LocostUSA.com

Hi All,
When I left the build club over a year ago there were no discussions about doing an EV. About 9 months ago I decided to change the build plan to convert to EV. One of the best books is Build Your Own EV by Bob Brant. I purchased most of the major parts, not Batt, from ev-america.com.

You can see how it's going at http://usera.imagecave.com/sthmach/ev-locost . The battery layout was the biggest challenge, two in the front where the radiator was, 3 in the engine compartment, and 5 across the boot. I'm planning to use 10 Trojan SCS-225 deep cycle. I hope to get 50 t0 60 miles per charge. Total weight should be under 1900.

Happy motoring,

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MACH-G

Welcome to the forums! I'm going to sticky your build here so please drop by and give us an update on your progress from time to time.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Thanks for sharing. That big ass electric motor looks great, as does the dash panel. Is that a commercially available hot rod piece or did you fab it?

Is the motor mated to a gutted transmission? What’s going on there?

Could you give us an idea of what your budget is? And/or, how much are you spending on the electrical drive train bits?

Keep up the good work.
Peter

Interesting front pushrod suspension setup. Any more information on it?

--JOsh

Yes, what JOsh said. Any photos available of those rockers? What are the pivots in there?

Very cool what you're doing, dude!

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Locost builder and adventurer, and owner/operator of http://www.kineticvehicles.com

OK, let's go over some rules - you can't just tease us with a link to a few photos and leave it at that. More information is REQUIRED!

Like, what tranny is that and why did you pick it? Is it there just for forward/reverse, or are multiple forward gears being used? Where did that controller come from, a golf cart or purpose built for a road car? I assume that the motor is a DC series wound, right? What power and size? If AC, is that why you have a tranny? Did you consider an AC motor at all? What did all that stuff cost? Did you do a price/energy comparison between the Trojan 6V and the Costco 12V deep cycle? Looks like you have a good amount of work done - when will you be ready for road trials? How did you do your miles per charge estimate? Is the car going to be freeway capable, or just surface streets? Did I miss anything?

Only reason I'm asking is that IF I ever build another car, it will be 100% electric, charged off of solar panels. (Yeah, I've got personal issues, but who doesn't that builds their own stupid car from scratch? ) The lead/acid batteries make sense from a cost perspective compared to more exotic types like Li-Ion, but by the time I get there, maybe they will be reasonably priced. Did you look into alternative batteries? Also by the time I get started, there should be enough hybrids in the junk yards that their AC motors and controllers may be good deals. As I understand it, the AC motors are more efficient, but the controllers are purpose built to the motor and the combo isn't cheap.

Good to see someone is actually going to get an electric Locost on the road in this forum. Keep us posted!

John

Now for more information about the car: I'll bullet it since it could get quite long. If you want to see more on other aspects of the car build i.e. suspension please see http://usera.imagecave.com/sthmach/ .

1) The trany is from the 85 Toyota GTS I was going to use when it was ICE, also the rear end.
2) I'm not using the clutch, just locked the disk up to the lightweight flywheel.
Since I won't be shifting much and the motor will just free spin when I back off the pwr. I'm expecting to do most of my city driving in 2nd.
3) The batt are Trojan SCS-225 deep cycle. Weight is 65# and about $120ea.
4) It is not cheap to buy all the components new. I procured all the pricy items from EV of America. Advanced FB!-4001A DC motor - $ 1500, 1231C Curtis Controller - $1500, Curtis Foot Pedal - $150, Zivan NG3 Charger 2800Watts 120VDC - $900, misc high amp connectors,fuses,inertia sw,Albright contactors,cabling,etc - $500, Instrumentation - $300
5)The car will be freeway/raceway capable I expect to do well over 100mph (shoot high and take what you can get)
6)Hope to get greater than 50 mile per charge. This will be the first testing I will be doing. Plan to have the wife follow me on a trip and tow me back when I'm out of charge (60-80%).
7)Since I didn't want to spend a lot of time on designing or adapting from a hybrid, the easy way was to buy all very well proven parts that have been around for about 20 years. If you want the build to be easier they have full kits for S-10/Ranger and others. If I didn't already have the trany and a shop to build the adaptor I could have used a wrecking yard S-10 trany then use their adaptors ($150).
The motor specs - 120 VDC, 25 hp cont(180 amp @ 5200RPM), 85 peak, 150 FT#Torque (lots of amps).

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MACH-G

Nice build, thanks for the links to the photos. I still couldn't see what the rocker bearing was though. Please keep us posted, it looks like a fun build!

Rod

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Driving a +442E with 450 Hp Ford 347 v8, T5, 8 stack EFI w/EDIS8 & MegaSquirt ITB Mode.
12,000+ enthusiastic miles as of 1/1/11
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqvYJlYc4GU
http://s124.photobucket.com/albums/p3/beergodrod/
Now building a 1953 Chevy 1 ton panel with Frito Lay truck parts and a Cummins 4BTA
and a 1963 Nova SS

Much better! Looks like you should be ready to write your own book pretty soon. Great car, great work. It looks fairly complete now, what's left to do? Have you had it around the block yet?

Thanks for the info,

John

Sthmach,I looove what you're doing! The bolt-on frame for the front suspension rocker assembly is brilliant. Thanks forall the photos. I haven't figured out the pivot in the middle of the rocker, but I'm gaining on it.

Where in Oregon are you? It looks like you're awfully close to a first drive.

Stay dry, Jack

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Locost builder and adventurer, and owner/operator of http://www.kineticvehicles.com

You probably already know this, but the current spike when accelerating from a start kills controllers. It seems fairly common for folks to build an EV, then as they get used to it, try to see how fast they can accelerate from a stop.

I know the 1231 has 500 amp current limiting, but I would install a data logging meter, at least temporarily, to make sure the current was being limited as well as a temp sensor. Of course, if it didn't, Curtis would owe you a new or repaired controller so I guess it doesn't matter. Don't forget a nice, thick heat sink and dielectric compound.

I have an electric chainsaw (quality Pouland but with a heavy duty electric motor) and an electric lawnmower (chorded so no batteries to carry, smaller, more powerful motor on 120vac than a 24vdc on 2, 12vdc batts). I will eventually build a electric recumbent bicycle with 3 SLAs and a 1hp motor with dual reduction.

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Great job! I'm curious why it would weigh as much as 1900 lbs. 650 lbs for the batteries, another 100 for misc electrical components, 150 for chasis, 150 for tranny, 125 for rear axle.... I'd think that you'd be closer to 1400 lbs.

Please keep posting. I'll be following with great interest.

Any updates on this?

Ding.

Another ding for updates?

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Starting a Scratch Build - ThunderBird Turbo Coupe Donor Car - being dismantled
Build Log Started: http://www.locostusa.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4914

The inboard shocks look cool but if you move them outboard of the frame you could put 2 batteries where the shocks are currently living.