DIY Electric Car Forums banner

New guy on the block!

2638 Views 15 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  trkbilder
Just checking in. I've been working on golf carts and have got to thinking about building an EV. Looking for a donor car at present. I'll try to keep everyone posted.
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
I don't know, maybe you guys weren't listening!! I said hello. The correct response would be to recognize a request for a response. Let's try this again. I have my eye on a 1992 Nissan Sentra 2 dr. std. shift. I am going for direct drive so the tranny is going. I plan on getting a motor reworked by a friend of mine at Plum Quick and I'm going to use 20 8 volt batteries for a pack total of 160 volts. The controller is still up in the air as are the contactors. I am aiming for 55mph and a range of around 60 miles. I will use this car to run errands in and around my hometown. Range is debatable and subject to change. The batteries are still questionable as to what brand and type. Looking at Trojans. Any suggestions would be studied and considered for possibilities! Any response would be appreciated!!
I don't know, maybe you guys weren't listening!! I said hello. The correct response would be to recognize a request for a response. Let's try this again. I have my eye on a 1992 Nissan Sentra 2 dr. std. shift. I am going for direct drive so the tranny is going. I plan on getting a motor reworked by a friend of mine at Plum Quick and I'm going to use 20 8 volt batteries for a pack total of 160 volts. The controller is still up in the air as are the contactors. I am aiming for 55mph and a range of around 60 miles. I will use this car to run errands in and around my hometown. Range is debatable and subject to change. The batteries are still questionable as to what brand and type. Looking at Trojans. Any suggestions would be studied and considered for possibilities! Any response would be appreciated!!
Hello.

Not to be rude, but as I read it, your first post did not contain any request for a response. Very general statements seldom receive much notice here.

Have you read through the Wiki and searched out all the threads concerning transmission vs direct drive? There are already a few years worth of discussions concerning all the questions you are asking.

Good luck with your build,
Keith
Hello would have been nice! I'll check out your "wiki" but I'm pretty much sold on direct drive. I do have an open mind and can be stirred in another direction.
Hello would have been nice! I'll check out your "wiki" but I'm pretty much sold on direct drive. I do have an open mind and can be stirred in another direction.
Ya - "Hello" would have been nice - but this forum is getting a little big to stay that personal.

Nothing wrong with direct drive - if - your battery pack is stiff enough to provide desired performance.

Keith
Hello.

Not to be rude, but as I read it, your first post did not contain any request for a response. Very general statements seldom receive much notice here.
Hey Keith is right in a literal way lol...

I've joined several communities and in the forum where new members are asked to post and say hi to the group, 6 to 10 members have always jumped in there and said "Welcome" with out having to be asked. So I'm kinda with trk dude here. A Welcome would have been nice. I've been here a few days and no one said welcome to me either. It's kind of a cold community. It also doesn't have to be a small community to be "personal". When I signed up with The Hokey Ass Message Board. I had 6 people the first day and 4 the 2nd jump in there and welcome me, not to mention 2 sent me friend requests and we hadn't even talked yet! lol

They have Thousands of members with 305,735 Threads and 5,120,156 posts as of tonight! NOT a small community anymore... still personal. I live in a city of 11 million and just today a man smiled and said hello at the grocery store. Go figure. I guess Trk n I will have to be the welcoming committee :eek:

*** I'm not a fan of direct drive. I like lower ratios for take off. I have a Mitsubishi Gallant that has an automatic stuck in third gear for 2 weeks at a time (bad servo and I'm lazy). All of a sudden it will go back to shifting all 3 speeds for a day. When in 3rd gear, take off is slow and painful. I have to take the RPM's to 2,000 rpm's using an inch of gas peddle. When the car shifts normal, I just crack the throttle and away it goes with a snap.

Sorry, I feel that a reduced gear will save energy in electric as it does in gas. Just saying the electric motor developes full torque at any RPM, doesn't mean that you should be using it. Also its silly to use 100 pounds of torque when 40 will suffice. Taking off in high gear (direct drive) has the same effect of towing a heavy trailer, it causes more load just because of the high ratio. Your final drive matters and so do other ratios before that. How are you going to get up a steep mountain grade with a high ratio?

Low ratio does not always mean more power, it also means less work needed to move the car. Think back to science/physics class and the fulcrum. The length of the bar under the "work" end of the teeter totter equals the drive ratio's. Short bar=high ratio; long bar=low ratio's. Apply 100 pounds to a short bar and you will not get the "lift" out of the short bar that you will the long bar. By the same token, you only have to put 30 or 50 pounds on the long bar to get the same lift. So what happened to the unused pounds? They stayed in the storage facility for another work load at another time. It is the same with your direct drive and your EV. You will demand more juice to get going and even travel at lower speeds than if you use a 2nd or 3rd gear in a 4 spd. gear box. You will save juice for another time with less work demand. Keep the juice in batteries by not using it in the first place. Less juice used = more travel time between "fill-r-ups" same as a gas tank.

Rant over :cool:
See less See more
Still going with direct drive!! I'm just going to do it on a more user friendly forum, this one sucks!!!
Let us know if you find a better one... :rolleyes:
Some people just aren't happy unless you spoon-feed them exactly what they want to hear.:(
You know what you can do with your spoon!!
Still going with direct drive!! I'm just going to do it on a more user friendly forum, this one sucks!!!
What did you expect?
I don't know but this ain't it!!!!!
Sorry you couldn't find the info you were looking for. There are numerous threads concerning direct drive vehicles - they should answer almost all your questions.

Later,
Keith
Sorry you couldn't find the info you were looking for. There are numerous threads concerning direct drive vehicles - they should answer almost all your questions.

Later,
Keith
The info was great. Not a problem! I just felt like a red-headed step child from the beginning. You are the first one that sounds reasonable. Thank you, sir, for your reply. I'll be moving on but , if allowed, will check back occasionally just to see what is going on. The info was all 1st rate and I've learned a lot. Thanks for that!!!
The info was great. Not a problem! I just felt like a red-headed step child from the beginning. You are the first one that sounds reasonable. Thank you, sir, for your reply. I'll be moving on but , if allowed, will check back occasionally just to see what is going on. The info was all 1st rate and I've learned a lot. Thanks for that!!!
Good luck with your project. Don't worry about stopping in - it takes a lot to get banned from here.;)

Keith
Good luck with your project. Don't worry about stopping in - it takes a lot to get banned from here.;)

Keith
OK, I'm going to take your word on that. Just as a side note. I've located an EV built by South Carolina State University. It hasn't run in almost ten years but it might make a good start. Hope to check it out this week end. Might be able to salvage something on it, don't know yet!
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top