[Mad Professor]

Good Day All.

I am been looking at electric cars over the last few years.
Over here in the UK, there is not alot of 100% electric cars about, only things like the Reva G-Wiz, small and not very nice looking.

Over the years I have owned a number of Peugeot 205's, and no matter what other make or model car I end up buying I always end up getting anothing peugeot 205.

Now with unleaded fuel around 132.9p/l and 135.9p/l for diesel, I have been thinking long and hard about trying to do my 1st EV conversion.

Not long ago I got my hands on an old Towrite 200 Series Milk Float Style Van for £200.00

From this I have been abled to remove the following parts.
1x Unknow make and model DC Series Wound Motor, (Towrite's site lists it as 9KW @ 48Volt).
1x Electrofit Zapi Ltd H2 High Frequency 48volt Controller.
1x Zapi S.P.A Foot Peddel Box.
1x Albright DC182B-256 48volt Contactor.
1x Albright SW181B-152 48volt Contactor.
1x Albright ED250B-1 Emergency Disconnect.
24x Oldham 2 Volt Lead Acid Batteries.
Load of 35mm2 cable.

Now I am not looking for high speed or long range, as I live on a 25x20mile island, and most of the roads have a 30 & 40MPH speed limit.

I would like to get a top speed of around 30-35, and a range of 20-30miles.

From what I have read the higher the voltage used in the EV system the better it it will be.

But as thing is my 1st EV conversion, I would like to use the parts in the above list, and once I have got a running setup I can always then upgrade parts later as needed.

Due to it being my 1st conversion I would like to keep the gearbox and clutch for safety.

I have worked out that if I use the gearbox from the petrol 1.9 and using the motor above I could get a top speed of 34MPH, Or if I use the diesel 1.8 gearbox I could get a top speed of 42MPH. so the diesel 1.8 gearbox will be the one I try and go for.

Due to the size and weight of the oldham leadacid batteries, I don't see it being practical, so I will have to looking into that more.

Any advice you can give me would be grate, Will help loads, and make this conversion go smoother and quicker.

[Yabert]

Hi

I think your parts list is good because you don't need high top speed with your small and lightweight car.
Your needs are highly realistic and probably easily reachable.

First, you need to identify the exact Zapi controller model. You need to know the maximum voltage and amps of this one. If you have an 72v version, it will be just fine for your conversion and probably will can give you a top speed higher than 40 mph.

Second, you need to identify the capacity of your motor. 9 Kw is ok, but you need to know if it's the one hour rating. A good way to know that is to give us the dimensions and weight of your motor. For example, I have a 11" diameter x 15" long motor (200 lbs) rated 9.6 Kw at 48v for my Smart fortwo project and I think it can give me many more Kw at higher voltage and for short period of time. If the motor is more than 8" diameter and weight more than 100 lbs, it will do probably the job for your project.

[Mad Professor]

Yabert: Thanks for your reply.

Regarding the details on the motor, towrite are not being very forthcoming with the data I have asked for.

Here is my post regarding the motor: DC Series Wound Motor removed from Towrite 200 Series Milk Float.

Here is my post regarding the controller: Please help identify this Electrofit Zapi Ltd High Frequency 48volt Controller.

Best Regards

[Yabert]

This motor seem perfect if you can fit it under the hood!
Similare motor (like Warp Impulse 9) can move a small car to over 60 mph.

But to be sure of the capacity, please post picture of the motor. Brush area and the armature rear end will be essential.

[Mad Professor]

The motor weight is aprox 58KG's.

Here are some pictures of the motor in question.

[madderscience]

that motor looks plenty beastly for a small car like the 205. Only things to keep in mind are what its safe maximum RPM is (if it came out of a 10-15mph top speed milk float, it may only be rated for 2000 or 3000 RPM or so. DC motors sold for EV conversions are usually good 5000 RPM stock. You may also want the ability to advance the brushes, especially if you decide to run a somewhat higher voltage system.

Your range and top speed needs are very doable. Still, I'd recommend at least a 72V system; at 72v you are still in golf cart and forklift territory and things are substantially cheaper than when you make the jump to 96v. at 72V, you should probably still be able to use everything except the controller and maybe the throttle pedal depending on what its interface mechanism is. 72V is 50% more power for the same amps vs a 48V system.

As for batteries, 100AH lithium cells would make for a very lightweight battery pack. 24 of them at 8lbs or so each would make your entire battery pack in the same size and weight ballpark as a full gas tank. That pack would give 40+ miles range at 30 to 40mph and the 72V would probably allow a 50mph or so top speed, presuming the motor could handle the RPMs. Not sure what the cells go for in UK but here in the US such a battery pack would cost around $3K USD.

You could stay with lead acid as well; six 12V golf cart batteries would work but would weigh over double what the lithium would and have about 20-25 miles usable range. Twelve, 6V golf cart batteries would give 30 to 40 miles usable range at those lower speeds, but would weigh about 3 times as much as the lithum pack.

Good luck.