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Old 09-28-2014, 11:53 AM   #30 (permalink)
Astro
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thingstodo View Post
...
Contactors, wiring, inertia switch won't be much - 30 lbs
Liquid cooling will be significant - maybe 50 lbs for coolant and pump
DC/Dc converter and small 12V battery will be another 20 lbs up front
Charger is another 50 lbs in the back
Did I miss anything?
Vacuum pump if needed for brake assist.
Electric power steering pump unless you use the original pump driven off the rear shaft of the drive motor or have a manual steering rack.

Probably not very heavy items but it all adds up.

Just like you I weighed each item as i took it off and then did the same for the items i planned to put on, either weighing them if i had them or using weights from spec sheets or just by estimating.
I was shocked to find the car would be one third of a kilo lighter than factory original.
That made me feel really pleased until i bought my AC motor. Which was about 20 kilos heavier due to buying a cheaper rewound AC industrial motor rather than a purpose built car AC motor.
But then i GPS logged my commute and found that i would need much less battery capacity than i originally guesstimated. 20 kilos less, so i am back to factory weight again.
My commute is not a long distance but lots of waiting at traffic lights.

You listed 50lbs for liquid cooling.
Is this for cooling the controller?
This seems like a lot to me. Of course i have no idea what would be involved in cooling a controller but i would have thought a few of litres of coolant at the most with a nice fan assisted aluminium radiator to cool it down. Like the after market ones they sell to cool transmission fluid.

I just finished pulling the heater core out of the cabin in my car as it is to be replaced with a ceramic heater element. Maybe the heater core could be reused as a cooling radiator? That would make it zero cost. Maybe strap a couple of 12v fans from a computer on it to increase the air flow.
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