[austindellahoya]

Hey guys I'm brand new to EV conversion I've been doing a lot of research but I would still like help from you guys. I have a 1993 Jeep Cherokee XJ and I would love to swap to all-electric.

Main requirements
< or = 218 ft pounds of torque
< or = 182 HP
and I'm trying to stay within or close to the original weight of the vehicle which I believe with no driver is 3400 lbs.

This build is meant to be as cheap as possible but I'm willing to spend money, I want to use the vehicle as a daily driver with some off-road capabilities. If someone could help a guy out that would be awesome I just need some recommendations for parts and I can fabricate the rest

Thank you guys so much I'm open to as many questions as possible.

 

[asymptonic]

There are lots and lots of considerations. I drive a 1998 XJ myself, so it seems you're looking for stock performance. One recommendation is to figure out the batteries modules and capacity you're targetting and where you'll put them. The resulting voltage can dictate the motor you want. You can also approach it the other way around and pick a motor with the performance you're looking for (or more, you can always detune), and then work out the batteries to support it.

Then you need to consider an inverter (if your motor doesn't come with one), charging, DC/DC conversion (the last two depend on your system voltages too so can't be chosen without knowing the others), VCU, etc. Do you need new gearing? Are you using the existing manual transmission (automatic is a no-no), etc etc. I suggest you do a bunch more reading in these forums.

 

[austindellahoya]

I've drawn a couple of diagrams for battery placements

I was going to build the majority of the vehicle around the Motor and MCU. I just didn't have any specific motors in mind and I was wanting a couple of suggestions. My main choice was the hype 9 (which is 62-130V and comes with a controller/inverter) or a DC motor of choice with a Zilla 1K-LV but I didn't know if that would be enough for what I'm looking for.

I didn't know anything about the automatic transmission, I was doing research and could never find anything out about that. What would the difficulty be with the Automatic transmission (I could always install a manual transmission)?

Thank you for your response!

 

[asymptonic]

The automatic transmission is computer controlled, intimately with the ICE's computer. AFAIK there are no off the shelf implementations of that interaction. Manual transmission or single gear reduction are more common.

I was looking at the Hyper9 HV (higher voltage version) for a TJ conversion, which is roughly the same weight. XJ should be easier to sneak batteries into but I want to keep my XJ ICE for road trips. The HV has similar performance but I'm hoping handles voltage sag better and allows me to use more battery modules in series for more range. Other motor options people commonly use are Tesla SDU, Leaf, Cascadia Motion's offerings. Those are all AC and so support regen. Not considering DC myself.

 

[austindellahoya]

So I'm a little lost I know that the jeeps transmission is computer controlled but there would be no way to have the TCM shift according to the RPM of the electric motor (or make my own curve). I would love to keep as much stock if possible.

 

[asymptonic]

Again, there is tons of information on these forums. I suggest searching "automatic transmission" for all the trials and tribulations involved.

 

[austindellahoya]

Again, there is tons of information on these forums. I suggest searching "automatic transmission" for all the trials and tribulations involved.

I got recommended to use a fixed ratio gear reduction unit instead of the transmission. Hopefully that would work better than the automatic that’s already in it

 

[Mack the nife]

There are very few shift modual out there mostly got GM 4L60 to 6L80 and a few Ford only one Chrysler type , no one will give up and coding so you can make your own . we did our own for Allison transes .
Your going to have a had time getting a ECM trans to shift ,. Lots of luck