Probe the CAN bus for EV battery information

The widespread adoption of the CAN bus (and OBD-II) in automobiles was largely a way to standardize the maintenance of increasingly complicated engines and their needs to meet modern emissions standards . Although it may seem a little dry at first glance, the existence and standardization of this communication bus in virtually all passenger vehicles for three decades has resulted in some interesting side effects, such as its use in this project to display information extra on an electric car. battery.

There isn't a ton of information on this, but it's a great proof of concept of some of the things CAN opens up in vehicles. The build is based on a Citroën C-Zero (which is basically just a rebadged Mitsubishi i-MiEV) and uses CAN bus information to display specific battery charge status information that is not displayed otherwise on car screens. It also includes a construction of a new purpose-built secondary screen, and the construction is sleek enough to look like a standard part of the car.

While there are certainly other (perhaps simpler) ways of interfacing with a CAN bus, this one uses off-the-shelf electronics like Arduino-compatible microcontrollers, is permanently installed and has a custom case that we really like. If you're just starting to sniff out your own vehicle's CAN bus, there are some great tools out there for you to check out.

Thanks to [James] for the tip!