Evaluation of Electric Vehicles as an Alternative for Work Trip and ...

the pack; followed by 4-4.5 hours under a second phase at low amperage
to equalize voltage levels in individual batteries, resulting in uniform
cell voltages across all thirteen batteries.
A new objective was established in 1998 to test the ALAB
maufacturer’s new claim that if certain limitations were observed, the
battery would provide 400 cycles, or as much as 18,000 miles (45
miles/charge x 400 cycles) over the life of the ALAB pack. The
principal change involved limiting the demands on the new ALAB. With
input from the EV consultant and an article about ALAB technology
published in the Battery Digest Newsletter, we established a new
limitation guideline of 70 percent DOD based on the one-hour discharge
rate of the battery or approximately 72 Ah, instead of the advertised
three-hour discharge rate (85 Ah). [4]
As in 1997, the car battery was not recharged until more than 10
percent discharge had occurred. Additionally, the car would be driven
observing a limitation on the peak amperage draw from the ALAB of about
100 Amps. Travel on expressways was avoided in view of the peak load
limitation, although on the highways in the Connecticut river valley the
car would accelerate to 55 mph under the 100 Amp current draw, albeit at
a slower rate than would have occurred at a higher amperage. Under
these operational limitations, the car was being driven a lot like a
neighborhood electric vehicle.
At the 1998 ATdS, as in 1997, the Connecticut team observed the
conservative battery voltage cutoff of 1.8 V/cell (10.8 V/battery). The
ALAB-car team won various trophies and received special recognition from
several government officials and the press at the conclusion of the
event. Although it was not an objective of the study to “win” at the
ATdS, the ALAB car did run well, we obtained good data and did
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