EVTV Open House Itinerary

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rickard

What a bizarre world we live in.  Since biting down on the bad news and taking the hit – announcing the cancellation of EVCCON 2015, I’m both bemused and confused in that it doesn’t appear to want to BE cancelled.  It’s apparently showing no signs of cancellation.  As I thought I was the sole arbeiter as to EVCCON existence or cancellation, I’m a bit surprised by this.  But I guess I shouldn’t be.

We have kind of left the door open by announcing we would host an “open house” here at the shop for those who had already made travel arrangements that couldn’t really be changed.  For a few, we were actually but a stop on a world tour, for example.

I’ve had precisely TWO EVCCON registrants demand a refund – a father/son team who have never before attended and are mostly interested in batteries for the RV industry.

But we’ve been overwhelmed with a frightening number of people instructing us to keep the money and they’ll be coming ANYWAY.

So let the games begin I guess.  I have almost no staff, and most of the preparations made don’t make much sense anymore.  Ray’s of Kelso will still be catering lunch.  Bella Italia will still do an opening reception.  And I’ve been playing with the set/showroom this week.  We still don’t have my desk there quite cleared up, but I have a day or two.

When we announced the FIRST EVCCON I really had pictured it being here at the shop.  The response was kind of overwhelming and we chickened out – moving it to the hangar at the airport (I own it and it was much larger).  In years after, we found even larger easy to do venues were not THAT expensive and so we’ve had it at the ShowMe Center and the AC Brase Arena and it was comfortable, but scattered. Sessions over here and EV acceleration and maneuverability demonstrations at the airport and of course shop time at the shop.  We were driving all over town trying to do this thing.

But I had originally installed a THEN top of the line Epson video overhead projector in the showroom for the first one.  It’s just never been used.  We got it working this week. I even got a little speaker system that we had in the shop that can pair bluetooth for audio hooked up.  And so now we can do a  wall sized projection of a MacPro laptop screen, audio, and all.  In quite high HD resolution as it turns out.  It’s really pretty good.

So we will have sessions in one room, test benches and cars and shop in the next, catered lunch, all in one spot.  As long as we have about 50 people, this should work great.

EVERY year I’ve scheduled a barbecue for Thursday evening at my house overlooking the river.  EVERY single year it has rained.  THIS year, it is currently listed as ZERO PERCENT CHANCE of precipitation.  It’s just gonna happen.

I actually upped the game on trophies this year with a solid crystal grand EVCCON 2015 winner and nice elegant acrylic trophies for the other awards.  They’re paid for an here, so I’m kind of planning a Saturday morning car show at my house and the adjoining river overlook park.   I think there are still at least 10 or 15 people bringing cars that I know of.  It will be a much prettier, cozier and more scenic place to show off an array of electric vehicles.

Since our first EVCCON, we have also had a very nice Isle of Capri Casino open in Cape Girardeau.  I thought Friday evening we could just all go to the excellent buffet they have there, and then go upstairs to a patio that overlooks the river for after-dinner drinks and of course fine turkish tobacco which preclude the use of premiums or coupons.

As to sessions, we had arranged for Craig Smith, author of Car Hacker’s Handbook 2014 and the principle at Theilabs to come in and speak on Automotive CAN hacking techniques.  He literally stole the show at DEFCON this past August.

And for the rest, we’re still working on it, but basically Collin and I and perhaps Ed Clausen will be doing a LOT on OEM components, the CAN tools we’ve developed in the past year including EVTVDue CAN Microcontroller, the CANDue shield, the Generalized Vehicle Reverser Engineering Tool (GVRET) and Collin’s SavvyCAN application which has made so much of what we have been doing possible.  John Hardy will do some battery test results presentation and discussion.   But it will be a very CAN heavy week.

I intend live demonstrations of the Chevy Volt charger, Chevy Volt Accessory Power Module, the Delphi DC-DC converter, and the Tesla Drive Unit.

So if we have a theme, it will be  the migration to OEM electric vehicle components, and how to deal with CAN to implement them, and how to deal with CAN somewhat more in depth to reverse engineer things so others can further the reverse engineering work themselves.

Those who have registered for EVCCON have overwhelmingly noted we should NOT refund the registration and they will be there.  So, if you come to the open house, we will NOT refund the registration.  If you stay home, we will.  That sounds like I’m paying you to stay home.  But in practice, not.  But I would note that those of you who DO wish to come, may of course bring anyone along you like at no additional cost.  We’ll have food for about 50, when it runs out it runs out.  But if you weren’t bringing your nephew due to the cost, throw him in back and bring him on.  As it turns out, a significant part of our viewership have never attended EVCCON because they just didn’t GET how we could charge $549 for  an electric car event when everybody else had them for free.  And so they are suddenly interested if they don’t have to pay the $549.  If THAT is waived, suddenly renewed interest.

I find that discouraging, and have generally encouraged them to stay home in past years and pray over those ducats even harder, hoping somehow they will learn to breed.

Those who have attended an EVVCON of course laugh at this.  They’ve been to both and kind of vote each year for their druthers.  In past years, we’ve literally dumped wine and prime rib over their heads, rented dynometer teams, had the SCCA come in to do autocross, and so forth. And of course they’ve learned to game the system by registering early or signing up as a co-hostage bringing a car or developing a great presentation to present as speaker.  But the value proposition has always kind of been there for all.

If history repeats, Mark Wiesheimer will be opening the shop each morning about 8:00.  We’ll put on a pot of coffee, and sessions start about 9:00.  You can play with cars in the shop or attend the sessions as you please.  The concept is a more relaxed more hands-on EVCCON.  The Green VW Thing needs to be finished.  The Karmann Ghia and the Mini Cooper are inoperable.  There’s a brand new Smart electric factory model WITH a brand new battery we’ve never managed to actually start.  My wife actually had an engine fire in her classic 1963 MGB if you want to start one from scratch.  I think Byron is bringing his eTransit Connect with intent to heat.  So there should be plenty going on in the shop.

I’m hoping Mark Wiesheimer and Collin can get the Ebenspacher heater working with the new CANDue shield with LIN.

And ideally, we’ll cap it off with a beautiful sunny Saturday morning car show, award the trophies, and for the racing inclined, the NEDRA sanctioned electric vehicle event at Dyno Dom’s raceway in Sikeston has been moved to Saturday evening starting at 4:00PM to show up/warm up and I think 6:00PM for the main event.  As this is a much larger crowd than their Sunday turnouts we’ve always gone to, I think this might make the NEDRA event a pretty serious show.  More center stage if you will.

So it is going to be a very different event than what we’ve had.  As to whether it serves better or worse remains to be seen.  But I’ve always found that things happen for a reason.  And when they do,  the most positive reaction is to go with the flow and be open to change.  That’s what we’re going to do.  The results will be very very interesting…

If you have agreed to speak and make a presentation, contact me immediately.  The old brain cells aren’t all firing these days.  And I still have a couple of slots left if you have any ideas.

We can use this blog entry for the itinerary and I’ll simply edit it as we add sessions or revise the schedule…

So ok, oldguys, cinch up your Depends.  We’re going in……

 

 

EVTV OPEN HOUSE ITINERARY

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2015
1000 – 1700 Open house at EVtv Motor Werks – 601 Morgan Oak Street. Attendees will be arriving throughout the day.
Once you check into your local hotel or accommodations, come down to the shop at 601 Morgan Oak Street for an informal tour of the shop.
1700 – 2100 Welcoming Reception at EVTtv Motor Werks shop – 601 Morgan Oak Street. Appetizers and drinks at this opening mixer at the shop. Pickup registration packets and credentials. Meet the other attendees in an informal setting. Catered by Bella Italia.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

0800 – 0900 Shop open 8:00 – coffee pot is ON.
0900 – 0950 Opening Session – Welcome Remarks by Jack Rickard
0950 – 1000 Coffee Break
1000 – 1150 Steve West and Nick Smith – Future of Charging Infrastructure.
1200 – 1300 Lunch – Catered by Ray’s Restaurant
1300 – 1350 Jack Rickard – Adapting OEM EV Components to Custom Electric Vehicles
1350 – 1400 Break
1400 – 1450 Jack Rickard – an Introduction to CAN networks.
1450 – 1500 Break
1500 – 1550 An Introduction to Arduino Due and CAN.
1550 – 1600 Break

1600-1700 Tom Brunka of Helwig Brushes – Brushes for  AC Motors
1700 – ??? Shop Time at EVtv Motor Werks – Dinner on your own.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2015
0800 – 0900 Shop open 8:00 – coffee pot is ON.
0900 – 0950 John Hardy – Lithium Iron Phosphate Battery Testing Report
0950 – 1000 Coffee Break
1000 – 1150 Collin Kidder – CAN Analysis with SavvyCAN and GVRET .
1200 – 1300 Lunch – Catered by Ray’s Restaurant
1300 – 1350 Craig Smith, Car Hacker’s Handbook 2014. – Politics and Legal Environment of Automotive Security
1350 – 1400 Break
1400 – 1450 Craig Smith TheiaLabs – CAN Reverse Engineering Techniques
1450 – 1500 Break
1500 – 1550 Demonstration of Tesla Model S Drive Unit
1550 – 1600 Break
1600 – 1700 Demonstration of Chevy Volt Charger, Chevy Volt DC-DC Converter, Delphi DC-DC Converter.
1730 – 1930 Barbecue Dinner at Jack’s House overlooking river.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2, 2015
0800 – 0900 Shop open 8:00 – coffee pot is ON.
0900 – 0950 Arduino CAN_DUE Library – Advanced Techniques Collin Kidder
0950 – 1000 Coffee Break
1000 – 1150 CHAdeMO Fast Charging Standard – Collin Kidder and Jack Rickard
1200 – 1300 Lunch – Catered by Ray’s Restaurant
1300 – 1350 Byron Izbenhaard. Azure Dynamics eTransit Connect/heaters/AC/CAN.
1350 – 1400 Break
1400 – 1450 Session
1450 – 1500 Break
1500 – 1550 Session
1550 – 1600 Break
1600 – 1700 .Session
1730 – 1930 Shop time. Dinner on your own. Casino Buffet Visit?

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015
0800 – 0900 Shop open 8:00 – coffee pot is ON.
1000 – 1400 Electric Car Show at Jacks House and the River Overlook Park – Lunch Provided
1400 Presentation of Car Show Awards
1600 NEDRA Sanctioned Electric Drag Race at Dyno Doms in Sikeston

45 thoughts on “EVTV Open House Itinerary”

      2. Bob Orr

        Thanks Jack for a wonderful Open House. It was a wonderful chance to meet a great group of attendees and presenters. You and your homes warm hospitality made the week a delight. I had to leave two days early because of a family emergency but all is well here now.
        Again many thanks for an outstanding week !

  3. jlghardy

    More than lithium iron phosphate. I have results to share on four chemistries, a new charging algorithm we are experimenting with and some educational cell failures. Plus a few slides on the Civic conversion

  4. caolivieri

    I never felt slighted by the cost of attendance, The food/coffee/snacks/beer easily covers it. Also Ray’s “50” count is probably enough food for 75+ 😉 New schedule really worked out for me since I have to fly out Saturday afternoon anyway, will only miss the Drags!

  7. jlghardy

    Safe home in UK after EVCCON – many thanks Jack, and one-and-all for making it a great time. Now all I have to do is shed the 5lb which has appeared around my waistline from all the luverly grub.

    1. Peter Dambier

      Thanks for that link, Bob.

      Karin and me coming home from CHAdeMOing twice last Saturday.
      i-MiEV taking some 16 kW out of 17 possible kW. Took almost 20 minutes.

      So charging fast and unplugging before that gargoil inside the battery
      wakes up rising voltage and temperature makes sense after all.

      Cheers
      Peter and Karin

      1. Bob Orr

        Yes, superficially it would appear from this brief that level 2 or level 3 charging at higher ambient temperatures is MUCH better for your battery life than level 1 charging.

    1. Fred Behning

      After single handedly pulling off a very successful Open House, I suspect Jack’s taking some time to catch his breath and gather his thoughts. I had a great time and posted some of my impressions at:

      http://porscheev.blogspot.com/2015/10/the-evccon-that-wasnt-or-was-it.html

      You might want to check Michael Brown’s blog. He does a great job of capturing what went on:

      Day -1: http://porsche914e.blogspot.com/2015/09/evccon-2015-day-1.html
      Day 0: http://porsche914e.blogspot.com/2015/09/evccon-2015-day-0.html
      Day 1: http://porsche914e.blogspot.com/2015/09/evccon-2015-day-1_30.html
      Day 2: http://porsche914e.blogspot.com/2015/10/evccon-2015-day-2.html
      Day 3: http://porsche914e.blogspot.com/2015/10/evccon-2015-day-3.html
      Day 4: http://porsche914e.blogspot.com/2015/10/evccon-2015-day-4.html

      There are also some reports and photos on the EVCCON Facebook page:

      https://www.facebook.com/evccon?ref=aymt_homepage_panel,

    2. jlghardy

      Open house was great. I think it pretty much floored Jack looking after us all so I expect he is taking a well-earned break. After 10 days away I’ve been pretty busy with nonEV stuff so expect the same may be true for other attendees.

  12. cz-ev

    I believe we kept Jack busy during the week we invaded the Cape and have just now getting back into working on the Fiero myself but am getting a little itchy for an EVTV fix. I have seen Jack out in the garage working a few times and thought I saw the video equipment out a couple times also. I guess we were just spoiled over the last five years with the fairly regular weekly shows!

  14. Hans Conser

    I miss my…. I miss my…

    EVTV

    Sung to the tune of “Money For Nothing”:

    Now look at them yo-yo’s that’s the way you do it
    You fiddle around on EVTV
    That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
    Money for nothin’ and cars for free
    Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
    Lemme tell ya them guys ain’t dumb
    Maybe get a burn on your little finger
    Maybe get a burn on your thumb

    We gotta install microwave ovens
    Custom kitchen deliveries
    We gotta move these refrigerators
    We gotta move these colour TV’s

    See the little fat guy with the modem and the GEVCU
    Yeah buddy that’s his own heli
    That little fat guy got his own jet airplane
    That little fat guy he’s a millionaire

    We gotta install microwave ovens
    Custom kitchens deliveries
    We gotta move these refrigerators
    We gotta move these colour TV’s

    I shoulda learned to write about the computer
    I shoulda learned to play them ‘Duinos
    Look at that VW, she got it AC in the rear
    Man we could have some fun
    And he’s up there, what’s that? Brian noises?
    Bangin’ on the Ferrari’s like a chimpanzee
    That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
    Get your money for nothin’ get your cars for free

    We gotta install microwave ovens
    Custom kitchen deliveries
    We gotta move these refrigerators
    We gotta move these colour TV’s, Lord

    Now that ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
    You play the camera on EVTV
    That ain’t workin’ that’s the way you do it
    Money for nothin’ and your cars for free
    Money for nothin’ and cars for free

  17. eesny

    miss my evtv.

    So these 2 hour shows must be brutal to put together. Me and my friends would love a “weekend update” lite version, a Just Jack observations about current events.

    Also, how about a hack (or chip) for speeding up my Smart? Can such a thing be done?

    1. Jack Rickard

      Mark Twain was famously quoted to say “My dearest, I fear I must apologize for the length of this letter. I had not the time to write one shorter.”

      Or something to that effect. Our videos are two hours long because it would be brutal to edit them down to an hour and a half. Or better an hour.

      In any event, as it happens we do have one – well over two hours – up this evening.

      I hope you find it worthwhile.

      Jack

        1. Peter Dambier

          I like that moment of silence for Volkwagen.

          Today everybody keeps telling they want to build a Tesla. I wonder why they dont do.

          Rover is smelling the smoke. They are experimenting with an electric Defender.

          Is not Jehu building an electric Defender as well or is it a Range Rover?

          Jack, keep doing a video whenever you feel like doing. It is worth The Time waiting for it.

          Cheers
          Peter and Karin

          1. Andyj

            Hi Peter.
            Early this summer I was at a motorway service station taking a recharge when an Indian guy with a brummie accent came to chat to me. He works in Landrover. Said it was hush hush. I got the impression the car they are working on, (that he knows of) is going to be fairly lightweight.
            I guess now the Model X is here and the Mitsubishi PHEV, good move. Until they know the market.

      2. Aaron Lephart

        Excellent show Jack! The best in months! I heard all the news items before, but I look for how you convey them to judge wither its worth researching. You have a good track record on knowing whats gong to matter, and what doesn’t.

  18. cz-ev

    Thanks for another video Jack. We have been spoiled over the years with the weekly show and I agree, EVCCON this year was a much more focused event. Not sure I am gong to be able to get up to speed on programming in c++ and CAN but do know where I can purchase the hardware and software when the need arises. Glad to see you weren’t “REALLY TIRED” and “GOING HOME NOW;” Don’t know what we would have done! Looking forward to another year of EVTV and EVCCON VI.

    1. Peter Dambier

      John,

      it is not about this one, is it?

      http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/1999/01/gold-finds-our-deep-hot-biosphere-teeming-life-and-controversy

      Just a funny idea of my own, DNA wont work with high pressure and high temperatures but prions as in mad cows would.
      DNA looks like punched tape. Prions look like punched cards.

      The theory says we have far more oil on this planet and on most of the others as well, than we have oxygen to burn it.

      The trouble is our blood. It works like a magnet that can be switched on and off. Oxygen, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide are more or less magnets. Carbon monoxide more. That is why it blocks oxygen. That is why it is a poison. Even carbon dioxide can block oxygen. That is why very few molecules can make us feel bad. We are already quite close to the limit that our lungs do tolerate.

    2. Andyj

      Tell you what John, a few years ago I poo poo’d the very idea that oil could be simply a liquid rock formed under high heat and pressures.. Looking back at Fred Hoyles hypotheses about comets -> “tarry substances” -> precursors to life. then add on “dark matter” & “dark energy” to the expanding Earth/moons theory which explains other planets/moons surface expansion without any discernible subduction .. Add on the first experiments which resulted in producing RNA from base gases and electricity. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller-Urey_experiment)… As I child I saw the colours of Jupiter, thought about this experiment and wondered…..
      I’ll support Jack on this.

      Now back to my “Baker Electric” styled quad…Loved by all from Goths to Grandparents.

      1. mjrickard

        The dinosaur concept has always left me gasping for air. How did dem dere dinysoars get all the way down that hole? The theory derives from the discovery of numerous fossils in coal layers. But the whole thing doesn’t hold water.

        Now picture a continous rain of quadtrillions of hydrocarbon bearing bacteria falling to the ocean floor, along with the odd trilobyte,ichycanthe, and wooly mammoth.

        The energy of the sun is converted by plants to hydrocarbons (carbohydrates – no diff) using water. Why would the oceans simply avoid this activity? A little tectonic plate drift/conveyor belt action and batta boom batta bing – oil at 20,000 feet below. LOTS of it.

        So as I’ve said, we are NEVER going to “run out” of oil. But the low hanging fruit gets scarcer, and the price to dig it out keeps going up. There is no limit to oil. But also no limit to the price of it.

        King Faisal inaugurated the opening of one of the world’s largest solar power installations in Saudi Arabia noting: “We did not leave the stone age because of a lack of stones. And we will not move on from the age of oil from a lack of oil….”

        Jack Rickard

        1. Jack Rickard

          And before you jump, yes he did too. But yes, the quote ORIGINALLY derived from Sheikh Zaki Yamani, a Saudi Arabian who served as his country’s oil minister three decades ago. And it was originally “THE Stone Age did not end for lack of stone, and the Oil Age will end long before the world runs out of oil.”

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