Electric car conversion: Project ForkenSwift

[MetroMPG]

i'm passing out the cigars: it's a... drive motor!

delivered at approximately 4:30 pm today, weighing 240 lbs (whew). (fyi, i *rolled* it onto the old bathroom scale, matt.)

it'll be maybe 5-10 lbs lighter with the seat brake mechanism removed.

and i'm also happy to report the output shaft is fairly short, so i'm more optimistic we're going to be able to squeeze this diesel & locomotive-cabled powerhouse into the wee swift after all.

lastly, as of 5:30, all the electric/electronic parts have been removed from the forklift. the last part out was the control wiring harness. we've had our way with it. tomorrow i call the scrap guys.

(good thing i don't have a real job or i wouldn't have been able to sneak away every day this week after 1:30 to play in the garage!)

[MetroMPG]

sitting pretty on the old piece of carpet i used to drag it out from under the truck after we lowered it.

forgot this other exciting tidbit: the technician came through for us. he called today and said he had 2 shop manuals on the lift truck and on the EV-1 controller & electronics. we're all set now.

[MetroMPG]

Woohoo

Originally Posted by RH77

congrats on your drive motor! And with the cigars, there's no embargo on Cuba up there, so send us some good stuff ;-)

RH77

[MetroMPG]

the second scrap dealer i visited this morning offered us a GREAT price for the chassis - and pick-up was included: $60 a ton (2000 lbs), which means we should get $480 for the bones! nice! considering we paid $500 for it (plus 125 shipping), i'd say that's a good thing.

even better (particularly if you're my neighbours), they picked it up this afternoon.

even even better (?) they had a couple of pallets of used batteries at the yard, separated into "working" and "dead". there were even some larger ones from a forklift. i'll have to check that out next week.

the only potential glitch is that no money actually changed hands today - and it won't until they weigh it on monday. so we said "buh bye" to the thing on the back of a truck, hoping these guys aren't going to screw us over with the weighing and/or the renegging on the price. it's probably halfway to mexico by now...



above: what the neighbours have been looking at all week...



what i've been looking at all week (fyi: two pump motors, center and right, standing on ends; drive motor, bottom left; silhouette of the 15 ton railway jack at the back of the forklift)



scrap guy loading up for his mexico run



arrivederci amigo! thanks for not crushing me!

[MetroMPG]

The crowd sniffles...

Originally Posted by RH77

I'm tearing-up man. That Baker was (sniffle) such an inspiration.

Seriously, great turn-around on the sale of the scrap unit and not getting squashed in the process. What's next?

RH77

[MetroMPG]

next is turn our attention to the swift. i'm pushing for doing the necessary repairs to get it safety checked (to get it licenced) as an ICE vehicle before doing the conversion. it will just make things easier.

regardless, we need to rebuild/replace the rusty front suspension mount before we do anything.

then: pull the ICE (try to sell it on teamswift) & related components; start fabricating the bits needed to connect the forklift motor to the tranny (motor mounts, shaft coupler, motor-to-tranny bell housing adapter); mount the controller & contactor(s) somewhere; think about battery layout; make battery connectors out of the diesel & locomotive cable (woo-hoo!). and a couple dozen other smaller details.

but first, we weld!

[MetroMPG]

the baker loot:



clockwise from top:

- bunch of 3/0, 4/0 and other cables & control wiring harness;

- EV-1 controller manuals, and a box of miscellaneous goodies;

- Square D Co. direction lever;

- Square D potentiometer;

- two 8 inch pump motors and two pumps above;

- 12 inch drive motor;

- p. steering motor & pump;

- EV-1 control panel

[MetroMPG]

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Toecutter
One question, what voltage/current is the EV1 controller rated at?

it's a 24-48 volt card. i'm not sure the max amp spec, but it's likely to be very high given its original intended use (forklift) and low voltage.

so far the only reference i've seen to current in the EV-1 manual is regarding the field weakening circuit: it drops OUT of field weakening when the current is detected at higher than 385 amps in order to provide full torque when needed.

Quote:
I'm currently converting my Triumph GT6+ to electric, starting on the cheap(~$2,000, 65 mph top speed, 50 miles range), but will eventually upgrade to make it a high performance car(~$12,000, 140 mph top speed, 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds, 100 miles range).
coincidentally, i just read some of your posts in the EVDL yesterday (and recall seeing your messages on maxMPG re your GT6 aerodynamics). sounds like a great car. and way sexier than the forkenswift!

and of course "cheap" is relative... we're looking to spend no more than $1500 total, including vehicle(s).

but our goals are *significantly* lower than yours: 48V system, 40 mph top speed, 15 mile range will suffice (live in a small town). essentially a once-a-day commuter / grocery getter. given that our average speed in use will probably be 20 mph, i haven't burned too many synapses thinking about aero mods.

as luck would have it, yesterday i also got a personal e-mail from an experienced EV builder who is using the exact same EV-1 controller we have scavenged (though he's added a card to his to permit higher voltage). he says we can meet our limited goals using the parts we have from the forklift. woo-hoo!

he predicted a max RPM of the traction motor of about 1500, and wanted to make sure i understood (a) the implications for gearing - and transmission wear, and (b) it wasn't really a suitable motor for "upgrading" if we later want more voltage and higher speeds.

i don't think he was aware at the time that we also have a field weakening circuit in our junk, but even so, i'm ok with 40 mph tops.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by someone

One question, what voltage/current is the EV1 controller rated at?

it's a 24-48 volt card. i'm not sure the max amp spec, but it's likely to be very high given its original intended use (forklift) and low voltage.

so far the only reference i've seen to current in the EV-1 manual is regarding the field weakening circuit: it drops OUT of field weakening when the current is detected at higher than 385 amps in order to provide full torque when needed.

I'm currently converting my Triumph GT6+ to electric, starting on the cheap(~$2,000, 65 mph top speed, 50 miles range), but will eventually upgrade to make it a high performance car(~$12,000, 140 mph top speed, 0-60 mph in 5.5 seconds, 100 miles range).

coincidentally, i just read some of your posts in the EVDL yesterday (and recall seeing your messages on maxMPG re your GT6 aerodynamics). sounds like a great car. and way sexier than the forkenswift!

and of course "cheap" is relative... we're looking to spend no more than $1500 total, including vehicle(s).

but our goals are *significantly* lower than yours: 48V system, 40 mph top speed, 15 mile range will suffice (live in a small town). essentially a once-a-day commuter / grocery getter. given that our average speed in use will probably be 20 mph, i haven't burned too many synapses thinking about aero mods.

as luck would have it, yesterday i also got a personal e-mail from an experienced EV builder who is using the exact same EV-1 controller we have scavenged (though he's added a card to his to permit higher voltage). he says we can meet our limited goals using the parts we have from the forklift. woo-hoo!

he predicted a max RPM of the traction motor of about 1500, and wanted to make sure i understood (a) the implications for gearing - and transmission wear, and (b) it wasn't really a suitable motor for "upgrading" if we later want more voltage and higher speeds.

i don't think he was aware at the time that we also have a field weakening circuit in our junk, but even so, i'm ok with 40 mph tops.[/quote]

[MetroMPG]

stopped by the scrap yard to get my cash for the baker bones.

can't say i was surprised, but they fudged a little and claimed the weight of the carcass was only 12,000 lbs instead of the 15,000 to 16,000 we calculated based on removed parts. so we got $360 back instead of $480.

since this wasn't entirely unexpected, i'm no way bummed. even with the unilateral renegotiation, it's still a better price than the first recycler offered.

that means we got all the baker loot for a total of...

703.95 (purchase + tax + first shipping)
less $360 (scrap price)
= $ 343.95

fyi, that's roughly the price of a *single* used eBay forklift motor, when you factor in shipping and currency conversion.