Anyone own, built or worked on an electric vehicle?

[Jim Oaks]

This is a topic that I'm very much interested in. I was hoping that instead of doing a ton of research on the subject, I could find some people here with knowledge on electric vehicles and then just research any information I need afterwards.

I guess my questions would be:

1- Where would I get an electric motor and what type?

2- Where would I get the batteries and what type do I get?

3- What do I need to control the power/batteries?

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

most that ive seem are using 6 volt golf cart batteries in wet or agm.
the wet batteries i sell for $99 each,the agms are double that.

it takes 6 batteries to run a 36 volt cart.imo thats all an electric car is,an over grown golf cart.

i guess you could find a wiring diagram for a cart and it would give you an idea about what your looking at,(controller,motor setup)

club car,ez go are pretty good setups.

 

[superdave1984]

Good read on the subject. I seriously considered this about 8 months ago but the cost to build was more than I could do at the time.
http://www.electric-cars-are-for-girls.com/electric-car-conversion.html

http://www.electroauto.com/sitemap.shtml

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

the most common motors i see being used in EV conversions are the WarP and Impulse series (check HERE). the size of the motor determines its power output. 9" and 10" seem to be the most common.

controllers seem to vary a lot. some people build their own, but there are companies that make large controllers for EV conversions.

vehicles are heavy, so the little 36v system a lot of golf carts use is not enough. anywhere from 72-144v (multiples of 12v) can be used for an EV conversion...depending on your desired performance (higher voltage will net you more range and better acceleration).

for batteries, you can litterally use any deep cycle battery you can get your hands on. 6v, 8v, and 12v will all work. you just buy enough to add up to the desired voltage.

another consideration is chargers, and these seem to vary more than anything else. a lot of guys will modify a set of regular battery chargers to work.

 

[Ozwynn]

got a friend with a 156 (could be wrong here, it might 154) volt 400hp electric buggy. he is using 13 yellow top optimas for testing. going to replace them with lithium Ion when he gets it done. caution....... he is $16,000 in it right now not counting the cost of building the frame from scratch or getting the propane generator on it..... no lighting yet either...... Lithium Ion will set him back another $16,000....... but right now it will run 12 sec flat in the quarter. next time i see him Ill ask him for his links

 

[koda6966]

Wasn't there a guy on here selling his parts from his Ranger after he converted it to an EV and didn't need the engine, etc. anymore?

 

[krugford]

I've helped build two. If I don't know the answer, I have friends I can call who will know. I'll help where I can.

 

[Ozwynn]

This is a topic that I'm very much interested in. I was hoping that instead of doing a ton of research on the subject, I could find some people here with knowledge on electric vehicles and then just research any information I need afterwards.

I guess my questions would be:

1- Where would I get an electric motor and what type?
- what do you plan on doing
2- Where would I get the batteries and what type do I get?
- depends on what kind of cruising range you want and what kind of power you want
3- What do I need to control the power/batteries?
- you need a controller (thats what its called)

next time I see Rich I'll see if he will give up his parts list.

 

[Jim Oaks]

What if I wanted to take a 4x4 Ranger cab and chassis and hang fiberglass on it to lighten it up and build an electric powered 4x4 that could cruise the trail for 4-5 hours and then take it back to the campground and plug it in to charge for the night?

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

i didnt mean to use golf cart parts just the setup is pretty close to the same.
crawl before you run.........lol.

 

[COPPERHEAD85]

what i think would be ideal for a 4x4 is portal axles with motors at each wheel,kinda drive by joystick type setup.
but theres the weight issue with the drive train.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

figuring out the amperage needed for a trail rig would be difficult, since most EV's measure their "fuel economy" in watt-hours/mile. electric motors would be great for off roading though. unlike ICE's, they make almost 100% of their torque at 0 RPM. if this was a trail-only rig...maybe you could remove the transmission and bolt the motor directly to the t-case. this would give you plenty of torque to the axles and lower the CG while lightening the truck.

 

[Jim Oaks]

Definitely trail only.

I'd like to do a TRS-EV project vehicle, but to be honest, I would have to find some companies to sponsor an EV project based on the idea of an electric off-road environmentally friendly vehicle because I wouldn' be able to afford to build it on my own.

 

[Bent Bolt]

Interesting. I saw a show on Discovery Channel where a guy converted his old Land Rover to electric. Performed very well from what I remember.

 

[Wicked_Sludge]

these days i dont think it'd be too hard to find sponsers for an electric off road rig. people are so sensitive about us offroaders "trashing" public land i think many people would embrace the idea of a "clean" 4x4.

keep in mind that while trailering this thing, your going to be 1,000lbs or so heavier than a gas powered version due to hauling around a battery bank.

keeping the CG low while maintaning ground clearence would be important. a set of battery trays between the frame rails under the bed might be just the trick.

most EV's have air cooled motors (internal, armature-driven fan), i wonder if some sort of liquid cooling could be implimented for a low-speed, low RPM trail rig.