Glass Roadster Top - New Group buy (May 2013)

[TOBASH]

I think you ment to say 60amp, don't believe they make an 80 amp charger.

Yes, that box they send the top in is pretty heavy duty!

NOPE, I was correct at 80 AMP at 220 Volts!

After sleuthing the Internet I found the telephone number of Val, one of the guys in charge there at EMW (E Motor Werks).

I spoke with him about options I wanted, and then I said "gee, I wish you had an 80 AMP version", to which he replied "our premium unit is rated to 80 AMPS, and it is just a simple firmware update to set it for 80 AMPS". He told me it would even charge a Tesla S with parallel duel charge technology.

SO...now the unit is being assembled and sent to me. I will set it up with a dedicated 100AMP line at home to prevent overheating.

Of course I will only be able to use 70 amps of the potential for now, but who knows what will happen after Elon unveils the battery upgrades OR I buy a Tesla SD.

Best,

T

 

[Chris Lockfort]

I think you ment to say 60amp, don't believe they make an 80 amp charger.

It's off-topic for this thread, but the relay inside of it is in fact 80A rated, though the relay losses in their water-tight enclosure would probably eventually overheat some of the surrounding wire insulation and other components. That said, finding an 80A rated J1772 plug is actually impossible; I have my juicebox running at 70A, with properly rated cabling, active cooling, temperature sensing, and some extra software I wrote.

- - - Updated - - -

NOPE, I was correct at 80 AMP at 220 Volts!

After sleuthing the Internet I found the telephone number of Val, one of the guys in charge there at EMW (E Motor Werks).

I spoke with him about options I wanted, and then I said "gee, I wish you had an 80 AMP version", to which he replied "our premium unit is rated to 80 AMPS, and it is just a simple firmware update to set it for 80 AMPS". He told me it would even charge a Tesla S with parallel duel charge technology.

SO...now the unit is being assembled and sent to me. I will set it up with a dedicated 100AMP line at home to prevent overheating.

Of course I will only be able to use 70 amps of the potential for now, but who knows what will happen after Elon unveils the battery upgrades OR I buy a Tesla SD.

Best,

T

Poke me if this doesn't work for you; when I rewrote the firmware to work with my Roadster 1.5, I had to deal with an extra odd case that Val's code didn't deal with when the roadster requested "Active Cooling Mode" when I pushed it to 70A. Val only has some leafs and a custom BMW to test with, and the occasional Model S, so he probably wouldn't have hit this case.

 

[wiztecy]

Thanks guys, good to know about the relay handling 80AMPS. As long as the cable is spec'd correctly (heavier to handle 80AMPS) and the connector to the car can handle it, it sounds like a great way to go. I know the 70AMP cable on my High Powered Wall charger for the Tesla is significantly larger compared to my 50AMP UMC mobile charger.

 

[TOBASH]

It's off-topic for this thread, but the relay inside of it is in fact 80A rated, though the relay losses in their water-tight enclosure would probably eventually overheat some of the surrounding wire insulation and other components. That said, finding an 80A rated J1772 plug is actually impossible; I have my juicebox running at 70A, with properly rated cabling, active cooling, temperature sensing, and some extra software I wrote.

Poke me if this doesn't work for you; when I rewrote the firmware to work with my Roadster 1.5, I had to deal with an extra odd case that Val's code didn't deal with when the roadster requested "Active Cooling Mode" when I pushed it to 70A. Val only has some leafs and a custom BMW to test with, and the occasional Model S, so he probably wouldn't have hit this case.

I will ABSOLUTELY PM you . I'm glad I posted this.

MODS, if this is off topic I apologize... Feel free to turn this into a new performance thread, as I feel this will become a pretty interesting topic of conversation as time goes on and more and more power is needed for electric cars.

...AND YES... I have them sending me a J1772 heavy amperage cable.

 

[hcsharp]

... when I rewrote the firmware to work with my Roadster 1.5, I had to deal with an extra odd case that Val's code didn't deal with when the roadster requested "Active Cooling Mode" when I pushed it to 70A. Val only has some leafs and a custom BMW to test with, and the occasional Model S, so he probably wouldn't have hit this case.

That case does not exist. The Roadster does not request "active cooling mode" from any EVSE. Where did you get this information? Also, if you're using high-quality efficient components, your EVSE won't ever get very warm.

 

[nrp]

I just installed the premium top. The instructions are amusingly poorly written, but the installation is pretty straightforward.

 

[djp]

I'm not sure why you would think they had none of the premium hardtops in stock. I had almost no wait. I just received mine in a bullet-proof, explosion-proof, super-overly reinforced wooden box. I'll be hiring the team from "The Italian Job" to open it tonight.

I ordered it Tuesday and it arrived yesterday in NYC.

Ha - you must have taken their only premium hardtop! I ordered mine on Tuesday afternoon and by then the premium was out of stock.

@nrp - looks great! Welcome to the club.

 

[TOBASH]

Ha - you must have taken their only premium hardtop! I ordered mine on Tuesday afternoon and by then the premium was out of stock.

@nrp - looks great! Welcome to the club.

I'm a community minded guy and a team player. That being said........

I wish I could say I feel sorry.

But hey, for what it's worth......... Sorry

 

[djp]

I'm a community minded guy and a team player. That being said........

I wish I could say I feel sorry.

But hey, for what it's worth......... Sorry

No worries, you saved me $700!

 

[Chris Lockfort]

That case does not exist. The Roadster does not request "active cooling mode" from any EVSE. Where did you get this information? Also, if you're using high-quality efficient components, your EVSE won't ever get very warm.

Watched the serial console and discovered it was getting stuck in STATE_D, 'Ventilation Required'. ( JuiceBox_EVSE_firmware/EMW_EVSE_firmware.ino at master · valerun/JuiceBox_EVSE_firmware · GitHub )
Which /is/ part of the J1772 spec, and is the state that I discovered my car was asking for. As to why my roadster did this, I don't know, but I do have to open my garage door or the car boils itself alive with waste heat from 70A charging, so ventilation required is pretty much true.

I'd totally believe you know best though, with all of your roadster charger engineering / testing expertise (which I appreciate!).
Just reporting what I saw, it could very well be some odd error of my setup.

 

[TOBASH]

The rare aerial view.

I drove her hard and put her to bed wet.

Best,

T

P.S. - An improvement on their instructions would be:

Remove the 2 rear plastic caps to reveal the rear metal clamps that are each held in place with 2 bolts.

Loosen all bolts front and back.

Gently set the top in place and ensure it is centered. Be mindful that the rear clips need to be fitted before top will sit flat.

Force the whole top forward to seat top properly on the gaskets.

While a friend applies downward force and forward force on the front of the top, tighten the 2 front bolts while also pulling the bolts down at the same time.

Then while your friend pushes down on the front and rear of the top, you can push forward on the inner forward lip of the top. At the same time tighten all the bolts in the rear.

Re-install the two rear cover caps.

Retighten the bolts every 1000 miles as they will loosen with time as gaskets flatten.

 

[hcsharp]

Watched the serial console and discovered it was getting stuck in STATE_D, 'Ventilation Required'. ( JuiceBox_EVSE_firmware/EMW_EVSE_firmware.ino at master · valerun/JuiceBox_EVSE_firmware · GitHub )
Which /is/ part of the J1772 spec, and is the state that I discovered my car was asking for. As to why my roadster did this, I don't know, but I do have to open my garage door or the car boils itself alive with waste heat from 70A charging, so ventilation required is pretty much true.

I'd totally believe you know best though, with all of your roadster charger engineering / testing expertise (which I appreciate!).
Just reporting what I saw, it could very well be some odd error of my setup.

I think there's a problem with your hardware or code (or JuiceBox firmware) that it gets a reading that low (state D). The Roadster never pulls the voltage that low on the pilot. There's a few things that could be causing the false reading. Without looking at the JuiceBox code or circuit, it might be that the 70A duty cycle extends into a time period when the code and hardware are expecting the negative side of the signal. For example, it might be trying to measure the A/D pin while the circuit driving that pin is being disconnected elsewhere because it's beyond the expected 60A duty cycle. That's just a guess.

When the car heats up your garage by removing heat from the PEM and ESS, it communicates to all the components internally primarily with the CAN bus. It never communicates any of its cooling needs to the EVSE. It's not uncommon for things to overheat, especially the PEM, and then the charging rate is automatically reduced. But this charge-rate reduction is never communicated back to the EVSE in any way. The car just draws a little less current until things cool down a bit.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

Hi guys.

Would lire to know if the glass roadster top fits in the trunk of the Roadster.

 

[ibcs]

Hi guys.

Would lire to know if the glass roadster top fits in the trunk of the Roadster.

It does not fit. When you leave with glass top it's on for the day.

 

[Raffy.Roma]

It does not fit. When you leave with glass top it's on for the day.

I spoke to Maurizio. Just in case I will manage to get a Roadster he will produce a 2 piece glass roadster top which can fit in the trunk. :wink:

 

[garry753]

If anyone is interested in a gently used glass top, I'm selling mine for $2200 plus shipping.

 

[hjr]

So wish I had seen this post in 2013..... anybody interested in trying again in 2016?

 

[TNRoadstr&ModelS]

So wish I had seen this post in 2013..... anybody interested in trying again in 2016?

Yes, I want to order the transparent top for my Roadster. Do they still offer a discount is 3 people order together?

 

[wiztecy]

As with any seller, more interests / larger proportional sales is of best Interest. If in the US, contact Mr. Fiat with your interest and numbers. In Europe, contact Visium.

I love this top and its my favorite of all my tops (Tesla Carbon Hard Top, Elise Fiberglass Hard Top, Lotus / Tesla SoftTop, Taylor MeshTop). Of course no top is ultimately the best and the clear top matches that quite close.