[kerrymann]

I have been off the forum for a while and I recently got a wrecked leaf as a donor (which had it's own tribulations see "I got scammed buying a wrecked Nissan Leaf") and thought I would post it to get peoples thoughts on where I should go with this project.

New project: Two boring Nissan leafs combined to make one 400hp AWD track EV?

I settled on the next project being powered with the Nissan Leafs because they are cheap an plentiful. I have been seeing Gen 1 and 2 Nissan leaf going for $4-5k for a good runners with reasonable mileage and wrecks going for $2-3,000. I would love to get a Model 3 wreck but the prices are still really high and haven't seen any public hacks of the motor controller.

Not sure if I am going to use the Volt batteries or Tesla batteries. I hope to design it so I can use the Model 3 batteries as they are the best $/kwh, kwh/kg but their long length makes them really hard to deal with. The car is going to be scratch built so I am hoping I can be able to make a ~7' long battery box that will fit them in.

 

[Tremelune]

Should be a hoot! Do you know what they'll go in yet? The hard bit is getting the motor to drive the axles without having to, like, redesign the suspension.

You sure Model 3 batteries are cheaper per kW than Leaf stuff? Even the "Lizard" batteries are like $4k for 24kW...

 

[brian_]

The hard bit is getting the motor to drive the axles without having to, like, redesign the suspension.

There's no redesign required if there is no design to start with, and kerrymann is apparently planning a scratch-built vehicle.

I usually don't watch people's videos (typically a huge waste of time, especially compared to reading the same content) but I watched this one, and noted some points...

The car is to be an "open tube-frame" or "naked" design, which is now typically called an exoskeleton (although that's a lousy term), like the Ariel Atom or the various Exomotive kits.

The intent is to use much of the Leaf's suspension, including the subframes, which implies using the stock half-shafts and hubs, so there's no axle adaptation issue.

To clear larger-diameter tires with the stock McPherson struts, extreme outset wheels were being considered - I think that this would be a terrible idea for multiple reasons. Conversion (with the stock hub carriers) to a double A-arm design is being considered for clearance and for height reduction - this is a well-established and effective solution. On the other hand, the use of a rocker arm and inboard shock/spring units is a nearly pointless complication adding unsprung mass, total mass, and complexity (but it is popular in "wanna look like a race car" designs).

 

[brian_]

I hope to design it so I can use the Model 3 batteries as they are the best $/kwh, kwh/kg but their long length makes them really hard to deal with. The car is going to be scratch built so I am hoping I can be able to make a ~7' long battery box that will fit them in.

They're too long to go across the car, and running them over top of drive units is too high, so the only practical location is under the floor as intended. They fill the available length between the front and rear subframes and just fit in the Model 3... which has a ‎113.2 in (2,880 mm) wheelbase. This just doesn't seem workable to me, but I would be interested to see if someone has a solution.

How about Chevrolet Bolt modules? They're an easier size to work with (10 Bolt modules versus 4 Model 3 modules for similar capacity) and should be readily available. You could even design around the complete Bolt pack.