Welcome! We are a group of dedicated electric vehicle enthusiasts whose goal is to create an affordable, high performance electric kit car that anyone of modest skill can assemble. The Sunrise EV2 is a four-passenger pure electric sports sedan, designed to meet all the safety, performance, and comfort requirements of a modern state-of-the-art automobile.
- Build a working prototype, that interested parties can see and drive. Test the design and verify performance.
- Publish plans, sufficient to build the entire car from scratch, just as we are doing now.
- Provide key components produced from our molds and tooling, such as the fiberglass body and welded chassis parts, to simplify construction.
- Produce parts kits and subassemblies. For example, all the major parts needed to build the wiring harness, body hardware, rear subframe, etc.
- Offer a complete car kit. Combined with generic parts purchased new and those from a donor vehicle, anyone who can handle a screwdriver and wrench could put it together.
- Someday, perhaps a fully assembled production automobile. I doubt we will get to this point for years, due to the costly regulatory requirements.
Our goal is to make the Sunrise EV2 as modular and open source as possible; like a PC clone, where many different parts can be used, from many different vendors. We'll provide the basic "box". Builders can then use any motor, controller, batteries, charger, interior, and instrumentation they like. Depending on your budget and performance requirements, your Sunrise can be AC or DC, lead-acid or lithium batteries, etc.
We look forward to having a community of Sunrise EV2 builders, where members can exchange ideas, buy/sell/trade parts, and assist others in building their cars. Check this website out occasionally to see how we're doing.
SCR Motor Controllers -- The mighty GE EV-1
An interesting new power semiconductor came along in the 1970's -- the SCR (Silicon Controlled Rectifier). An SCR is a true on/off switch, with no linear region like transistors. When off, it's an open circuit; it does not conduct current for either polarity voltage. When on, it acts like a normal diode; it passes current in one direction, and blocks current in the other direction. SCRs are relatively inexpensive, and available in stupendous sizes that can switch thousands of amps and thousands of volts. The on-state voltage is low (about 1.5 volts) so they are efficient and produce little heat. They switch in a couple microseconds; much faster than power transistors at the time.
SCRs are easy to turn on; all it takes is a microsecond pulse on the gate of about 1 volt at 100ma. But there's a problem: Once on, it stays on! The gate can no longer turn it off. It will remain on until a) the voltage across it reverses, or b) the current through it falls to zero. That's no problem in an AC circuit -- it will turn off at the next zero-crossing of the AC line. SCRs are therefore widely used in AC powered light dimmers, battery chargers, and motor speed controls.
On DC, you need a special commutation circuit to turn the SCR off. One of the most popular of these is the Jones Chopper; a PWM motor controller built with SCRs. This circuit was used in many products, including the famous General Electric EV-1 series of electric vehicle motor controller. Many thousands of EV-1's were built, ranging from the little EV-1A for golf cart size vehicles up to the mighty EV-1D that could handle up to 144v and 1000 amps. EV-1 controllers are built like battleships, and very reliable. They were sold from the mid 1970's well into the 1990's, and it's not uncommon to find them still working today (and available on eBay). The photo shows my GE EV-1B, which is set up for 24-84v and 350 amps.
