[dpringle]

Hey everybody,

I have been lurking on this board for a few days and doing plenty of other research on EV conversions....

The short of it, I've bought a Ford Probe that I want to convert to EV for my wife's commute to work and for me to run errands in. I've never done anything like this before. My mechanical / electrical knowledge is cursory, but I have a good knack for fitting things together and solving problems...

Her commute is 15 miles one way, including highway, with some light-to-moderate hill climbing. She probably will NOT be able to plug in at work.

My first questions are (as I'm sure I will have more):

1. Do you guys weigh the donor after you remove the ICE system so that you can determine how much battery weight it can support before you hit the weight limits?
2. Should I just use the stock standard transmission (as most of you apparently do) or is there a 'direct drive' option that I have missed?

I'm considering one of the conversion kits from KTA-EV to get the job done, but haven't taken the time yet to sit down and figure out what I actually need yet....

.... next step is to go the doc and get that prescription for Valium....

[dpringle]

Wow... getting the ICE out of this car was harder than I thought. The transverse V6 was packed in there so tightly that there was no room to get anything off.... had to work hard to get anywhere...

Well, hopefully today is the day, though. Going out to hook up the hoist. Wish me luck. Can't wait to start working on the EV side of things.

I blog this at http://www.harrisburgev.com

Dave

[mattW]

1. If you have the option then its probably a good idea, but I wouldn't sweat if you don't know the exact empty weight
2. Netgain have a series called the Transwarp motors which are designed to be used without a gearbox, it takes a lot of torque to move away from the stop so the motors have to be pretty beefy with the low gear ratio of the diff. Its up to you really what suits you...

[pheobo]

What EV components did you end up going with, who did you buy them from and what was the cost?

[dpringle]

I haven't settled yet... ICE just came out. Sitting on the floor 'bleeding' transmission fluid all over the place.... Now the fun begins!

I plan on spending some time on the 'decision process' today. I was looking at the transwarp motors... do you have any links for suppliers you prefer or suggest?

rctous just purchased his batteries yesterday. Seems like a decent pack.

Any thoughts?

[fshagan]

Have you done any calculations to see how you can get a 30 mile range with highway speeds and hills involved? I did some preliminary ones using a bug as the proposed donor car, and the results weren't that pretty, but the Probe may be able to handle more battery weight (I have a 90 mile commute, and found too many uncertainties with even half that amount to make it worthwhile).

[dpringle]

I did some preliminary calculations, but I need to redo them. I know I made mistakes. Also, I recalculated her route and found a way for her to go that takes about the same amount of time, but avoids the highway (and cuts about 2 miles off the route).

I was at the NetGain site and reviewed some of the stats on motors. I am impressed so far and think I will definitely end up with one of their motors. I'm perplexed as to which one to get. I can't see how I could connect one of the transwarp motors directly to a front wheel drive car without some sort of differential... unless I only use one drive wheel, which I'm not comfortable with.

Anyone have a good direct drive idea? I'd rather get rid of the old tranny.

[TheSGC]

The thing with the direct drive is that it uses a lot of AMPs if you dont have the proper gear ratio. And that means a lot less range. Also, with direct drive you would have to have a reversing system to switch between forward and backwards.

I think the cost and work for a direct drive DC system is more geared (haha a pun) toward the high performance and racing EVs.