Bruce chimes in late...
Quote:
Did you keep the tranny or what did you do for power transmission between the engine and the wheels?
I'd be OK with a reference to an earlier post #.
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No prob.
Kept the stock tranny... we need it, since our setup doesn't have much power - 225A max when the golf cart controller is cold; less as it heats up (which is fairly quickly). I've been driving in 1st & 2nd gears, upshifting around 3000-4000 RPM.
Technically, the closest car to the old ForkenSwift is the old CitiCar/ComutaCar:
Same voltage (48) & number of floodies (8).
These cars are direct drive through the differential, but it also has much more oomph because it's got a straight contactor controller (in stock form), so with your foot on the floor, there's a direct connection from the batts to the motor @ 48v. These cars apparently go 40-45 mph, and can drive in normal traffic. Though they are also 500 lbs lighter (1400 vs 1900 est.)
The FS can't do that. I
have to stick to side streets because it just can't accelerate at a "normal" rate, even with shifting.
To solve this, ultimately we'll put in either a more powerful controller, or a contactor bypass. Even with more power on tap, to maximize range I'll still accelerate like a granny on valium when nobody's around me though. And I'll still shift, because it's more efficient (I think - could be wrong).