# The Zilla



## ronin4sale (Jan 29, 2008)

Zilla still has the long lead time and is still the preferred choice. I'd contact them directly for technical questions though.


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## AmpEater (Mar 10, 2008)

You are correct, I believe the HV zilla has a feature to allow you to adjust the max motor voltage in software. The volts/amps to the motor is a function of the volts/amps to the controller. If you're 340v lithium pack is putting out, say, 200A, then your motor amperage at 144v would be:

(144 Volts) * ( X Amps) = (340 Volts) * (200 Amps)

X = 472.2222 Amps




David;31230[FONT=Arial said:


> ]From my understanding, the Zilla can "down convert" volts in to amps, what I mean is that I can run a 340 V pack on a motor that is rated to 144V and the Zilla will juggle things so that the motor only sees 144V Max. Is this correct? I'm hoping I can run a higher voltage pack and that way draw less current from the batteries and have the Zilla turn this excess voltage in to current.
> 
> Am I way off?
> 
> [/FONT]


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## mattW (Sep 14, 2007)

I don't think that would be a bit advantage since at higher voltage you would have lower Ah batteries for the same sized pack, so the proportion of Ah to Amps would be the same. Less batteries at higher Ah may mean a cheaper charger but higher voltage means smaller cables. I'd probably just stay at 144V since it would be a bit safer to work with and there wouldn't be a big advantage to the higher voltage.


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## Mastiff (Jan 11, 2008)

It would actually to my understanding be more efficient to keep your battery pack at 144 volts.

You'll loose energy in efficiency(5-15%) when your converting from 312 volts down to 144 volts, thus nullifying the advantage of a higher voltage pack.

Always remember, electrical conversion is not 100% efficient and never will be.

Also, Cafe Electric now has a 2000AMP controller, the Zilla Z2K-HV, this would be the most powerful version.

This version though costs $4675...

Also the Zilla controllers are able to reach 300+ volts, so you could in theory buy a motor that is designed for this higher voltage.


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## David (Mar 22, 2008)

Thanks guys! My main reason for this was to be kind to the batteries and avoid having to have a parallel them up. This way I can have a single string of Lithiums around the car and not have to worry about pack to pack balancing.

I was going to use a warp 9" as that's seems to be the norm, I haven't yet come across and DC motors that are over 170V however I haven't looked either, so I will go and research that.

Again, thanks for the help!


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