Joined
·
19 Posts
Dear all,
Well, here I am with an ev conversion project in France, where it is known to be a very cumbersome and uncertain process when it comes to making one road legal as we require green light from the maker of the donor car!
Nonetheless, thanks to Gavin Shoebridge and many of you successful converters out there, it's been for almost a year a real obsession that is damn persistent. There seems to be no other way out than getting my hands and knees dirty
My donor car is a Volvo 480, nice little hatchback from the mid-80's to mid-90's that's quite lightweight (1T) and aerodynamic so some extent (Cd 0.34). It was mainly sold in Europe although a very few may have made it to the US. So it's out there waiting to be dismantled and electrified.
I've also engaged with local potential partners to assist with specific design and manufacture of required components (adapter plate, mounts, battery racks, safety studies etc.)
Although I'm currently in the homework phase, I think I'm already clear about the technology I deem to be the best way forward : AC motor and LifePo4, to optimize return on (heavy) investment and get best value for money (did consider DC and Lead Acid but that's not effective by all means).
As for requirements, my commute is 80kms return trip so don't want to compromise on range and aim at 100kms between charges (ideally @ 80% DOD). The trip is a good mix of Highway (130km/h for 5 kms, 110 to 90 km/h for 6kms and the rest is within Paris so a lot of boring traffic jam stop and start, traffic lights and low speed). There's a good business case for driving an EV. The landscape is rather flat around here so components shouldn't suffer from anything else than high speed, freezing cold in the winter and randomly hot summers. I need to work out a system around:
- decent range as stated above (100kms)
- sufficent torque to take over comfortably
- top speed of 130 km/h (sorry about metric guys
)
Hopefully regen braking will somewhat help me meet those range objectives.
I'm hoping not to go too much above original curb weight to keep a good balance between weight and overall power.
I'm already considering the HPG AC50 + Curtis Controller Combo and source some CALB or Thundersky batts further down the road when they'll be ready to get installed. Still need to work out the overall capacity that'll dictate type of battery to choose so I can size the racks accordingly.
I'm currently in my learning curve, hence my registration on the forum to wipe away some doubts, clear out grey areas and validate some essential choices. So please be lenient.
All the best
Well, here I am with an ev conversion project in France, where it is known to be a very cumbersome and uncertain process when it comes to making one road legal as we require green light from the maker of the donor car!
Nonetheless, thanks to Gavin Shoebridge and many of you successful converters out there, it's been for almost a year a real obsession that is damn persistent. There seems to be no other way out than getting my hands and knees dirty
My donor car is a Volvo 480, nice little hatchback from the mid-80's to mid-90's that's quite lightweight (1T) and aerodynamic so some extent (Cd 0.34). It was mainly sold in Europe although a very few may have made it to the US. So it's out there waiting to be dismantled and electrified.
I've also engaged with local potential partners to assist with specific design and manufacture of required components (adapter plate, mounts, battery racks, safety studies etc.)
Although I'm currently in the homework phase, I think I'm already clear about the technology I deem to be the best way forward : AC motor and LifePo4, to optimize return on (heavy) investment and get best value for money (did consider DC and Lead Acid but that's not effective by all means).
As for requirements, my commute is 80kms return trip so don't want to compromise on range and aim at 100kms between charges (ideally @ 80% DOD). The trip is a good mix of Highway (130km/h for 5 kms, 110 to 90 km/h for 6kms and the rest is within Paris so a lot of boring traffic jam stop and start, traffic lights and low speed). There's a good business case for driving an EV. The landscape is rather flat around here so components shouldn't suffer from anything else than high speed, freezing cold in the winter and randomly hot summers. I need to work out a system around:
- decent range as stated above (100kms)
- sufficent torque to take over comfortably
- top speed of 130 km/h (sorry about metric guys
Hopefully regen braking will somewhat help me meet those range objectives.
I'm hoping not to go too much above original curb weight to keep a good balance between weight and overall power.
I'm already considering the HPG AC50 + Curtis Controller Combo and source some CALB or Thundersky batts further down the road when they'll be ready to get installed. Still need to work out the overall capacity that'll dictate type of battery to choose so I can size the racks accordingly.
I'm currently in my learning curve, hence my registration on the forum to wipe away some doubts, clear out grey areas and validate some essential choices. So please be lenient.
All the best