Where to pull 5 amp of switched 12v on the ED?

[steveyfrac 73]

I'm toying with the idea of putting a bit of heat under the matts on my ED, to keep my feet warm in the winter. I'll want at most 5 amp, but I need it switched, so it doesn't pull power when the car is off.

Any ideas?

[marchanna 115]

The auxiliary pocket socket (aka cigarette lighter socket) is switched.

[steveyfrac 73]

Sadly, that gets used to charge my phone, and for the other half of my nefarious plan.

[marchanna 115]

Don't you have a USB port in your glove box for charging your phone?

Otherwise you may have to run a wire from your 12v battery, and switch it with your radio antenna.

[steveyfrac 73]

I guess I have to let you in on my nefarious plan. So, my biggest complaint about the ED is winter range. And that complaint is largely driven by the fact that I like to heat my car when it's super cold out. Sacrilege, for an EV driver I know!

So, I'm going to try and solve these issues, and I'm going to do it, by running carbon heating tape under the driver side floor matt, and in a heated sweatshirt. I'm guessing between 30-60 watts under the floor matt, and 60 - 90 watts for the sweatshirt should be sufficient to keep me toasty warm even if the air in the car is -25C. It also ensures that things heat up nice and quickly when power is applied.. I'll have bimetallic strip temp switches to start, set to 45C. That should be about right. If that's not sufficient, I can upgrade to a microcontroller and temp sensors.

So, I want to run the sweatshirt off of the cigarette plug, and I have a 5A budget for that, and If I need to, I can run a separate lead from the battery, but I'll need to be able to get switched power.

Where do I find this lead for the radio antenna? I can hook up a 10-15 amp relay for it...

[marchanna 115]

Do a search in the audio threads, and see how people connect up the amps for their subs. I would recommend a relay and a separate power circuit.

[FlossyTheSmart 81]

There should be some spare switched power sockets along the side of your SAM that you could tap in to. A fuse and a spade connector and you're good to go.

EDIT: See HERE sockets 36-39 (36 may already be in use if you've got heated mirrors)

[marchanna 115]

Does the ED have the same SAM?

[FlossyTheSmart 81]

I imagine it should be the same one. It handles the basic car functionality, and the majority of that is common between gas and electric. I would assume it would be the EDG that would be different.

EDIT: And obviously some of the fuses will do some different things, but the point is, those sockets on the left side of the SAM, provided they are open, should still serve the same purposes, with a number of switched power ones and a number of always powered ones.

[steveyfrac 73]

Where is this SAM located?

Thanks for the help guys. I'll definitely post up some pictures when I put it together.

[FlossyTheSmart 81]

I believe the SAM in the 451 is in the same spot as the 450, right above the driver's feet. It's where all your fuses are, so if I'm wrong, the manual should tell you where to look for the fusebox.

Also, just stumbled across this Evilution page, detailing the fuse layout of the SAM in the ED.

[steveyfrac 73]

Looks like 37 is empty, and probably switched... Neat! Thanks for the help Flossy.