Re: Batteries - EV Conversion

"Jim Wilkins"  wrote in message news:vq0kng$gpl0$1@dont-email.me...
I became involved in automotive electronic testing in the mid 1970's when emissions laws and fuel economy forced the shift from mechanical to electronic engine controls. Previously the only electronics in a car was the radio which they bought, the voltage regulator used relays and intake vacuum mechanically matched ignition timing to load.
There wasn't an available pool of design knowledge, aircraft and military standards were too expensive although their concepts could be adapted, so the companies hired new EE grads with little practical experience and they learned by trial and error, mostly caught in testing before production. I'd at least seen how the military ruggedizes electronics as a repairman and made an effort to learn the practical aspects such as switch contact voltage and current ratings and expected cycle life.
A  Ph.D. project manager issued a braking deceleration test specification to the 8 digits of his calculator. He knew the math well enough, but he'd never built anything himself and didn't realize that affordable components have a tolerance range.
At the time high precision resistors for analog computation cost $5 and up apiece, I bought the still accurate instrument they had been tested on when its data connection became obsolete. A disdain for hands-on technician work was fairly common among electrical engineers, in contrast to mechanical engineers who all could run machine tools.
My education was a mix of theory and lab practice. As chemists we learned how to calculate the uncertainty level of measurements well enough to defend our results in court.