EV conversion

[Rob Russo]

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Help,

 

Is there any place in the Portland area that does EV conversions? I have been wanting to do this for several years, but am always met with too many obstacles and lack of information.

 

I have a '92 metro 4-door that has 195,000 mi. on the gas engine that finally gave out. The chassis is in perfect condition.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

-Rob

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[Graunke, Gary]

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Rob,

 

Just as it is more expensive to buy a hand-built car, conversions are currently somewhat expensive unless you have the time to invest or find another source of cheap labor.

It’s hard to become a commercial supplier, since one needs to recertify these vehicles (crash testing) if you develop or significantly modify a vehicle in quantity. However, this is America (vs EU), and you can do it yourself, even if all work is done with hired labor.

 

See the EAA flyer at http://www.electricauto.org/Flyers/index.html#Conversions  It has much more information and books, videos, etc.

 

I would check into a kit from places like www.electroauto.com. I built mine from parts from Victor locally at www.metricmind.com  .  The kit means that most of the expensive engineering and fabrication has already been done. A middle school librarian put one together in 2 months of spare time.

 

I hired Victor at metric mind to design my adaptor plate and coupler shaft. I had my transmission measured by Turk Mfg in Hillsboro, another outfit actually CNC milled the plate, and American Gear in Portland made the coupler shaft. All this was somewhat expensive, and a kit would be cheaper. All the planning is done, and it’s mostly a bolt-on job assembling the components. I spent about a year of spare time on my car. Six months on the conversion proper, and another 3 making my batteries from commodity (mass-produced) power tool batteries (nowadays you can just buy even advanced LiPO4 batteries, but check around first for someone else that has used the particular battery you are considering).

 

I started with old but good AGM lead batteries—Hawker Genesis that the drag racers often used. Following Bill Dube www.killacycle.com I switched to A123 LiFePO4 batteries to get higher power and 6 times the range per pound of batteries. Caution: Li Ion cells with Cobalt are best left to the pros—they require serious engineering and testing for safety. Be sure to get a some sort of battery management system to shut of the charger to prevent overcharging of individual batteries (or even cell level if you can do it).

 

There should be a fairly complete kit for the geo—it is a popular conversion vehicle.

 

Gary

---

From: oeva-list-bounces@... [mailto:oeva-list-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Rob Russo
Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 4:52 PM
To: oeva-list@...
Subject: [Oeva-list] EV conversion

 

Help,

 

Is there any place in the Portland area that does EV conversions? I have been wanting to do this for several years, but am always met with too many obstacles and lack of information.

 

I have a '92 metro 4-door that has 195,000 mi. on the gas engine that finally gave out. The chassis is in perfect condition.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

-Rob

 

_______________________________________________
Oeva-list mailing list
Oeva-list@...
http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/oeva-list

[Hansen, Chris]

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Before starting the conversion, either by kit or by putting the various pieces together yourself, you have to decide on the cost vs performance you are shooting for. Otherwise you risk being either be disappointed or bankrupt by the result. In any case, be ready to do a lot of the work yourself or expect to pay 2-3x the material costs for the conversion.

 

The first place to start in my opinion is getting a basic EV conversion book and read it cover-to-cover.  I like this one: http://www.amazon.com/Build-Your-Own-Electric-Vehicle/dp/0071543732/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1255111631&sr=8-1 .  Then spend a month or two reading online forums like EVDL or DIY Electric Forums. The OEVA website points to these and many others. Even if you decide to have the conversion done for you turn-key, knowing the basics is important to get what you want and are expecting.

 

My conversion goal was cheapness, moderate performance and mostly to learn from the experience. I was able to convert my car to electric for approx $4000. I skimped on everything except the motor and the (lead-acid) batteries.  I did it myself with a little machine shop help. It took 4 months, only working evenings in my garage. And a keg of Widmer Halo IPA J

 

Chris

 

From: oeva-list-bounces@... [mailto:oeva-list-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Graunke, Gary
Sent: Friday, October 09, 2009 8:06 AM
To: Rob Russo; oeva-list@...
Subject: Re: [Oeva-list] EV conversion

 

Rob,

 

Just as it is more expensive to buy a hand-built car, conversions are currently somewhat expensive unless you have the time to invest or find another source of cheap labor.

It’s hard to become a commercial supplier, since one needs to recertify these vehicles (crash testing) if you develop or significantly modify a vehicle in quantity. However, this is America (vs EU), and you can do it yourself, even if all work is done with hired labor.

 

See the EAA flyer at http://www.electricauto.org/Flyers/index.html#Conversions  It has much more information and books, videos, etc.

 

I would check into a kit from places like www.electroauto.com. I built mine from parts from Victor locally at www.metricmind.com  .  The kit means that most of the expensive engineering and fabrication has already been done. A middle school librarian put one together in 2 months of spare time.

 

I hired Victor at metric mind to design my adaptor plate and coupler shaft. I had my transmission measured by Turk Mfg in Hillsboro, another outfit actually CNC milled the plate, and American Gear in Portland made the coupler shaft. All this was somewhat expensive, and a kit would be cheaper. All the planning is done, and it’s mostly a bolt-on job assembling the components. I spent about a year of spare time on my car. Six months on the conversion proper, and another 3 making my batteries from commodity (mass-produced) power tool batteries (nowadays you can just buy even advanced LiPO4 batteries, but check around first for someone else that has used the particular battery you are considering).

 

I started with old but good AGM lead batteries—Hawker Genesis that the drag racers often used. Following Bill Dube www.killacycle.com I switched to A123 LiFePO4 batteries to get higher power and 6 times the range per pound of batteries. Caution: Li Ion cells with Cobalt are best left to the pros—they require serious engineering and testing for safety. Be sure to get a some sort of battery management system to shut of the charger to prevent overcharging of individual batteries (or even cell level if you can do it).

 

There should be a fairly complete kit for the geo—it is a popular conversion vehicle.

 

Gary

---

From: oeva-list-bounces@... [mailto:oeva-list-bounces@...] On Behalf Of Rob Russo
Sent: Thursday, October 08, 2009 4:52 PM
To: oeva-list@...
Subject: [Oeva-list] EV conversion

 

Help,

 

Is there any place in the Portland area that does EV conversions? I have been wanting to do this for several years, but am always met with too many obstacles and lack of information.

 

I have a '92 metro 4-door that has 195,000 mi. on the gas engine that finally gave out. The chassis is in perfect condition.

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

 

-Rob

 

_______________________________________________
Oeva-list mailing list
Oeva-list@...
http://www.rdrop.com/mailman/listinfo/oeva-list