[mcdermott.adam]

I am working on converting my split window VW bus. The current plan is a tesla SDU and bolt batteries under the floor. I've been doing a ton of reading/searching/etc and haven't found much in the way of specifics on what components are usable from the bolt. I'm hoping to buy a parts car and get the major components from it. Any help on resources would be greatly appreciated, but I have some questions:
1) I've seen a few people who have re configured the battery pack, which is what I plan to do. Is there a good in depth writeup of this? Coolant lines etc?
2) Is there any information on using the charger, DC/DC converter, etc?
3) Has anyone come up with a VCU for the drive unit?

If all I can use are the batteries a salvage car is a ton of work for 1 component, but if I can grab all the big ticket items it seems like the way to go.

Feedback is welcomed!

Thanks,

Adam

 

[brian_]

Using OEM EV components is generally a matter of extremes: either you use so much of the original system that all of the parts continue to work with each other, or you use almost nothing so the components don't expect to communicate with each other. The first approach is probably not the one you are thinking of, but Yabert was successful by that method with his Westfalia T3 with Chevy Bolt drivetrain

 

[mcdermott.adam]

Using OEM EV components is generally a matter of extremes: either you use so much of the original system that all of the parts continue to work with each other, or you use almost nothing so the components don't expect to communicate with each other. The first approach is probably not the one you are thinking of, but Yabert was successful by that method with his Westfalia T3 with Chevy Bolt drivetrain

Thanks, I had seen that, and while it's certainly an option I'm looking to integrate with the original gauges etc as much as possible. Essentially what I'm seeing is some things (I think some Leaf components?) operate with just a few simple signal wires, and many others have open source/aftermarket solutions. If I could stomach the purchase price I would just snag a tesla wreck and some boards off openinverter, but they are crazy money for old high mileage cars. Bolts appear to be much cheaper, still have very good specs, and fit within the envelope I'm trying to use.

It seems that the units "just working" is probably wishful thinking based on your feedback though, so I guess what I'm after is some sort of controllers/drop in boards that utilize the Bolt hardware.

 

[Tremelune]

It just hasn't happened yet, though it seems inevitable. Someone talented needs to take the time to do the work and share the info.

Batteries are batteries—that's just specs. The rest of the components are likely controlled by a proprietary (and secret) CAN bus protocol that someone needs to reverse engineer...and then build a controller for. We might luck out with simple signals for some stuff, but the Leaf is still being worked on and it's a decade old.