Underneath and inside the Karma

[dennis]

I was able to take a few photos of the Karma innards when I was at the dealer last week. This first photo shows the underside with the belly pan removed. I was impressed by how clean and tidy everything is. Note the housing for the motors, the batteries running down the center and the orange high voltage cables that travel from the batteries to the inverters.



Here is a closeup view of the high voltage cabling:



Finally, a look at the inverters, which are located between the rear seat and the trunk area. There is one inverter for each electric motor. The gas tank sits below the bracket that mounts the inverters. I believe the braided black hoses going to each inverter are for coolant.

[ct-fiskerbuzz]

(02-04-2012 05:29 AM)dennis Wrote:  ... Finally, a look at the inverters, which are located between the rear seat and the trunk area. There is one inverter for each electric motor. The gas tank sits below the bracket that mounts the inverters. I believe the braided black hoses going to each inverter are for coolant.

They must be (coolant pipes). Those inverters and heat sink packages are bigger than I expected, for some reason! Of course the huge amounts of power dissipated require a lot of heat sink area. It's just a surprise to actually see it, somehow.

[kabalah70]

Very cool dennis, thanks for the pics. No wonder we have no trunk space, half of it is filled with inverters. lol. It is worth it though. Another nice thing if Fisker were to switch to lithium titanate batteries is that they could be air-cooled making it much lighter, sans liquid cooling equipment and liquid, at least for the battery.

[SoCalGuy]

Here's maybe a dumb question - do those inverters generate much magnetic field/EM radiation (ala power lines)? Given they're literally right behind the rear passengers, thought its worth asking.

[Sigurd]

Not really, as long as your passengers are wearing magnetic bracelets that align their bodies magnetic fields.

[Karma 2012]

Will this work?

[Sigurd]

That should do it. But, we better wait for one of the electrical engineers chime in.

[Dave_Car_Guy]

Hi Dennis... I was under that car, too, and chatted with Mike there. I was the customer with Alessandro just as you walked up to the service bay. I was just getting my car back after the software upgrade (mine works fine) -- I heard him call you Dennis and wondered if you were "this" Dennis. I also came back to thank him for the floor mats... I should have said hello to a fellow "Buzz"er.
-Dave

[dennis]

Here are some better pics of the inverters:





The mechanic showed me the third inverter that is used for the engine/generator. It is mounted on the firewall on the passenger side (note yellow high voltage sticker).

[Fabulist]

No wonder this car weighs 2.5 tons. It has three of everything!

-- Fab.