Bricklin EV-1 Owner's Manual
compression to keep the vehicle from rolling away. The DC electric motor does not provide any such
compression and ergo, the Bricklin EV-1 will, in all likelihood, roll down the hill if the parking brake is
not applied and/or the transmission is not placed into a locked position (Park). Never leave the
vehicle unattended without the handbrake applied. This brake locks the rear wheel brakes and is
capable of holding the vehicle position.
Similarly, always RELEASE the hand brake before beginning a drive. The Bricklin EV-1 features a cell
pack of 48, 3.6v Lithium Ion Iron Phosphate (LiFePo4) cells connected in series to produce a
nominal pack voltage of ~172 Volts DC. These cells have a capacity of 160 Ah, or 27,520 watt-hours.
In normal driving, energy is consumed at a rate of about 1.8Ah per mile, or 288 watt-hours per mile
providing you with a maximum theoretical range of approximately ~95 miles.
Emergency Disconnect
The Bricklin EV-1 electric vehicle is engineered to be safe in all instances.
But it does consist of electronic control devices, and if they fail, predicting
the failure mode is difficult.
In the unlikely event you encounter a situation where the vehicle is
accelerating without your command, there are several options to recover:
1. Remove your foot from the throttle and ensure no carpeting or
mats are interfering with throttle operation.
2. Turn off the ignition key. Unlike a gasoline engine, there is no
damage to the engine here and there is no analog to the
“dieseling” concept in an ICE vehicle where it runs out of control
even without ignition voltage. You are effectively removing all “fuel”
from the motor – a heavy duty contactor relay will open, removing
pack voltage from the controller.
3. In the incredible event that steps one and two both fail to disable the main battery pack, a
heavy duty manual emergency disconnect switch (the BIG red button) is provided on the rear
end of the center console against the carpeted area. Push this button in to completely disable
the battery pack. ONLY use this switch in an emergency or when storing the vehicle for long
periods of time as it completely disconnects the battery pack and resets all your
instrumentation.
4. In the further unlikely event none of those steps work, you can always put the transmission into
neutral. The motor may self destruct if the load is immediately removed at high rpm but it is a
last resort tactic that could save a life.
Charging
Most new electric vehicle owners are somewhat focused on two questions:
How far can I go on a single charge?
How long does it take to recharge the car?
These questions are of course valid, and somewhat interrelated.
DRAFT Page 20 of 31 DRAFT
Illustration 13: Emergency
Disconnect Switch (the BIG
red button)
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