[brian_]

Very nice job! The battery is well-integrated into the van body. Of course there's no Vito powertrain or chassis left.

For people in North America, this vehicle was not sold here, but it is an earlier generation of the van now offered here as the Metris. It looks like the W639 generation, which ran from 2003 through 2014.

 

[brian_]

Terminology

It would be nice if someone fixed whatever online translation tool is turning the words for electric motor in various languages into "engine" so that it produces "motor" instead. If you use Google Translate to translate "electric motor" from English to Swedish, it says "elektrisk motor"... but if you use the same tool to translate "elektrisk motor" from Swedish to English, it says "electric engine"! It's a Tesla drive unit, consisting of a motor, transmission with differential, and inverter.

 

[brian_]

Questions

Will there be any storage space under the hood in the front, or will that space all be taken by the charger, DC-to-DC converter, and other equipment?

I assume that to complete the battery packaging, there will be a metal box built around the modules, to enclose them and to provide a load floor inside.

 

[brian_]

I will try to improve my english

No problem; your English is far better than my Swedish! The only problem is with those online translation tools... but I suppose I shouldn't complain about something that is offered free of charge.

 

[brian_]

... also making a box over the motor for all electrical equipment. Using Tesla original cables, best position to make it fit was on top of motor.

I assumed that equipment would be in front in a Tesla - is it normally in the back, or is this a Tesla front motor?

It would be nice to keep a flat load floor in the van, rather than having a box above the rest of the floor level.

 

[brian_]

Now it will be " två flugor i en smäll " translate that in google

Hello, I agree brian_, a box on top of the motor is not the best. But if I want to use original cables it had to be like that. And I had to make some sort of hood over motor anyway and also some box for electronics. Now it will be " två flugor i en smäll " translate that in google

It´s a rear drive unit from Tesla, normally high junction box and charger lies under rear seat in a Tesla.

Thanks
That's one of those details that the Tesla fans forget to mention when they brag about the clean and simple "skateboard" design.

 

[brian_]

Starting to tear apart Corvette C5 suspension, setup without antidive and anti squat.

There is normally anti-dive/anti-squat in the stock geometry of a C5, right? Why would you set it up without anti-dive/anti-squat?

 

[brian_]

Brian, first of all I`m inspired by Göran Malmberg and his " Zero Car": Dont build in angles and characteristics into a suspension who you have no idea about. Now the car is neutral.

Okay, but wouldn't it also make sense to not modify geometry which you don't have any idea about? The suspension still has camber change, caster, and kingpin inclination (as it should)... you haven't zeroed those out. Why is anti-dive/anti-squat different?

Weight distrubution in the Elvito is problably not the same as in the Corvette.
The coilovers I´m using has very likely not the same setup as the Corvettes.

Right - the Vito is taller and heavier than a Corvette, so it likely needs more anti-dive and anti-squat. Springs are springs, whether they're coiled-up steel wire or flat composite strips; you have presumably increased spring rates to match the higher mass, and have chosen stabilizer bars for the taller vehicle but perhaps more moderate cornering expectations. Did you determine spring rates specifically to work with zero anti-dive and anti-squat?

I also had a long discussion in a swedish forum with people who is racing with their Super Sevens and all ended up in this setup

Does the van with Corvette suspension seem more like a stock Corvette, or more like a racing Lotus Super 7? My guess is that those little cars set up for racing are very stiffly sprung for their mass, and although short are extremely low, so will dive and squat very little even without anti-dive/anti-squat geometry. Is the Elvito racing-stiff... and isn't it a couple of metres tall?

 

[brian_]

Anti-dive and anti-squat lock up the suspension to make the travelling comfortable. If you have race ambitions and wants to brake before a sharp curve, you dont want the suspension to lock up, you still want it to function to get the best grip and keep the speed up.

No, that's not true at all. Anti-dive and anti-squat produce a vertical component of longitudinal force (upward force at the front in response to braking force; downward force at the rear in response to drive force) to reduce the suspension movement required to handle the load shift required. It doesn't interfere with suspension movement at all. Locking up suspension travel would never help ride comfort, and this isn't really for ride comfort anyway - it is to improve the speed of response.

The degree of anti-dive/anti-squat chosen for a stock street vehicle may not be appropriate in a race applications, due to lower centre of mass and much stiffer springing typical of a race car. You may not need anti-dive/anti-squat, but understanding what you are changing might be a good idea.

The Vito will not be heavier than the Corvette, se enclosed document ( in swedish of course). I have been weighted every part I removed from Elvito and weighted every part i put on. Next step will be plastic side windows etc.
Also I lowered the center of gravity, batterypack is under the floor, motor in center of wheels and so on. Only thing which is high is roof.

The suspension, wheels, tires, and brakes are the same (and thus at the same height) in the Corvette and Elvito. The transaxle of a Corvette is the same height as the Tesla motor. the Corvette engine is almost as low as the battery of the Elvito. The Vito body - which is a significant part of the vehicle mass - is higher, so the overall result will probably have a higher centre of mass.

 

[brian_]

Must admit I have jumped to conlusion. Built this Super V8 and there I used Corvette suspension and had all the discussions about anti-dive and anti-squat to be or not. Then when I started the Elvito projekt I just transformed the " knowledge" into Elvito suspension setup assuming it was the best. Now I´m a bit confused.

Ah, that makes a lot more sense!

You can just complete the Elvito project to the running state with the geometry as-is. If that works well, celebrate! If it dives and squats more than you want, you can then modify the mounting points.

When I wrote lowering the center of gravity I was comparing the original MB Vito not with Corvette.

Sorry, I missed that; yes, the Elvito will definitely have a lower centre of mass than the original Vito. I was comparing to the Corvette, because of the Corvette suspension.

 

[brian_]

Built this Super V8 and there I used Corvette suspension...

That's quite that extreme machine!
C4 suspension, right?

 

[brian_]

Yes C4 suspension dana 44, Ford Mustang GT 2003 4,6 l engine, edis 8 and Megasquirt

The mix of brands (Ford engine and ignition, Chevy suspension and final drive, aftermarket engine management) would be good preparation for a typical conversion project, which often mixes a battery from one EV OEM with the motor from another and electronics from someone else. Ironically, the Elvito is essentially all-Tesla for the EV components.