Electric car conversion: Project ForkenSwift

[electricman]

Originally Posted by bennelson

If anyone has a 5 amp/36 volt charger they want to donate......

Simple Suggestion - use 3 x 12V smart chargers - like the ones from Canadian Tire - one for each 12V Battery! (I am doing this on my EV and it allows a variety of electrical loads so you can plug in & charge on already busy lines at lower loads, or totally free lines at higher loads!)

I used the 2-8-12A version - but - they have ones that deliver higher amps too.


You could also do this idea with the Soneil chargers. - Robert

[MPaulHolmes]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I'm incurable - I just bought another controller on eBay. This one's a 400A 48v unit, remanufactured. I couldn't resist - got it for $102 US. (shipping will probably be around $20).

Ah ha! So you were the one! You bid on that thing with about 3 seconds to spare. I had bid $100. It was the rebuilt one, right? I was going to go as high as $120, but I changed my mind. I ended up getting a 300 amp controller for $100, like that other one you bought. You sneaky little bugger!

-Paul

[MetroMPG]

Whoops! Sorry, yes that was me. You got sniped!

If I'd known you had dibs, I wouldn't have bid on it. I gave Ben a heads up on a controller that would have suited him and offered to not bid against him if he wanted it.

The 300A unit is very nice, btw.

[MetroMPG]

PS - the Curtis 300A takes a 3-wire potentiometer. Don't go by the 120x-xxx manual on the Curtis site or you'll be banging your head against a wall.

[Heynow999]

Hi

I have read the whole thread over a few nights, very interesting. I live in Ontario as well and I want what you have built, which is basically a NEV. If I could drive one on the streets here, I would probably just buy a used GEM on ebay and be done with it.

I am wondering if that was your motivation as well?

Have you put any thought into upgrading the batteries in a few years if Lithium batteries become cheaper and more widely available (I guess they would have to be really cheap to fit the "forkenswift model")?

I was thinking of doing a conversion like yours, but making sure that the motor was capable of higher voltage/amps with the idea that I would upgrade the batteries in a few years and have a very capable car. It seems that most parts are easily upgradeable, but the engine might be the hardest.

I am now officially "keeping an eye out" for a donor car. I was thinking a 1990's Mercedes 190E
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_190E_2.3-16
They weight about 2700 lbs but I imagine there is a lot you could do to reduce that weight and it could carry a lot batteries. Also RWD which I believe is a plus.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Heynow999

I have read the whole thread over a few nights, very interesting.

You know you get a prize for that? It's not a small undertaking!

If I could drive one on the streets here, I would probably just buy a used GEM on ebay and be done with it.

I am wondering if that was your motivation as well?

You mean was it our intention to build a car with NEV performance? More or less. Well, more actually. NEV's are limited to 40 km/h. The ForkenSwift can hit 70, as you just read. But the car's average speed is probably somewhere around 20-25 km/h in normal use.

That said, if CitiCars/ComutaCars were numerous in Canada than they are, I would have considered restoring one of them instead.

No plans to upgrade the batteries. The ones we have (2 packs worth) will probably deliver our minimum range target for 2 or 3 more years. By then we may have some more hand-me-downs, so we'll just keep taking that route.

Lithium is something like 10x the price of floodies for the same capacity. Also, it requires specialized charging and cell/module management -it's not just the chemistry that adds the extra cost.

If you ever go past Brockville in your travels and want to see the car, send me a note.

[MetroMPG]

Weekend update: body work.

I fixed the dent in the hatchback and the cracked tail light I gave the car back in post #540. Repainted the hatchback. Should have taken before/after pics, but I already had it primed by the time I had my DOH! moment.

Also, I noticed the white paint of the stripes I added to the sides was starting to flake off where it was sprayed on the anti-chip coating I had first applied. Some chemical incompatibility. So there was sanding & painting there too.

I grumbled about having to spend more than a few hours just returning the car to a state it was previously at already. Grumblegrumble.

In the next week or so, Ivan and I will park the car in his garage & disassemble the conversion components from under the hood so we can clean everything up, repaint & reinstall nicely. Also it'll give us the chance to have a closer look at the "fragile" coupler & see how it has stood up to 1000 km of use.

[bennelson]

Maybe I should state all speeds and the range of my Metro conversion in Kilometers.

Everything sounds bigger and faster in Metric!

[MetroMPG]

The rebuilt 400 amp controller came today!

I'll put it in the car tomorrow. Do another timed 0-50 km/h & top speed run

I have to say though: the 300A unit is adequate for driving around here. If I'd had it in the car before I saw the auction for the 400A one, I wouldn't have bothered bidding on it.

It's nice to have the power on tap when needed. I turned onto a road a couple of days ago misjudged the speed of a truck coming up behind me. Not a close call by any means - it was probably 300-400 feet away at least when I pulled into his lane (50 km/h road). But I did use all the power available to keep from forcing him to brake as he came up behind me.

Upshift & floor it. As soon as the ammeter needle drops off the current limit, upshift and floor it again... It's weird doing the opposite of what you'd do in a gas car.

If I'd made that mistake with the 225A controller, I would have had to throw on the 4-way flashers to warn him. And apologize into my rear view mirror.

That said, I'm not going to turn down a 400A upgrade. MOAR MOAR!

[MetroMPG]

400 amp controller installed. Here's how it looks...

0-50 km/h in ...

36 seconds with the old 225 A controller
25 seconds with 300 A
21 seconds with 400 A

A lot of the total time has to do with technique. I just started out in 2nd gear with the 400A controller since it won't even pull 400A from a stop in 1st.

Also it's quite a bit cooler today, and the car wasn't limbered up.

Didn't do a top speed run.