Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[paul dove via EV]

Ok, you are correct my memory is faded I guess. It was called the Impact at the 
time Alan worked on the project and he was a freelance engineer with 
AreoVironment. He first worked on GM-Hughes Sunraycer for the first race across 
Australia by pruely solar powered cars.
 

On Monday, July 22, 2019, 6:40:03 AM CDT, paul dove via EV 
 wrote:  
 
 I don’t know what that means I assume that is a company’s name, however, what 
I said was correct. Alan designed the inverter and electronics for the EV1

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 22, 2019, at 2:41 AM, Paul Compton via EV  wrote:
> 
> AeroVironment Impact, not GM EV1.
> 
>> On Mon, 22 Jul 2019 at 04:04, paul dove via EV  wrote:
>> 
>> Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did 
>> it all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the 
>> production version.
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Alan Cocconi
>> 
>> ___
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>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Paul Compton
> www.morini-mania.co.uk
> www.paulcompton.co.uk (YouTube channel)
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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[EVDL Administrator via EV]

On 22 Jul 2019 at 15:09, Mark Abramowitz via EV wrote:

> a note I received from Abas Goodarzi:... The man who lead the
> AeroVironment team was Walley Ripple and Alek Brooks, however Allen
> Cocconi tends to get credit for a lot  

If Dr Goodarzi worked with these people, why doesn't he know how to spell 
their names?  Wally Rippel, Alec Brooks, and Alan Cocconi are well known 
pioneers in the US EV movement. 

He also misspells "led," and writes "the man [singular] who led the 
Aerovironment team was" and then proceeds to name two people.

It's probably just carelessness, but this guy's a published PhD, for 
goodness' sake.  Sheesh.

David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA
EVDL Administrator

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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[Mark Abramowitz via EV]

Your post partially agrees and partially disagrees with a note I received from 
Abas Goodarzi:

“I am the one that took the analog design using dual motor from AeroVironment 
and made the single motor with digital control.
AeroVironment hated my guts and Delco Remy and Delco Electronics technically 
reported to me.
The man who lead the AeroVironment team was Walley Ripple and Alek Brooks, 
however Allen Cocconi tends to get credit for  a lot, but Impact was brain 
child of Walley Ripple and I am proud to claim a lot on EV1, first mass 
production EV using IGBT and digital controller with integrated controller.”

- Mark

Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone

> On Jul 22, 2019, at 2:49 PM, Mark Abramowitz  wrote:
> 
> More specific info straight from the horse’s mouth:
> 
> “I was the design engineer for powertrain 12 hours a day, hard core 
> engineering, including doing the actual tests, since there was no spec 
> written yet. Even at USH I am hand's on with 
> project/system/control/components engineering. 
> My core competency is high power/torque density advanced motor design and 
> inverter design.”
> 
> - Mark
> 
> Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone
> 
>> On Jul 22, 2019, at 6:32 AM, Mark Abramowitz  wrote:
>> 
>> I believe that Abas Goodarzi was responsible for the development of the 
>> electric drivetrain for the EV1.
>> 
>> - Mark
>> 
>> Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone
>> 
>>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 4:50 PM, paul dove via EV  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did 
>>> it all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the 
>>> production version.
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>> 
 On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
 
 Alan Cocconi
>>> 
>>> ___
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>>> Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
>>> 
>> 
>> 
> 
> 

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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[Mark Abramowitz via EV]

More specific info straight from the horse’s mouth:

“I was the design engineer for powertrain 12 hours a day, hard core 
engineering, including doing the actual tests, since there was no spec written 
yet. Even at USH I am hand's on with project/system/control/components 
engineering. 
My core competency is high power/torque density advanced motor design and 
inverter design.”

- Mark

Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone

> On Jul 22, 2019, at 6:32 AM, Mark Abramowitz  wrote:
> 
> I believe that Abas Goodarzi was responsible for the development of the 
> electric drivetrain for the EV1.
> 
> - Mark
> 
> Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone
> 
>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 4:50 PM, paul dove via EV  wrote:
>> 
>> Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did 
>> it all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the 
>> production version.
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Alan Cocconi
>> 
>> ___
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>> 
> 
> 

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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[Mark Abramowitz via EV]

I *know* him, and he is both an engineer and a manager (actually a CEO now).

- Mark

Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone

> On Jul 22, 2019, at 7:45 AM, paul dove via EV  wrote:
> 
> I googled him. Looks to me like he is a manager not a design engineer.
> 
>   On Monday, July 22, 2019, 8:32:13 AM CDT, Mark Abramowitz 
>  wrote:  
> 
> I believe that Abas Goodarzi was responsible for the development of the 
> electric drivetrain for the EV1.
> 
> - Mark
> 
> Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone
> 
>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 4:50 PM, paul dove via EV  wrote:
>> 
>> Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did 
>> it all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the 
>> production version.
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Alan Cocconi
>> 
>> ___
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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[paul dove via EV]

You read that on Wikipedia and it is not what I said.
Alan was an independent contractor he did not work for Aeroenvironment or GM 
and he designed the first EV1 prototype drive electronics in his garage. He 
quit when AC Delco claimed they got all of GM's electronics work. It took them 
some time to actually get their first design to work after AC Delco took over. 
They had all sorts of EMI problems after Alan left.
 

On Monday, July 22, 2019, 10:12:51 AM CDT, Lee Hart via EV 
 wrote:  
 
 paul dove via EV wrote:
 > I don’t know what that means I assume that is a company’s name,
 > however, what I said was correct. Alan designed the inverter and
 > electronics for the EV1.

Paul is right. It went like this:

Aerovironment built GM's 1987 "SunRaycer" solar powered race car. It so 
impressed GM that they contracted with AeroVironment to build a 
prototype electric car. That car was named the "Impact", and delivered 
to GM in 1990.

Alan Cocconi worked for AeroVironment, and designed the Impact's 
inverter. It was air-cooled and used MOSFET transistors.

GM completely re-designed the Impact into the EV1. The first EV1's 
became available in 1996. They contracted out the inverter design to 
Hughes Aircraft, who re-designed it to be liquid-cooled and use IGBTs 
(among many other changes). Cocconi's inspiration was there; but GM 
completely designed out any trace of his work.

Cocconi went on to design the Tzero EV. I think it was the first 
successful EV to use thousands of 18650 lithium cells for power, and was 
the inspiration for Tesla's Roadster. Cocconi also V2G (Vehicle to Grid) 
where an EV can feed power back into the grid, and "reductive" charging, 
where the EV's motor is used as a transformer during charging.

-- 
In software development, there are two kinds of error: Conceptual
errors, implementation errors, and off-by-one errors. (anonymous)
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[paul dove via EV]

 I googled him. Looks to me like he is a manager not a design engineer.

On Monday, July 22, 2019, 8:32:13 AM CDT, Mark Abramowitz 
 wrote:  
 
 I believe that Abas Goodarzi was responsible for the development of the 
electric drivetrain for the EV1.

- Mark

Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone

> On Jul 21, 2019, at 4:50 PM, paul dove via EV  wrote:
> 
> Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did 
> it all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the 
> production version.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
>> 
>> Alan Cocconi
> 
> ___
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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[Mark Abramowitz via EV]

I believe that Abas Goodarzi was responsible for the development of the 
electric drivetrain for the EV1.

- Mark

Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone

> On Jul 21, 2019, at 4:50 PM, paul dove via EV  wrote:
> 
> Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did 
> it all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the 
> production version.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
>> 
>> Alan Cocconi
> 
> ___
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> 

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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[Cor van de Water via EV]

V2G was done by others as well.
My daily driver for 3 years (2005-2008) was a US Electricar truck that was 
re-converted in 1995 (original conversion by USE in 1994) to receive a 
“WaveDriver” inverter as well as a large 3-phase inductor and a modified AVCON 
charging plug to allow connection to a 3-phase 208V utility grid for 
bi-directional power transfer at up to 80 Amps (~30kW of charging/discharging 
power).
WaveDriver (the company) apparently was notorious for blowing up batteries, I 
heard a rumor that they managed to set a lead-acid pack on fire by (too) 
Fast-Charging it.
Note the year: 1995 was long before anyone thought about V2G, yet that was the 
year this (operational) truck was commissioned to PG together with a 
stationary battery pack and bi-directional inverter to have 2 test beds. I saw 
the commissioning papers from that year.
I later sold this truck, last I heard it is available for sale at the East 
Coast.
Cor.

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

From: Lee Hart via EV
Sent: Monday, July 22, 2019 8:12 AM
To: Electric Vehicle Discussion List
Cc: Lee Hart
Subject: Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

paul dove via EV wrote:
 > I don’t know what that means I assume that is a company’s name,
 > however, what I said was correct. Alan designed the inverter and
 > electronics for the EV1.

Paul is right. It went like this:

Aerovironment built GM's 1987 "SunRaycer" solar powered race car. It so 
impressed GM that they contracted with AeroVironment to build a 
prototype electric car. That car was named the "Impact", and delivered 
to GM in 1990.

Alan Cocconi worked for AeroVironment, and designed the Impact's 
inverter. It was air-cooled and used MOSFET transistors.

GM completely re-designed the Impact into the EV1. The first EV1's 
became available in 1996. They contracted out the inverter design to 
Hughes Aircraft, who re-designed it to be liquid-cooled and use IGBTs 
(among many other changes). Cocconi's inspiration was there; but GM 
completely designed out any trace of his work.

Cocconi went on to design the Tzero EV. I think it was the first 
successful EV to use thousands of 18650 lithium cells for power, and was 
the inspiration for Tesla's Roadster. Cocconi also V2G (Vehicle to Grid) 
where an EV can feed power back into the grid, and "reductive" charging, 
where the EV's motor is used as a transformer during charging.

-- 
In software development, there are two kinds of error: Conceptual
errors, implementation errors, and off-by-one errors. (anonymous)
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[Lee Hart via EV]

paul dove via EV wrote:
> I don’t know what that means I assume that is a company’s name,
> however, what I said was correct. Alan designed the inverter and
> electronics for the EV1.

Paul is right. It went like this:

Aerovironment built GM's 1987 "SunRaycer" solar powered race car. It so 
impressed GM that they contracted with AeroVironment to build a 
prototype electric car. That car was named the "Impact", and delivered 
to GM in 1990.


Alan Cocconi worked for AeroVironment, and designed the Impact's 
inverter. It was air-cooled and used MOSFET transistors.


GM completely re-designed the Impact into the EV1. The first EV1's 
became available in 1996. They contracted out the inverter design to 
Hughes Aircraft, who re-designed it to be liquid-cooled and use IGBTs 
(among many other changes). Cocconi's inspiration was there; but GM 
completely designed out any trace of his work.


Cocconi went on to design the Tzero EV. I think it was the first 
successful EV to use thousands of 18650 lithium cells for power, and was 
the inspiration for Tesla's Roadster. Cocconi also V2G (Vehicle to Grid) 
where an EV can feed power back into the grid, and "reductive" charging, 
where the EV's motor is used as a transformer during charging.


--
In software development, there are two kinds of error: Conceptual
errors, implementation errors, and off-by-one errors. (anonymous)
--
Lee Hart, 814 8th Ave N, Sartell MN 56377, www.sunrise-ev.com
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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[paul dove via EV]

I don’t know what that means I assume that is a company’s name, however, what I 
said was correct. Alan designed the inverter and electronics for the EV1

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 22, 2019, at 2:41 AM, Paul Compton via EV  wrote:
> 
> AeroVironment Impact, not GM EV1.
> 
>> On Mon, 22 Jul 2019 at 04:04, paul dove via EV  wrote:
>> 
>> Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did 
>> it all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the 
>> production version.
>> 
>> Sent from my iPhone
>> 
>>> On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
>>> 
>>> Alan Cocconi
>> 
>> ___
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>> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Paul Compton
> www.morini-mania.co.uk
> www.paulcompton.co.uk (YouTube channel)
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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[Paul Compton via EV]

AeroVironment Impact, not GM EV1.

On Mon, 22 Jul 2019 at 04:04, paul dove via EV  wrote:
>
> Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did 
> it all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the 
> production version.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> > On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
> >
> > Alan Cocconi
>
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-- 
Paul Compton
www.morini-mania.co.uk
www.paulcompton.co.uk (YouTube channel)
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Re: [EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[paul dove via EV]

Actually, the GM EV1 was first and Alan Cocconi designed it as well. He did it 
all in his garage. After the prototype AC Delco took over for the production 
version.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jul 21, 2019, at 8:25 AM, brucedp5 via EV  wrote:
> 
> Alan Cocconi

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[EVDL] EVLN: Before Tesla was the tzero> an Alpha EV (v)

[brucedp5 via EV]

https://cleantechnica.com/2019/07/13/tzero-flashback-diving-into-the-ev-that-kicked-off-a-revolution/
tzero Flashback — Diving Into The EV That Kicked Off A Revolution
July 13th, 2019  Nicolas Zart

[images  
https://cleantechnica.com/files/2017/05/AC-Propulsion-T-Zero-11.png
AC Propulsion T Zero

https://cleantechnica.com/files/2017/05/AC-Propulsion-T-Zero-8.png

https://cleantechnica.com/files/2017/05/AC-Propulsion-T-Zero-4.png

https://cleantechnica.com/files/2017/05/AC-Propulsion-T-Zero-3.png

https://cleantechnica.com/files/2017/05/AC-Propulsion-T-Zero-1.png

https://cleantechnica.com/files/2017/05/AC-Propulsion-T-Zero-.png

https://cleantechnica.com/files/2017/05/AC-Propulsion-T-Zero-10.png


video
https://youtu.be/gb9E222QsM0
Electric Car tzero 0-60 3.6 sec faster than Tesla R
]

A couple of years ago, Nicolas Zart interviewed one of the few owners of an
AC Propulsion tzero and explained the history of the transformative tzero
for CleanTechnica readers. I recently ran across the article and decided it
was ripe for a reprint. Enjoy! —Zach


Once upon a time — a long, long time ago — an amazing little unknown
Californian company filled with electrical geniuses and two men heading the
team, President Tom Gage and Founder Alan Cocconi, revolutionized the
automotive world.

The problem is that little to no mainstream news covered their incredible
work, nor highlighted the importance their research would yield on the
future of transportation. This love of electricity and controllers led them
to design a radical two-seat electric bomb called the tzero.

The AC Propulsion tzero was so intense that it drew the attention of
Californian entrepreneur Martin Eberhard. And, thus, the history of the
rebirth of the electric vehicle (EV) was rekindled again when he created
Tesla Motors. Don’t gasp. Take deep breaths … that’s just one of the stories
behind the company, which has 5 founders — Elon Musk, JB Straubel, Ian
Wright, Martin Eberhard, and Marc Tarpenning.

AC Propulsion tzero, The Godfather of Modern EVs
If you had to write a book on the history of the rebirth of the modern EV,
the AC Propulsion tzero would stand prominently in the pantheon as the EV
that restarted it all. It came from AC Propulsion, a unique company with
incredible folks hard at work making EVs better all the time — doing what
they loved to do best.

Martin Eberhard wondered why there weren’t cool modern cars with more
efficient energy systems than the pushy, but ultimately highly inefficient
internal combustion engine (ICE). Thankfully, someone mentioned to check out
a company called AC Propulsion, located near Los Angeles. There he found
engineers doing incredible work on controllers and electric motors. What he
saw that would truly change the landscape of the automotive industry — three
units of the little yellow electric rocket called the tzero.

AC Propulsion was really not interested in building electric cars, to
Martin’s dismay. In fact, the company produces drive systems, battery
management systems, vehicle management systems, and vehicle-to-grid systems
for OEMs. Back then, the company was content tweaking electric systems,
designing better controllers, and grooved on oscilloscopes and sine waves.
So, Martin rightfully thought, why not make his own EV and use AC Propulsion
components.

AC Propulsion tzero Leads To The Tesla Roadster
The wild tzero (which, by the way, stands for t = time, zero = beginning of
a new sequence) eventually led to the creation of the Tesla Motors Roadster.
But there was one problem. Martin didn’t have enough funds and needed a
donor car to start with. This is where that other famous guy steps in who
had just sold PayPal. With money in his pocket, Elon Musk became an early
investor in Tesla Motors. Skip the very public and widely embarrassing
breakup when Musk removed Eberhard. Instead, let’s focus on one of the three
original AC Propulsion tzeros.

One, Two, Three — Only One AC Propulsion tzero Remains
A few years ago, collectors seeing how EVs were picking up thought it would
be a good time to start collecting them. Sadly, only one out of the three
original AC Propulsion tzero remains today — looking for a battery pack, or
so I hear. One tzero went up in smoke a while back. This is the story of
T-Zero #2.

The tzero #2 was Tom Gage’s daily drive for Tom Gage. It is now, sadly, gone
as a pile of dust and rubble. The original batteries were replaced with
Optima Spiral Wound ones in 2012, and the tzero was getting ready for 28 new
batteries later that year. What Pete told me was that it was fully
functional, filled with analog ’90s technology. In fact, it was so ahead of
its time, it included vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capability. Keep in mind, this
is back in the late ’90s.

The original tzero came with a rear-mounted trailer that hauled an
extended-range gasoline system, which gave it the capability of
long-distance travel. (I believe it was a motorcycle engine, but am not 100%
positive.)

What Was The AC