200 miles on 60 kWh would be 300 Wh/mile or 200 Wh/km. That's quite reasonable for a car, but probably optimistic for a 3-ton van, unless you're planning on driving at a slow (by highway standards) and reasonably steady speed. In the 2022 E-Transit, Ford is only expecting 127 miles from a 67 kWh battery (528 Wh/mile)... and that would be a combination of urban and highway use - in an EV, the lower speeds of urban use mean more range for the same energy than the higher speeds of highway driving. I realize that a Westfalia is smaller than a transit, but 200 miles from 60 kWh is a lot better than what Ford is getting in objective testing.
Help needed with battery range vs size of pack
Hi all. I have looked for similar questions here and have come up empty. I have been learning as much as I can about ev conversions to prep for my 1985 vw westfalia conversion.
I am wanting to maximize range as I am fine with this slow beast staying so. I have been looking at the hyper 9 or warp 9 motors with 130 or so maximum voltage.
the van weighs about 6k pounds and is not particularly aerodynamic but I would like to get as much range as possible. Doing some basic math I have been looking to get above 60kwh for the battery capacity. If I could get close to 200 miles of range out of this thing I think that would be sufficient.
Anyways. If anyone would want to share their knowledge or thought process for how to build out the battery pack for this type of vehicle and range application I’d appreciate some insight as well as suggestions on the feasibility.
thanks all.
I am wanting to maximize range as I am fine with this slow beast staying so. I have been looking at the hyper 9 or warp 9 motors with 130 or so maximum voltage.
the van weighs about 6k pounds and is not particularly aerodynamic but I would like to get as much range as possible. Doing some basic math I have been looking to get above 60kwh for the battery capacity. If I could get close to 200 miles of range out of this thing I think that would be sufficient.
Anyways. If anyone would want to share their knowledge or thought process for how to build out the battery pack for this type of vehicle and range application I’d appreciate some insight as well as suggestions on the feasibility.
thanks all.
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
I assume that you have read about Yabert's Westfalia T3 with Chevy Bolt drivetrain; it is the same vehicle (VW T3, even with Westfalia package), with similar battery capacity (stock Chevrolet Bolt pack; 60 kWh). Yabert reported getting over 300 km (190 miles) of range... probably mostly highway. He didn't build a battery pack - he adapted the van to fit the complete stock Bolt pack.Hi all. I have looked for similar questions here and have come up empty. I have been learning as much as I can about ev conversions to prep for my 1985 vw westfalia conversion.
...
Anyways. If anyone would want to share their knowledge or thought process for how to build out the battery pack for this type of vehicle and range application I’d appreciate some insight as well as suggestions on the feasibility.
If you are DIYing a pack, can go with parallel sub-packs at full voltage
do actual testing measurement then add more sub-packs as needed.
3-4 in parallel should be your limit though
do actual testing measurement then add more sub-packs as needed.
3-4 in parallel should be your limit though
That makes sense. I hadn’t seen those numbers from Ford. I’ve seen the Chevy bolt westfalia build and his range was where I got my minimum 60kwh from. I guess what I’m wondering is how many kWh I can get using off the shelf modules or building my own. I’ve searched around and people seem to have opinions about how much battery is feasible these days but I haven’t seen any numbers to back that up. I’d like to preserve as much internal space in the van as possible so mounting under is what I am thinking.200 miles on 60 kWh would be 300 Wh/mile or 200 Wh/km. That's quite reasonable for a car, but probably optimistic for a 3-ton van, unless you're planning on driving at a slow (by highway standards) and reasonably steady speed. In the 2022 E-Transit, Ford is only expecting 127 miles from a 67 kWh battery (528 Wh/mile)... and that would be a combination of urban and highway use - in an EV, the lower speeds of urban use mean more range for the same energy than the higher speeds of highway driving. I realize that a Westfalia is smaller than a transit, but 200 miles from 60 kWh is a lot better than what Ford is getting in objective testing.
Thanks so much for your reply!
Ok so sub packs that are each full voltage and then running those packs in parallel? Why would 3-4 parallel be the limit?If you are DIYing a pack, can go with parallel sub-packs at full voltage
do actual testing measurement then add more sub-packs as needed.
3-4 in parallel should be your limit though
Past that the current imbalances get too great.
Maybe if you wired balance leads in parallel at the cell level could go higher
Then all the sub packs really work more as a single unified pack, one BMS could be used, as if you had wired up the parallel groups first at the 1S level before the series connections.
Maybe if you wired balance leads in parallel at the cell level could go higher
Then all the sub packs really work more as a single unified pack, one BMS could be used, as if you had wired up the parallel groups first at the 1S level before the series connections.
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
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