Automotive Tester PCE-DC 9EV

Automotive tester for EV measurements – special features for electric and hybrid vehicles

In connection with the motor vehicles, the abbreviation EV stands for electric vehicle, which means for the vehicles with the electric drive. For the measurements of the electrics in conventional and electrically driven motor vehicles, a current clamp must be suitable for direct current measurements and it should be as compact and robust as possible because of the usually very limited space.

In contrast to the conventional vehicles with combustion engines, the vehicles with electric drives require much higher voltages and amperage for the powerful additional electrical consumers. For this reason, different voltage levels are used in the electric and hybrid vehicles, whereas in conventional diesel and petrol vehicles all consumers are usually supplied via the 12 volt (or 24 volt) battery. The current clamp for measurements on electric and hybrid vehicles should therefore ideally be able to precisely measure both the low current levels, e.g. of vehicle lighting, window regulators and cockpit displays, as well as the high current levels along the electric drive train.

Depending on the design of the automotive tester, the measurement results for direct current can be influenced to a greater or lesser extent by previous magnetisation and by other lines located close to the measuring point. It is advantageous if the current clamp automatically compensates for this by an offset check or can simply be set to zero before the actual DC measurement.

Since alternating current from the mains is primarily used to charge the batteries of the electric vehicles, converters are installed in the vehicles to convert alternating current into direct current. The required charging time depends on both the charging station and the equipment of the electric vehicle. In the case of the charging cables, as in the case of the other cables with connectors, the individual wires are not freely accessible. In order to be able to measure the individual wires with the current clamp during the charging process, special adapters are available. For example, there are measuring cases to which the charging cable is connected and which are connected to the charging station via a suitable connection cable. The automotive tester can then measure the alternating current on the individually tapped in the case connecting lines.

– Inductive current measurement
– Measuring range 0 … 1000 A AC/DC
– Backlight
– Small and compact design
– 25 mm / 0.98″ wide inner diameter
– Inrush current measurement