Step 9: Now you make one!
An electric car really is fun to drive!
My house is on a renewable power program, where I get all my electricity over the power lines, but coming from bio-gas, wind turbines, and other renewable energy sources.
Doing a calculation on energy consumption, comparing gasoline and electricity, the car gets the equivelent of about 130 miles per gallon
This has been a fun project to work on and I have learned tons doing it. Keep in mind that I have NO background in electronics or engineering. All I did was go to the library, start talking to people, and learn what I could!
If I can do this, so can you!
So how about it? Are you building an electric car or have any other DIY Green Tech? Let me know!
You can stop by 300MPG.org to see the videos that my friends and I are making to teach you, step by step, how to build your own electric car!
I found that there was a lack of instructional videos in the world of electric cars. I bought a couple, and they all were TERRIBLE! So, I made my own! Stop by 300MPG.org to check it out!
Take care, and keep it green.
Thanks,
-Ben
PS: if you enjoy the videos, please give them a high rating, this helps me to be able to keep making them!
For more photos of this project:
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100161
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100222
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100273
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100287
My house is on a renewable power program, where I get all my electricity over the power lines, but coming from bio-gas, wind turbines, and other renewable energy sources.
Doing a calculation on energy consumption, comparing gasoline and electricity, the car gets the equivelent of about 130 miles per gallon
This has been a fun project to work on and I have learned tons doing it. Keep in mind that I have NO background in electronics or engineering. All I did was go to the library, start talking to people, and learn what I could!
If I can do this, so can you!
So how about it? Are you building an electric car or have any other DIY Green Tech? Let me know!
You can stop by 300MPG.org to see the videos that my friends and I are making to teach you, step by step, how to build your own electric car!
I found that there was a lack of instructional videos in the world of electric cars. I bought a couple, and they all were TERRIBLE! So, I made my own! Stop by 300MPG.org to check it out!
Take care, and keep it green.
Thanks,
-Ben
PS: if you enjoy the videos, please give them a high rating, this helps me to be able to keep making them!
For more photos of this project:
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100161
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100222
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100273
http://gallery.me.com/benhdvideoguy#100287
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My background is mechanical engineering (operating steam plants in the Navy) I do have a question though. My relatively average knowledge of electronics would lead me to think that as long as the motors are identical and the current to them is regulated properly that you could use 4 smaller motors (one at each wheel) instead of one big one to propel the vehicle. If run in parallel the motors should all turn at the same speed (I am sure a computer could further regulate the current to keep the wheels within a certain range of each other)
I ask this because the price of motors that are 25+ hp are a little high for the average person to purchase for their first EV project this (as BigTurd suggested) would also cut the need for a full sized transmission.
Second issue is synchronizing the two motors so they spin exactly the same speed (unless turning). If one spins faster (or slower) than the other, the car will pull to one side. Not fun. Dealing with tracking issues when turning due to a different turning radius on the wheels would be even harder. Better to drive a differential and let it do the work.
In a brand-new, custom-built vehicle, it would be easy to design for. In fact, with the motors out of the way, and no traditional transmission, it would give you great design flexibility. Modern car manufacturers talk about that sort of thing all the time. But for a simple conversion of an existing car, just replacing the engine with an electric motor and adding batteries is far more straight-forward than designing/manufacturing/fabricating everything for multiple motors and driven wheels.
I think that a four-wheel-drive hub-motor vehicle would be a great project to see. It might start off best as an "off-road-only" vehicle, something like a dune-buggy, ATV or something similar.
The "Tropica" electric car, designed by Bob Beaumont, also the inventor of the Citicar, was rear-wheel drive with TWO electric motors. Each motor was mounted on the swing-arm of the wheel, along with a belt and pulley to get the gear ratio right from the motor to the wheel. Also, each of the two motors had its own controller.
As for the cost of motors. There are plenty of good ones that can be bought brand new, specifically for EV use for $1000-$3000. That was a little expensive for my project, which only cost about $1300 total. My motor was from an electric forklift. I bought it for $50, cleaned it up, and installed it in my car. It works great.
For more information on repurposing forklift motors to power electric cars, please visit this link.
Power steering runs off of engine power. If you remove the engine, you need to somehow provide power to the power-steering pump. That could be an additional electric motor or a pulley off the tail-shaft of the drive motor.
Some cars also have both a manual steering rack and a power steering rack, and you could swap it out, but that sure sounds like a lot of work.
My Geo Metro retains its original manual steering. It drives and steers great.
The proviso being that the traction motor can reach the rpm's necessary for your type of driving conditions. If it can't, perhaps you can pop in a different rear end ratio that better suits your needs.
Another note, there's likely a way to use the motor for regenerative braking to charge the batteries. It won't completely recharge them but adds a little extra range.
Just some thoughts.
bc
Also, with DC motors at least, operating them at high voltage well below their RPM rating can cause them to burn out.
He might throw in a small gear reduction box if not already on the motor.
A gear reduction box is much smaller & lighter than a transmission.
This might provide all the gearing to keep the motor in its torque range?
I would like to create a diesel / electric like trains use.
Who knows...Might work in a car?
You are quite correct in that a gear reduction box would work well. The Solectria Force was a factory-built Geo Metro with an AC motor and a gear reduction box. They worked quite well and did freeway speeds. The Tesla roadster also uses a dedicated gear reduction.
In this case, is it worth it to do all the work to figure out what the correct gear reduction box is, fab mounts to connect it to the car, and pay all the money for the part, when the existing transmission works fine? I spent about $1300 for the entire project. I tried looking up a for sale gearbox from a Solectria and wasn't able to find any. At least the Geo Metro is a vehicle that somebody else has already designed a dedicated gear box for.
Ever lifted a Geo Metro transmission? It's not that big or heavy. I don't think there would be a lot of weight or space advantage to switching to a dedicated gear box. I have also heard of guys locking their transmissions in a single gear and removing the unused gears to save a little weight.
I have already (before even driving!) started searching for alternatives, or more efficiency that I could squeeze out of an engine, or other power source.
I have tried multiple things so far, and my very latest project is a vapor carburetor. It simply pulls air into the canister, through the gasoline, and bubbles it. Bubbling causes the gas to vaporize. I even designed a heater out of copper wire as the vacuum causes the gasoline to slush up (close to freezing temperature) and reduces vaporization....
One thing that I have considered was an air powered engine. It's all in my head, you see. I already have an idea for a pneumatic lawn mower engine. I even wrote schematics and crap for designing. Just a matter of time until I can get myself into this garage soon..
Anyway, back to the subject (As you can see, I am very excited. Haha.)
Basically you have;
1. Electric Motor (48, 72v) Preferably fork lift 'drive' motor.
2. Adapter plate to fit motor and going to transmission drive gears.
3. Two piece coupler to connect motor to transmission..
My question(s) are:
You know how the engine and the transmission (Or clutch, rather) is connected to the transmission? I saw that in one of your pics, that the side was opened up, allowing for a clear view into the transmission where the drive-shaft goes into the transmission.
Is that not supposed to be sealed up and oiled properly in order to prevent overheating and preventing dust from going in? (Or is it because it's not a gasoline engine, and barely any heat is being created.)
And also, can't I just take a regular non-hollow tube and weld it straight to the transmission shaft?
Thank you for your time. Oh, and beautiful car for this project too. It's perfect. though I'd still prefer a small Mazda car. (Might beable to get that car... broken alternator, place I live at doesnt want to get it fixed because of many other electrical problems.)
On my project, the shaft of the motor is connected directly to the driven shaft of the transmission by a coupler that that fits between both shafts.
I don't see any reason to do any welding onto a transmission shaft - much easier to simply connect to it in the same way that the clutch disc did.
The bell housing of the transmission really isn't sealed up all that well, even when stock on a gas car. That's the space for the clutch and flywheel. There should be a bearing on the transmission driven shaft back IN the transmission a bit. No matter what, you need to make sure that the outside end of the transmission shaft gets supported. Typically, it goes into a bearing in the middle of the flywheel. On a clutchless conversion like mine, it is supported directly by the coupler and motor shaft.
Anyway: I still don't see how I can connect it to the transmission. Does the clutch bolt to the transmission?..
Also if I wanted a clutch, can I just go the simpler (I wouldnt say that) route and just place the electric motor shaft directly onto the clutch as if it were an engine?
Ben,
Put these words in You-Tube search
WORLDS FASTEST street legal ELECTRIC CAR
you will love it!
was wondering ..and is a probably a stupid question but the motor you used is it a DC motor? I can't image it being a AC with getting a converter. I know they have DC motor but they are really small HP, but i guess you wouldn't need it for a small car. I was thinking of converting my truck into a eletric truck, with a few mods on it. I was also thinking that i could use some solar cells to keep a charge, but not sure if that would work. Anyway great project!!!
So is the clutch system removed?, I am very interested in what you have done here, well done!
We also have a group of guys who meet regularly in the Milwaukee area to work on electric vehicle projects.
See:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/milwaukee-electric-car-club-running-event-6699.html
for details
First of all, I found your "instructable" very informative. I am an EE (in your area) with some past experience on the Railroad which translates well into electric cars. I have been thinking about working on a project myself and checking out your meetings. I'll go to the link you provided and see if I can find out when the next meeting is from the web-site.
Thanks for the Info
Come on out during a meeting to make new friends and work on electric cars.
I was curious as to whether it would be feasible to integrate some sort of generator with the sole purpose of charging the batteries as your drove - increasing the distance you could drive on a single charge.
I am based in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Middle East. Gas is cheaper than water here but I would really like to try making an electric Car down here.
Keep up the good work. Now I will start looking for some good size Forklift motors.
Good effort though.
One suggestion along similar lines is that he may be able to use hub style motors as brakes, thereby recovering some of the energy lost during braking.