[ricklearned]

Several months ago I purchased a donor car and have been spending my time reading this forum and stripping the car and getting ready for the conversion.

I am a 60 + retired financial executive. I have owned 4 VW’s over the years and in college my brother and I rebuilt the engine on a bug convertible. I have good mechanical skills and am an electronic hobbyist. Some time ago I installed a 3KW solar PV system on the roof of my home. I have also converted 2 bicycles to electric drive and six months ago I converted one of them to Lithium (48v Headway pack). My desire for more speed and utility led me to considering an EV conversion.

I have no metal fabrication skills except for the ability to cut, drill or shape aluminum with a router.(derived from my woodworking skills) I have found a local source for aluminum plate and several resources for aluminum welding.

I hope initially to have a range of approximatley 10- 20 miles. I will probably start out with a 96v pack of about 100Ahrs. I expect to get 25 mile range for local driving. Phase two of my plan is to upgrade by paralleling another 100Ahr pack. At that point I should be able to take short trips of 40 miles on the freeway. My choice of 32 cells is driven by the investment I have made in some cellogs and a circuit board by rwaudio that will give me LVC and HVC. When I upgrade to the extra capacity I will probably purchase a high amperage charger and a BMS. In the meantime I can charge slowly with a couple of 48v Meanwells.

My initial budget to get the car running for phase one is $15,000. That includes the AC-35 system which I will pick up inin Ontario, California tomorrow. I ordered the motor and adaptor from Thunderstruck Motors in Santa Rosa CA. and recieved a lot of offline help from Frodus and Gottdi. I have received a quote for 100 Ahr CALB cells from Keegan Han and will probably commit that purchase by the end of June. Later in the year I will evaluate the budget for phase two. The car is currently grey primer with the rear fenders, apron and rear hood removed. I am also considering fiberglass fenders, apron, rear hood and trunk.

[tomofreno]

Sounds like you've been doing your homework!

[ricklearned]

Originally Posted by tomofreno

Sounds like you've been doing your homework!

I have learned a lot from this forum and all the helpful posts. I still have a lot more to learn.

[Ziggythewiz]

Welcome, fellow bugger! I'd recommend going higher voltage (144), especially if you plan for highway use.

[onegreenev]

Originally Posted by Ziggythewiz

Welcome, fellow bugger! I'd recommend going higher voltage (144), especially if you plan for highway use.

I will have to agree but 96 will do in a pinch. My little Ghia was 96 volts and it did quite well in the speed, just not the distance because of the lead. With the AC system being used you can go quite a bit higher in voltage. I'd plan on at least 144 volts if not more. Problem then becomes the charging situation. I can tell you about a nice DC DC that will work nicely at high voltages.

I did a 77 MG Midget and ran that at 120 volts. That was nice.

Pete

[ricklearned]

Originally Posted by Ziggythewiz

Welcome, fellow bugger! I'd recommend going higher voltage (144), especially if you plan for highway use.

Thanks, I do plan on upgrading to the max voltage in phase two of my build. That is why I am putting off buying a big charger until I get the max voltage dialed in. I am somewhat limited by the Curtiss controller which in its current iteration is capable of 120v IIRC, I also didn't want to wait for the frequently touted 144v controller that is in the works. Most of my "highway" driving would be on I405 in LA which is notoriously slow, except early in the morning and late at night.

[onegreenev]

What prompted the purchase of the AC 35 vs the AC 50

[Ziggythewiz]

Originally Posted by onegreenev

I did a 77 MG Midget and ran that at 120 volts. That was nice.

Pete

Haha, just made the connection. What prompted the name change Pete?

[ricklearned]

Originally Posted by onegreenev

What prompted the purchase of the AC 35 vs the AC 50

It is 2'' shorter and that will make my installation easier. I have some hills in my little beach town and the AC35 has more low end torque than the AC50. The AC50 has greater torque on the higher end but the only time I would need that would be for passing at highway speeds. My only highway is the freeway so I don't care about passing speed.
EDIT: On ramp approaches to the freeway are one area where I might need higher speed acceleration but that might be as simple as picking the right gear.

[onegreenev]

Originally Posted by Ziggythewiz

Haha, just made the connection. What prompted the name change Pete?

Been using onegreenev for some time now. gottdi is an old user name I started using when I got my VW TDI. It was fitting then but no longer. I do still have my TDI. Nice cars. Mine's chipped and has larger injectors and still gets 42 to 46 mpg depending on how I drive. The worst I ever got was 36 mpg. That was with my foot glued to the floor for the entire tank. No range anxiety in a TDI. I hit just over 700 miles once per tank.

Best fuel mileage I got in that was 48/49. That was in serious hyper-mile mode.
Typical is 46 mpg (chipped)