Summary of the most updated regulations regarding the battery enclosure.

Check off regulations that are met throughout the design and manufacturing process, and attach a link to documentation confirming that we have met the related regs.

Current regulation version: ASC2024 Regs Release B

Update whenever there is a new regulation release.

5.2 Vehicle Design Report (VDR)

Under the Battery Protection Tech Report, we require by [TBD]:

8.3 Protection Circuitry

All protection circuitry should be contained in the battery enclosures, and should be designed to allow for the provided testing procedures to occur during Scrutineering.

• Safe State refers to a stable electrical shut down condition where the battery pack and all its sub components are completely isolated from all potential current paths exiting the battery enclosure.

8.4 Battery Enclosures

All registered and sealed battery modules, supplemental batteries, battery protection circuitry per Reg. 8.3, and main fuses per Reg 8.5 must be fully contained in enclosures that are electrically isolated from the solar car. The enclosures must be constructed from non-conductive, electrolyte-resistant material. No more than two separate such enclosures may be used for the main and supplemental batteries.

Isolation

Mounting

Marking

Ventilation

Security

8.5 Fusing

Main

Branch

Voltage Taps

8.6 Power Switch

Main Power Switch

BPS Fault Dash Indication

External Power Cut Off Switch

Location:

Operation:

Marking:

Covering:

8.7 Cables

Cable Sizing

8.8 Control

Cruise Control

• Relevant only if we decide to implement cruise control, which may possibly be used to run the car at a steady “optimal” speed during the race.

8.9 Electrical Shock Hazards

8.10 Impound

Battery enclosures shall be designed such that they can be Impounded per Regs 12.18 and 14.12.B. Enclosures may either be removed from the vehicle and placed in an impound box or impounded in the vehicle.

Impound Box

Teams utilizing the impound box option shall provide an impound box that fully contains the battery enclosure(s) per Reg. 8.4 and meets the following requirements.

• The box shall have provisions such that an Official can secure it with a maximum of two (2) locks/seals.

• The impound box must be constructed such that it does not contain external hardware that can be removed to gain access to the battery box without breaking the seal(s).

Impound In Vehicle

Teams utilizing the impound in vehicle option shall provide a robust impound solution that allows the event organizers to lock/seal any high voltage battery power connectors/conductors.

10.4 Fasteners

Bolts

Securing of Fasteners

1. Bolts with flex-loc type nuts or other nuts that use flexure as the means of locking and are reusable.

2. Bolts with pre-drilled shafts and castle nuts with cotter pins installed to prevent loosening

3. Bolts with pre-drilled heads and/or nuts properly safety wired with stainless steel wire from 0.024” (0.6 mm) to 0.032” (0.8 mm) diameter conforming to Mil Spec MS20995C. The safety wire between fasteners and anchor points must be twisted to prevent loosening rotation of the fastener.

4. In blind hole applications, bolts with pre-drilled heads properly safety wired.

5. Other methods of securing fasteners may be deemed acceptable at the discretion of the Inspector.

Buckles and Straps

Plastic luggage type buckles or single push release straps are not considered acceptable means of securing any Critical Area.

Critical Areas

For application of the above critical areas are defined to include: steering, braking, suspension, seat mounts, safety harness, drive train, battery box, ballast carrier, and parking brake.

12.18 Impound

All battery enclosures shall be secured overnight by the Observer in the impound configuration (Reg 8.10) that was inspected during Scrutineering.

• Headquarters should be appraised of special issues for impound.

Impound Times

• Impound time starts at 8:00 pm each evening and ends at 7:00 am the following morning. Teams that fail to properly impound will be assessed the impound penalty as per Reg. 15.4.M.

  • Ensure that enough time is allocated to finish impounding BEFORE the impound time starts.

14.12 (FSGP) Charging/Impound

All battery enclosures shall be secured overnight in impound configuration by the Inspectors. Headquarters should be appraised of special issues for impound.

Charging

All solar cars may begin the Track Event with a fully charged battery pack. Once the Track Event begins, charging may only occur using the solar car’s array in designated charging areas.

• Charging from other sources will result in a penalty associated with Official FSGP laps completed to that point, reference Reg. 15.4.J.

• All charging of solar car batteries shall be monitored by a team member. Unattended charging of the solar car batteries is strictly prohibited.

• A charging area will be provided for the teams. Internal combustion generators will not be permitted within the charging area. Only solar car charging may occur within this designated area.

Impounding

• All registered and sealed batteries must be secured in the impound configuration (Reg 8.10) that was inspected during Scrutineering and will be secured by the Inspectors.

• Batteries must be impounded by 8:00 pm each evening and will be released from impound at 7:00 am the following morning.

• Failure to impound batteries will result in a penalty associated with Official FSGP laps completed to that point, reference Reg. 15.4.M.

15.4 Penalties

• Disturbing Official Battery Seals: Solar car batteries will be marked with an official seal. Disturbing these seals in a manner that prevents proper identification by Inspectors may be penalized as though all of the battery modules affected had been replaced as in Reg. 15.4.L.

• Failure to Impound: A 2 mile penalty may be assessed for every minute that the team fails to Impound their batteries.

• Securing of Fasteners: Failure to comply with Reg. 10.4.B Securing of Fasteners will result in a penalty of 1 mile per bolt per day per instance where proper securing is not applied. The Head Mechanical Inspector shall determine which noncompliant fasteners must be brought into compliance with Reg. 10.4.

• Ignoring BPS Fault Indicator: A 2 mile penalty will be applied for each occurrence that the team ignores the BPS Fault Indicator and continues to drive along the route.