To complete the correct working of the Webasto remote installation (see thispost), i had to connect a wire between the PEU and the Webasto receiver. I was lucky to find an unused wire which runs from the PEU to the dash. A lot of work for one wire. (video)

Battery boxes and AC-150 PEU

I used the waeco MSH-60

waeco MSH-60

Remove the seat, in my case a probax lether one.

Probax seat

Carefully remove the center pads

Place the heating elements on the seat

Drill the holes for the cables

Since the Lotus Elise ECE is built in 2008, before the charging standards (IEC 62196 and IEC 60309) where released. The car is equipped with a standard CEE 32A 5-pin connector for charging. It can charge with 32A on 1 phase at 230V AC. The charge current can be adjusted manually.

Charge port CEE 32A 400V 3P+N+E

To be able to charge at a public charging station in The Netherlands you need a type 2 connector. Due to the limitation of a maximum of 16A per phase (mode 1), the Lotus can only charge on a public charging station with 16A max.

Type 2 / VDE-AR-E 2623-2-2

Building the cable, Mennekes type 2 (see picture above) and CEE (32A 3+N+E female)
I bought a secondhand Ratio charging cable for only € 75,- . I removed the white j1772 connector and added a 220 ohm resistor. I started with a 220 ohm risitor because I wanted to charge with 32A. It didn’t work the charging station gave an error. Finally a 680 ohm resistor between Earth and PP (Proximity) gave the best result.

Ratio cable EVP32-3 2P+E 16A/250 AC Mode 3, type 2 to 1

Wiring diagram Mennekes type 2 to CEE 32A

The above schematic shows all 3 phases. The Lotus only uses L3.

Rpp values with corresponding maximum charging currents
1k5 Ohm  13A or 16A
680 Ohm  20A
220 Ohm  32A
100 Ohm  63A

I decided to keep the winter tires on the OEM rims and buy new rims and tires for the summer. After reading a lot on lotustalk.com I went for the Team Dynamics Pro 1.2 rims and A048 tires from Yokohama. My first experience is that there is a lot of grip and the steering is somewhat heavier. Also noticeable is the rolling resistance which is higher and resulting in a 5% less range.

Front: Team Dynamics pro 1.2 part number 5M2-67030BL
Pro Race 1.2 Black Matt 898  RFBlk 7.0×16 e30 4×100-56.7

Rear: Team Dynamics pro 1.2 part number 5M2-77536BL
Pro Race 1.2 Black Matt 898 1.2 RFBlk 7.5×17 e36 4×100-56.7

Black Matt Team Dynamics pro 1.2

Tires:

Front: 195/50 VR16 84W Yokohama A048 LTS
Rear: 225/45 WR17 TL90W Yokohama A048 LTS

lotus Yokohama A048 LTS

new rims and tires side view

Before I owned the Lotue Elise ECE, I drove a Landrover Defender, it was fitted with a parking heater which is very nice in winter. Especially when it’s freezing and you want to pre heat your car interior. Pre heating your EV while it’s loading won’t affect your EV’s range. My EV has no parking heater, so I wondered if I could use the already installed MES-DEA RM4 as parking heater. Due my experience with the Webasto parking heaters I knew that de remote option, which is sold separately, could be used as standalone remote. I used the Webasto Telestart HTM100 because it is able to display the actual temperature in the car on the remote.
In my EV the MES-DEA heater is controlled by an on/off switch on the dash. It’s only working when the ignition is switched on. since I don´t want to leave the key in the ignition over night, in needed an other solution. I connected the control wire from the MES-DEA directly to +12 volt to see if the heater would fire up, it did. I installed a relay which is controlled by the Webasto remote, when it’s active it disables the original switch and connects the control wire from the MES-DEA to +12 volt.  To get the heat in to the car the interior fan needs to be switched on, I used a relay to connect the interior fan directly to +12 volt.

25-10-2015 Update: see part II

Last week I bought a 2009 Lotus Elise S2 111r. The Elise has been converted by ECE (Electric Cars Europe) to full electric.

Specs:

0 to 100 km/h about 4 sec
top speed 218 km/h in 4th gear normally 5 and 6 are blocked
170-200 km range
0 emissions
Weight: 1315 kg 
Upholstery: Brown/Black leather

Technical data : 
engine: 4 pole induction motor / ac motor maximum output : 150 kW
batteries: KoKam
Nominal voltage : 3.7V per cell
Capacity (Ah ) : 200 Ah per cell (100)
Fuse : Ferraz Shawmut 400A , 500VAC , A50P400-4
Power switch : Kilavac Czonka III , EV200A1ANA
Power harness : , 50mm2 , 60-750V , 
Electric heating : MES DEA RM4 , 250-400V , 4 kW