[brian_]

Mr Damian Maguires €1000 ev conversion is fantastic however now im realising he is using parts from under his work bench

That's how all really cheap projects work: they don't count most of the actual cost.

 

[brian_]

Is the allure of a DC forklift motor that it's cheaper to control?

I think that's a huge part of it. The function of a DC controller is trivial compared to an AC controller/inverter, with no tuning or matching of the controller to the motor required.

Random industrial motors (including many from forklifts) are also likely to have plain (or keyed) output shafts, which are not good for power transmission but are sort of generically manageable (whatever someone else did with a forklift motor will probably work for another builder of a similar configuration), in contrast to the splined output shafts of salvaged production EV motors.

 

[brian_]

350 pounds - if its in decent condition that is a good price

The two ends would be Scrap at about 100 and NEW at about 1500 - so 350 is not extortion - try and get some extra (not new) brushes thrown in with it

I understand how this can reasonably be considered a good deal, but I find it hard to reconcile the "get a forklift motor, because they're just surplus metal so they're cheap" message with a scrap motor costing $570 CAD. That's a lot better than a few thousand dollars, but not small change.

 

[brian_]

... $500 is LESS than a LOT less than $3000

And as far as buying ANY major car part $570 is cheap!

I certainly do understand that (and explicitly said so), but the impression in the thousands of "forklift" posts in this forum is that buying such a motor is like picking up scrap, not buying typical major car parts.

Here I have bought several for less than 100 pounds each - but if I had to pay 350 pounds I would have - and still thought it was a good deal

This illustrates the issue well - the expectation usually given is of £100, but the reality in this case is £350. I understand the shopper's disappointment.