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Planning 1997 eagle talon conversion

2K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  OMT 
#1 ·
I am a first time individual interested in building my own full conversion all electric car. I already purchased a 1997 Eagle talon/Mitsubishi eclipse and removed the 4 cylinder engine, fuel system, and exhaust system. The car is front wheel drive with a 5 speed manual transmission I intend to use. The car weighs about 2900lbs and is a 2 door sport coupe. Although I have not done this type of conversion before I do most of my own vehicle maintenance and I have a background in aerospace engineering. I would ultimately like a vehicle range approaching 200 miles although I am willing to build up to that from a starting point of about 50 miles. I Would like to have sporty performance for the car with accelerations of 0-60 mph in about 4-4.5 seconds. I have not bought any parts so far in terms of the conversion but I intend to spend about $10000 to accomplish this conversion and do most of the work myself. I want to use lithium ion batteries and a forklift or low cost dc motor. So how do I get started?
Thanks, Kurt 3/9/2011
 
#2 ·
I am a first time individual interested in building my own full conversion all electric car. I already purchased a 1997 Eagle talon/Mitsubishi eclipse and removed the 4 cylinder engine, fuel system, and exhaust system. The car is front wheel drive with a 5 speed manual transmission I intend to use. The car weighs about 2900lbs and is a 2 door sport coupe. Although I have not done this type of conversion before I do most of my own vehicle maintenance and I have a background in aerospace engineering. I would ultimately like a vehicle range approaching 200 miles although I am willing to build up to that from a starting point of about 50 miles. I Would like to have sporty performance for the car with accelerations of 0-60 mph in about 4-4.5 seconds. I have not bought any parts so far in terms of the conversion but I intend to spend about $10000 to accomplish this conversion and do most of the work myself. I want to use lithium ion batteries and a forklift or low cost dc motor. So how do I get started?
Thanks, Kurt 3/9/2011
Welcome Kurt, you have some pretty lofty goals, you will probably be able to satisfy some of them, but not all. Especially if the price is firm. I have some info in my build thread on here, or you can check out my blog. Also do a search for crodriver on here and you will find a wealth of information.
Good luck.
 
#3 · (Edited)
The first thing you need to figure out is the batteries, motor and controller. What system voltage you want to use and the power out you want with the range you want will tell you how many, what size of batteries and how much it's going to cost. Then pick a properly sized motor and controller to fit both physically into the car and your voltage and power output wants/needs.

200 miles of range will set you back 20k or more, probably more, in lithium batteries alone.
 
#4 ·
Hi K

What you plan is doable - 50 miles range - good performance - $10K

Good ex-fork lift motor, soliton controller, 10Kwhrs - 150v battery pack

Then for more range you increase your voltage to get 100miles and double up the pack to get 200 miles

So it is doable - just!!

Not sure if the 4 seconds to 60mph is doable - I think your tire grip may stop you from getting that low
 
#5 ·
Hey guys! Thanks for all the great comments and suggestions. I thought my original goals were a little lofty and your help has confirmed it. In terms of compromises my least important objective is the acceleration goal of 0-60 in 4-4.5 sec. With that in mind can someone point me to a good end to end simulation/software calculator I can use to run trade studies with? I could write something myself but I would rather use an existing software with real world corrections and learning curve already incorporated.
Thanks, kurt 3/12/11
 
#6 ·
...good end to end simulation/software calculator I can use to run trade studies with?
there are several out there, but you'll find the results vary widely depending on battery specs and controller 'tuning' limiting how hard you want to hammer the batteries. At highway speeds, energy consumption is going to vary considerably, and if your car hasn't been tested before the results could be pretty far off.

the talon is a pretty heavy car, but with good aero... if you want ACCELERATION you are probably looking at needing a 11" motor, if you want to go with a smaller, lighter motor like a 9" it might be a little less expensive, and probably perform just fine.
 
#7 ·
your goals are do-able ( 50miles range) with that cost, 200 is very do-able, but more space, and more $ is needed.

the main drivetrain parts you should look into ( in my opinion) should be something like:

general electric 11" forklift motor ( read the thread on how to choose a proper forklift motor) i got one that should handle atleast 160kw for 90$

soliton,zilla1k, or i your up to it you could build your own controller ( look up paul and sabrina diy controller, they have one that is rated at 200v, 800A i beleive, this could save you alot of money

i would look in headway batteries as im pretty sure they are the cheapest high power batteries available, but you could start off with a cheap sealed agm battery pack that could provide alot of power, but would weigh more than a pig on a mcdonald`s diet, compared to the lithiums. go to the white zombies website, he started off with agm batteries and now has lithiums and i beleive gets 100miles of range


as for the charger. well that really depends on how fast you need,want to charge the pack, the more expensive chargers are 6+ kw and are 2k$+
 
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