[DavidDymaxion]

http://www.poormansev.com/
http://www.grassrootsev.com

The first link is a guy that did a big old American car for cheap. The 2nd link shows a way to cheaper make a motor adapter, if you are mechanically handy.

Hello, I have been fascinated with the idea of converting an older car or truck or small(light) compact car to electric. I already have a '69 F100 SWB truck but was looking at something like an early nineties ford escort or geo metro or even a mid eighties camaro.

I would not be extremly concerned about range or performance for my first project. I just want to drive it very short distances around my neighborhood for grocery getting or car shows/cruising. It will be just to show off and get the idea into people about an inexpensive diy electric car. And just for fun.

Later I might like to try for something that can be taken on the highway and have a range up to 100 miles or even 50 miles.

I found a motor for sale with controller and I just wanted to ask someone's opinion if it would be an option for an electric vehicle. I know weight is a big issue with electric cars but it's a 30Hp reliance electric rpm iii dc motor with a reliance electric flexpack 3000 drive system. It's actually on ebay. Would this thing even be an option and how much would it be worth?

Anyway thanks for helping. I am totally new at this. I have a lot of research to do.

Dan

 

[bblocher]

Hello, I have been fascinated with the idea of converting an older car or truck or small(light) compact car to electric. I already have a '69 F100 SWB truck but was looking at something like an early nineties ford escort or geo metro or even a mid eighties camaro.

I would not be extremly concerned about range or performance for my first project. I just want to drive it very short distances around my neighborhood for grocery getting or car shows/cruising. It will be just to show off and get the idea into people about an inexpensive diy electric car. And just for fun.

Later I might like to try for something that can be taken on the highway and have a range up to 100 miles or even 50 miles.

I found a motor for sale with controller and I just wanted to ask someone's opinion if it would be an option for an electric vehicle. I know weight is a big issue with electric cars but it's a 30Hp reliance electric rpm iii dc motor with a reliance electric flexpack 3000 drive system. It's actually on ebay. Would this thing even be an option and how much would it be worth?

Anyway thanks for helping. I am totally new at this. I have a lot of research to do.

Dan

If that's 30hp continuous then it's plenty for an EV, especially for your limited needs. My only concern with this motor is it is rated for 240v. You can run it with slightly less but either way you'll need a lot of batteries in series to get the voltage needed here.

For a first timer I recommend using components which are geared for EV purposes. There are many EV suppliers around on the net. It will be easier to find compatible parts and prebuilt solutions/packages.

I also strongely recommend reading the entire wiki on this site for tons of great information before you start picking components and getting into a build.

 

[dolinick]

Well, look at this motor on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=350159747901 and this http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=290293893325
I am not ready to buy components as you pointed out to me. I just thought that if it is suitable $500 might be a good price.

I found a gentleman who was selling 20 1 volt deep cycle batteries from his off the grid solar/wind power system. He bought the batteries last Sep and already upgraded to larger batteries. They are Interstate 31-ECL (Extreme Cycle Life) batteries. He is asking $40 for each. I am actually trying to start producing a little power by building some solar panels and a wind turbine.

I went to a couple of metal recyclers in town today to look for a high voltage dc motor for a wind generator. I know this is the wrong forum. Anyway they have lots of ac motors of all sizes. I don't know how many dc motors come through there that are suitable for electric vehicles but I did find a couple of small motors which I may be able to produce electricity with by using them as wind generators.

One is a small dc motor from a childs electric motorcycle. It probably won't produce enough voltage to charge 12 volt batteries but I am going ot experiment with it. The other motor is much larger. It's a pulsed DC motor. It produces 20-40 volts when I spin it with my drill or about 12 volts when I spin it by hand but only when I set my meter on AC. I need a rectifier or something to convert back to straight dc but anyway that's another forum. This is what the tag on the motor says:

JUKI
AC Servo Motor Model ACNP-MC05
rating cont
ins.cl. A
rated volts 340 pulsed DC
rated speed 3350 rpm
rated torque 0.16 KG-M
rated current 3.1 A
Max. Torque 0.9 KG-M/20A
550W
Hitachi, Ltd. Tokyo Japan
mfg no. L517067

There is a black, red, white, and green wire. with the meter on the black and red or the black and white I get the same readings. I can't turn the motor very easily if I short the black and red. I haven't tried shorting the black and white.

Right now they are selling scrap for 20 cents per pound. The two little motors I purchased today weighed 30 pounds and I paid about $6.00.
I don't know if it's a good idea to try and find a used motor this way for an EV. I guess I had better start going through the wiki. Mabye find out what AC electric motor powered vehicles are all about.

I also need to find out if forklift motors can work in an electric vehicle.

Thanks for the responses.

Dan

 

[bblocher]

I also need to find out if forklift motors can work in an electric vehicle.

There are many here who have successfully used forklift motors in their conversions. I'm not sure if rewiring is required or not.

I was only able to look at one of those DC motors. It was rated at 500 volts. Just keep the voltage in mind. You won't find room in any car for 40 standard sized batteries. You'd need to use a bunch of little batteries and that might increase your cost considerably. If you are going to run higher voltage (above say the typical 144v for DC). Then look into an AC setup. There are a lot of benefits to gain from the AC setup and higher voltages.

 

[judebert]

You should also check out ForkenSwift, a project that converted a Suzuki Swift on a very limited budget.

 

[dolinick]

You should also check out ForkenSwift, a project that converted a Suzuki Swift on a very limited budget.

That ForkenSwift is excellent. I found a '93 geo metro on craigslist here but they want $1000. It's running, has new paint, clean interior, air conditioning and good tires according to the ad.


Dan