EDIT: Oh, I just remembered another thing worth mentioning.. What motor are you running? Netgains can handle 1000A no problem (built like little tanks). ADCs are OK but you'll see accelerated brushwear (may need replacing every year or two). And I've seen Kostovs suffer comm damage with 1000A controllers.


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## twright (Aug 20, 2013)

I have a Warp 9" motor, so it should be able to handle higher.

However, my current controller will handle 500 amps. Is there any advantage to using your 1000 amp controller with my setup?


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## browncamaroz28 (May 14, 2014)

twright said:


> I have a Warp 9" motor, so it should be able to handle higher.
> 
> However, my current controller will handle 500 amps. Is there any advantage to using your 1000 amp controller with my setup?


I think you are going to be limited by your battery, my understanding is that the hi-power 100ah are only good for 500amp peak. Are these the cells you have? http://www.evsource.com/datasheets/BatteryData/HiPowerSpec - 100AH high power cell.pdf


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## browncamaroz28 (May 14, 2014)

Zeva, I would be interested in 1000amp version, however my goal is to eventually run dual ADC 9" motors at 144v / 1000amp on each motor, would I be able to use two of these controllers in parallel? So I would essentially have a 88cell lithium iron phosphate (2 x 44 cell pack in parallel). I could always completely isolate the two systems if needed.


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## zeva (Nov 4, 2013)

twright said:


> I have a Warp 9" motor, so it should be able to handle higher. However, my current controller will handle 500 amps. Is there any advantage to using your 1000 amp controller with my setup?


The Warp 9 is a great motor. A 1000A controller would give you MUCH quicker acceleration at low speeds.

Consider that a motor controller is basically a power converter: power in = power out, minus about 1% loss (for a good one). At low speeds, a big series DC motor can pull a LOT of amps at relatively low voltages. So when initially setting off, a 500A controller might hit its current limit at 25% PWM duty - effectively 25% pack voltage to the motor. Power = amps x volts, so the motor is only using a quarter of the battery's potential! The input voltage to a controller is always pack voltage, so the input (i.e battery) current is 500A x 25% = 125A. I.e with a 500A controller, you'll be limited to a quarter of your potential performance off the line (or something like that). So a 1000A controller can deliver twice the amps, and at a higher PWM duty - more than double the power off the line!

The performance difference reduces at higher speeds, because the motor's back-EMF means the controller needs to deliver more effective volts (higher PWM duty) to maintain current, i.e linearly increasing input power required for the same current to the motor, and linearly increasing battery amps to the controller. Once the battery current limit is reached then the 500A and 1000A controllers would perform identically - this would typically happen around 40-60mph.

It's all a little hard to explain, and does take a while to wrap your head around how this works.. Maybe someone else can chime in so you don't have to take my word for all this 



browncamaroz28 said:


> Zeva, I would be interested in 1000amp version, however my goal is to eventually run dual ADC 9" motors at 144v / 1000amp on each motor, would I be able to use two of these controllers in parallel? So I would essentially have a 88cell lithium iron phosphate (2 x 44 cell pack in parallel). I could always completely isolate the two systems if needed.


Hi BC28, it's no problem to run multiple controllers in parallel off a single battery pack, such as 44S2P, i.e 140V nominal as you describe. The two controllers could be wired on independent 44S strings, but don't need to be.

Note that you can't run the controllers in series though - i.e you couldn't run an 88S pack and wire the controllers in series to share the voltage, because their input currents can't match. I don't think that's what you had in mind but thought I should confirm.

That said, dual motors is where the economics of higher voltage rated controllers like the Zilla HVs or Solitons can come into play. You could run an 88S (280V) pack to a single 1000A motor controller driving two normal DC motors in series. (This is how I set up dual motors in my RX7 conversion, albeit with a 2000A controller.) It gives identical performance to running two lower voltage controllers with one motor each.

So, up to you which option sounds better. 280V does let you use smaller gauge power wiring throughout the vehicle for equivalent power, but is also significantly more dangerous to humans (if you accidentally get a zap while building or maintaining the vehicle). For first time EV converters, I usually recommend sticking to <150V for safety!


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## twright (Aug 20, 2013)

browncamaroz28 said:


> I think you are going to be limited by your battery, my understanding is that the hi-power 100ah are only good for 500amp peak. Are these the cells you have? http://www.evsource.com/datasheets/BatteryData/HiPowerSpec - 100AH high power cell.pdf



Yes, those are the cells I have. But it looks like my accel rate off the line will be improved by this controller a lot. (After I put bigger fuses in the line!)


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

twright said:


> Yes, those are the cells I have. But it looks like my accel rate off the line will be improved by this controller a lot. (After I put bigger fuses in the line!)


How big are your fuses?
Fuses are a bit funny if you exceed the rated current you will blow your fuse - eventually -
You have to overload quite a bit to blow it fast
I'm using a 400 amp fuse with a 1000 amp controller - because I'm voltage limited the battery current only reaches 800 amps and is dropping rapidly as the back emf increases 
Fuse has not blown so far!


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## akseminole (Jan 5, 2014)

After seeing your products showing up on more EV sites, I finally did a google search for your company. I gotta say, google doesn't like you very much.

I found a lot of not your site before I finally found it.

It's lucky I kept at it, after I found your site, I found that I really like your product line.

I especially like that your BMS touch screen interface will change the motor parameters without needing a computer or really expensive motor controller interface. 

Eventually, when I have freed up more EV building $, I will possibly order one of your controllers. Though I felt that it is an amazing deal even at the regular price(with the exchange rate).

I like that all of your products are priced exceedingly reasonably.


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## jehan12413 (Feb 4, 2010)

Hi,
I was just reading about your controllers. My project car is a 1985 honda CRX using a 144 volt 90 Ah headway cell pack. I have been building my own controllers by modifying old Curtis models but your MC1000C seems like a good one to try. Are you still looking for someone in the northern hemisphere to try one out?
John


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## Matej (Dec 4, 2015)

It appears that EV West is now carrying the Zeva controllers:
http://www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=451
http://www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=450


They do not seem to sell the EVMS though, at least not yet.
Is that the only way to program the controller? Is there/will there also be a USB & software interface that allows it be programmed from a laptop?


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## zeva (Nov 4, 2013)

EV West do have an EVMS Monitor over there so will be able to pre-configure controllers for their customers when required. (Historically the majority of people just use the controllers with default settings, i.e full power and 0-5V throttle type).

The EVMS Monitor can work with just the motor controller, no need for the EVMS/BMS as well. It's quite nice having a monitor in the vehicle for viewing controller telemetry (e.g seeing how much current you're pulling, what temp it's running at, checking battery voltage, etc). If there's call for the monitors, I'm sure EV West will start stocking them soon as well.

There's no officially supported USB interface or PC programming software, but if one was enthusiastic, one could re-configure (and/or monitor telemetry from) the controller with a computer and a USB-CAN transceiver - or any device able to send/receive data over CAN bus. The CAN protocol for the controller is described at the end of the user manual.


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## Matej (Dec 4, 2015)

Thank you for chiming in here.
The EVMS definitely seems like a great thing to have, I was just curious if that was the only way one could program the controller themselves. Though from what you said, it sounds like it may already be set to what most people would want it at.

Going off the manual, are these all the programmable parameters, and could you please share what settings the controller comes set to by default?

1. Minimum battery voltage (V): 8-150
2. Maximum motor voltage (V): 1-150
3. Maximum motor current (x10A): 0-100
4. Maximum battery current (x10A): 0-100
5. Throttle ramp rate: 0-4
6. Throttle type: 1-3
7. Idle voltage (V): 0-12
8. Idle current (x10A): 0-20


I assume parameters #1-4 are maxed out, #5 is set to 0, and #6 is 1.
Does the idle function (#7-8) come enabled or disabled by default?

Thanks!


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## zeva (Nov 4, 2013)

Correct, 1-4 are maxed out. (Well, battery voltage is the minimum.) As of a recent firmware change maximum motor voltage is now 180V i.e absolute maximum for controller, so that it doesn't restrict throttle with a fully charged pack over 150V (that being the maximum nominal pack voltage, not peak charge voltage).

Throttle ramp is actually 1 by default, which is about a quarter of a second ramp up time. Zero ramp can be a bit rough on drivetrains. Ramp down is always instant though, for safety.

Idling is disabled by default - it is very rarely used, and only recommended for automatic transmission vehicles. It'll only come on if both associated settings are modified, so hopefully people won't enable it by accident!


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## mechano (Jun 1, 2015)

Any plans for a sepex motor controller in future?




zeva said:


> Greetings from the land down under!
> 
> Some of you may have heard of ZEVA - we’ve been around for almost a decade now, manufacturing specialised components for EV conversions, mostly supplying to the Australian market. Just over 5 years ago we released our first DC motor controller, and about one year ago the third generation controller was released, offering higher efficiency and more functionality at a lower price point.
> 
> ...


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## zeva (Nov 4, 2013)

Hi Mechano, no plans for Sepex controllers at this stage sorry! Being a bit of a legacy technology, there doesn't seem to be a lot of call for them in the EV industry. Probably the next controller you'll see from ZEVA will be AC..


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## galderdi (Nov 17, 2015)

Hi everyone,

I have recently purchased the Zeva 1000amp controller for my EV as a replacement for the Curtis 500amp controller. I am only part way through the conversion. But I feel the need to acknowledge the excellent service and advice I have received from Zeva. Plus the build quality of the components is very sturdy. 

I chose Zeva because of the specifications, price but mostly because of the local support. So far this has been the best vendor support I have experienced from any EV related vendor.

I am really excited in anticipation of the first tests. I will try to remember to post some of the results. I am hopeful to have it all running in a week. My next event is November 6th.


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## Yabert (Feb 7, 2010)

From 500A to 1000A on your motor... you will be agreeably surprised 
The difference is huge!


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## galderdi (Nov 17, 2015)

Yes I am confident the difference will be great. 

However I am not sure I will ever use the full 1000amps. I plan to start at 500amps and slowly increase which checking the heat. I am running an ADC FB1 - 4001 but it only has the standard brushes so I am a little concerned about melting the conductors. But like I mentioned I really don't expect to ever need the full 1000 amps. I suspect I will get plenty from 7-800. That is still 40-60% increase. Don't forget my car is only 1170lbs and I only need to get it up to around 65mph. But I do need to get it to that speed quickly.


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## mfox (Feb 3, 2013)

Hallo , I also purchased ZEVA 1000 , not directly from zeva, I bought it from my friend. This will be for my next project  , I hope it has realy this specifications


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## galderdi (Nov 17, 2015)

galderdi said:


> Hi everyone,
> 
> I have recently purchased the Zeva 1000amp controller for my EV as a replacement for the Curtis 500amp controller. I am only part way through the conversion. But I feel the need to acknowledge the excellent service and advice I have received from Zeva. Plus the build quality of the components is very sturdy.
> 
> ...


OK, so I mostly have the system installed and configured. But my original plan may have been a tad optomistic. I am getting stuck on a Precharger error. I have repeatedly checked all the wiring but so far I have been unable to find the issue. It is possible it is due to the shunt which is a legacy from my old system. So I will try to remove that and see how it goes. Support from Zeva has been excellent, but as you can expect it is always dificult to diagnose an issue like this via Emails.


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## galderdi (Nov 17, 2015)

I had my first event (motorkhana) running the new Zeva controller. Overall I am very happy with the results. I have a few tweaks to make before the next one. I can't wait for the next Khanacross, which is more open and faster than motorkhana. It was a rather hot day so I am now considering improvements to the cooling to protect the setup



I haven't seen the results yet but I am fairly sure I have beated quite a few porsches and clubmans. Here are my vides from the weekend. 



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIR_4pr ... AzZXr7FxPj


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## mfox (Feb 3, 2013)

Link doesn't work...


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## akseminole (Jan 5, 2014)

I agree, the link didn't work for me either.
I'm pretty sure that I found your YouTube profile and the most recent video there was a month or more.


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## galderdi (Nov 17, 2015)

Hmmm not sure what happened there. Try this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WIR_4pr5R34&list=PLXj0EAVNBcLocefhsa02kcBAzZXr7FxPj

It sounds like the one you found was my old account (galderdi). I now post all the electric car videos in my new account (Full Charge Motorsport)


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## 9852 (Jan 17, 2010)

Galderdi, how did your zeva controller work out?


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