Hi Jon, very interested to see your ideas. I started looking at converting an MG Midget, but then "accidentally" ended up restoring a Rover Mini. I too had been looking at the Swind mini conversion, and how expensive their battery is. I am also looking at EV-zero batteries as a cheaper and upgradable suggestion. Have you spoken to Swindon yet? I am planning to call them next week, and ask them some questions. I will let you know if I find out anything useful.
Riley Elf / Classic Mini EV Conversion
Hi Everyone,
I planning an EV conversion for a Riley Elf but as far as I can tell this setup would work on any classic mini.
I am very early in the planning stage and I don't currently even have a car yet.
The forum has been a good start for learning what goes into an EV conversion but I am by no means an expert in fact I'm clearly a novice.
I have been trying to space out and plan the build using AutoCAD by using scaled 2D drawings I have found for the Elf, subframes, motor and shell. This clearly has its limitations and ideally I would like to get my hands on a scanned mini shell.
I am planning on using the SWIND HPD E 80 motor as this is such a small unit that mounts nice and low in the engine bay. I plan on either using a modified front subframe with mounting points for a battery box above the motor or by using a subframe similar to the design of the B-TEC tubular frame conversion.
This should allow for enough space for a battery box that will hold 8x CALB modules. This may require the inner wings to either be cut back or removed to allow for the width of the box. This will also require the radiator and fan to be mounted in the front grille, vertically for the Elf or horizontally for a normal mini grille.
I chose the CALB 6P2S for their voltage as the motor is 400V and this set up gives the most voltage over the LG version or the 4P3S CALB.
There will be a further 4 or 5 modules in another battery box in the rear subframe. This will require strengthening of the rear subframe and also the boot floor panel to be cut out and a flat panel to be welded in to remove the 12V battery box and spare wheel well. Potential to use a modified mini van rear floor panel.
This means that I should have total battery energy capacity of 26.6 kWh and a nominal voltage of 266.4V.
The controller, DC/DC converter are yet to be decided. I have found the Cascadia PM100DX for an inverter but am open to other options as the costs are starting to escalate by this point. They, along with the charger will be hidden in a fake fuel tank in the boot, this will allow for all them to be located directly underneath the filler neck.
I am looking at the potential of using two Tesla gen 2 charger to give a fast charging capacity of 20 kW. I don't currently have a place to park and charge the mini so would most likely be doing street charging hence the need to be able to charge quicker.
All connections from front to rear will be via exhaust tunnel so no HV inside the cabin.
I think additional weight / balance should not be too affected as the rear weight is over the wheels and nice and low. The front battery box (96 kg) and motor (50 kg) are not much more than the presumed weight of the a series & gearbox.
So what do you guys think? Any advice about this setup would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Jon
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I planning an EV conversion for a Riley Elf but as far as I can tell this setup would work on any classic mini.
I am very early in the planning stage and I don't currently even have a car yet.
The forum has been a good start for learning what goes into an EV conversion but I am by no means an expert in fact I'm clearly a novice.
I have been trying to space out and plan the build using AutoCAD by using scaled 2D drawings I have found for the Elf, subframes, motor and shell. This clearly has its limitations and ideally I would like to get my hands on a scanned mini shell.
I am planning on using the SWIND HPD E 80 motor as this is such a small unit that mounts nice and low in the engine bay. I plan on either using a modified front subframe with mounting points for a battery box above the motor or by using a subframe similar to the design of the B-TEC tubular frame conversion.
This should allow for enough space for a battery box that will hold 8x CALB modules. This may require the inner wings to either be cut back or removed to allow for the width of the box. This will also require the radiator and fan to be mounted in the front grille, vertically for the Elf or horizontally for a normal mini grille.
I chose the CALB 6P2S for their voltage as the motor is 400V and this set up gives the most voltage over the LG version or the 4P3S CALB.
There will be a further 4 or 5 modules in another battery box in the rear subframe. This will require strengthening of the rear subframe and also the boot floor panel to be cut out and a flat panel to be welded in to remove the 12V battery box and spare wheel well. Potential to use a modified mini van rear floor panel.
This means that I should have total battery energy capacity of 26.6 kWh and a nominal voltage of 266.4V.
The controller, DC/DC converter are yet to be decided. I have found the Cascadia PM100DX for an inverter but am open to other options as the costs are starting to escalate by this point. They, along with the charger will be hidden in a fake fuel tank in the boot, this will allow for all them to be located directly underneath the filler neck.
I am looking at the potential of using two Tesla gen 2 charger to give a fast charging capacity of 20 kW. I don't currently have a place to park and charge the mini so would most likely be doing street charging hence the need to be able to charge quicker.
All connections from front to rear will be via exhaust tunnel so no HV inside the cabin.
I think additional weight / balance should not be too affected as the rear weight is over the wheels and nice and low. The front battery box (96 kg) and motor (50 kg) are not much more than the presumed weight of the a series & gearbox.
So what do you guys think? Any advice about this setup would be appreciated.
Cheers,
Jon
