[Mesuge]

CroDriver> thanks for the answer. I forgot one important question, any chance your inverter (or modified version thereof) would work standard industrial ac induction motors (ACIMs)? They come in aluminium case and pretty efficient from some top brands like ABB, so for instance you can have 4-pole 11kW (nominal) and ~60kW peak in <70kg package, or even over 100kW peak from (22kW nominal) 2-pole bellow 100kg.

However, overclocked 4-pole ACIMs top in torque at ~3k rpm, so this is mostly usefull with either retaining tranny, or putting large diff., or not demanding high top speed application (city/lower highway speed car based on heavier donor etc.)

So, this might be the optional avenue for many people wanting to save some money on fancy 8-pole emotors from your suggested original high-end package, the potential here is to simplify access to AC drivetrain for many diyers, which would not consider one before due to elevated price.

Obviously, the best approach would be to have recommended two or three models, which are known to work with your inverter, so this is not turning into support issue nightmare for you, I'd suggest these three power levels: 11, 15, 22kw (nominal) based on 4-pole ACIM models from reputable global brand like ABB, SEW and alike, with encoder they can be sourced for ~ $1,5-3k.

In this fashion, you can theoretically undercut AzureD/Solectria's grip over large part of the AC conversion market. Recently there have been posted some horror stories about their repeatedly leaking gearboxes (for FWD application), they don't do higher voltages (as you hinted you could with different set of IGBTs), not watercooled in standard version, not very feature-rich interface etc. Their system seems to be stucked in the early/mid 1990s.

In the mid-long term I think they might be finished (speaking conversions market), because when Otmar releases his Tri-Zilla (in crude <100kW prototype since ~2007) feat. his neat Hairball wiring interface, it's all over for AzureD, so you should perhaps think about this in larger context as well. Btw. James from EV Components promised AC Zilla - real prototype disclousure for 2010..

Also "Tritium James" the solar racing guy, is targeting ~ $6k for his 200kW inverter (based on the same guts as the Saab linked previously), I guess they are running two test mules (Civic and Porsche), one with similar ACIM - induction motor and one with BLDC motor, so hopefully in the begining of this decade the AC drivetrain will finally take over.