David's 2001 Civic EV (80-100 mile range; 65+ MPH; 8 second 0-60)

[Daox]

Wow, 210 -270 is REALLY impressive IMO, especially considering the hilly terrain! I always use 250 wh/mile as my low and 400 wh/mile as worst case (winter, slushy roads, heat, wipers, lights, etc.) in my calculations.

[Daox]

How did you assemble the motor/trans with the clutch? Got any pictures of that?

[MetroMPG]

... and considering DC / no regen!

I have to struggle to get ~250 Wh/mi. from the wall with the 48v lead DC ForkenSwift, and that's with turtle acceleration and coasting (no brakes) up to as many stops & turns as possible (as traffic permits, which it usually does by its general absense where I drive).

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

210-270 from the wall with an automatic is very good!You were measuring this?

Yup, I was measuring this using the KWH meter on my campus charging spot plug and checked it every few days and it was consistent. Using the data logger on my Zilla I had an average of 180 WH/Mi doing 40-45 MPH in the summer, and this new car has much better tires and a 5 speed.

I did get the wheel spinning! Later tonight I'll post the video and link it up and tell the story of coupling alignment...

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by Daox

How did you assemble the motor/trans with the clutch? Got any pictures of that?

I do have some pictures: 2001 Civic EX EV Coupe Conversion: Playing with the Clutch



I have a taper-locking coupling that bolts to the flywheel and I'm using a XTD Stage 4 clutch I got off eBay.

[TheSGC]

Here is the video of my motor spinning!
From my blog...

I finally got the manual transmission fluid in and put the wheels back on the car. Once that was done, it was time for a 12 volt motor spin test.

Well right off the bat the coupling + flywheel were wobbling! The coupling didn't quite make it onto the taper locking part on the shaft and the pressure plate actually would hit part of the transmission!

Now here I was dreading what I thought I had to do next: take everything out and start over!

But instead I decided to try something else, I loosened the two coupling bolts then tried using a screwdriver as a wedge to get the coupling more centered. It worked better, but still not great. Then my dad had the idea of running the system on 12 volts and using the wicked strong clutch to force the coupling center and it worked! The flywheel looks correct, no more clicking sounds and the transmission no longer vibrates!

[TheSGC]

I am in the middle of making the brackets for the accessory motor and the A/C. I've decided to dump the power steering for now, from what I have read it takes too much power to operate (5-8.5 HP!).

I'm looking into Electric Power Steering units, but for now I'm either going to leave it alone or loop the lines together for a poor man's manual steering.

[mechman600]

Originally Posted by TheSGC

I've decided to dump the power steering for now, from what I have read it takes too much power to operate (5-8.5 HP!).

I don't think an unloaded power steering pump takes nearly the power you think to run at a low speeds. For EV purposes, it would have to spin at the same speed as an ICE at idle. When unloaded (not turning on the steering wheel), the pump is simply moving fluid from the reservoir, through the pump, through the valving in the rack and back home to the reservoir. There is little to no restriction and very little energy required. I could see 5 hp at 6000 rpm (ICE speed) and fully loaded against a steering stop, but not unloaded at idle. Less than 1/2 HP, I would guess. Especially with an efficient treadmill motor doing the work. By comparison, your A/C pump will require 100X the energy to run.

[TheSGC]

Originally Posted by mechman600

I don't think an unloaded power steering pump takes nearly the power you think to run at a low speeds. For EV purposes, it would have to spin at the same speed as an ICE at idle. When unloaded (not turning on the steering wheel), the pump is simply moving fluid from the reservoir, through the pump, through the valving in the rack and back home to the reservoir. There is little to no restriction and very little energy required. I could see 5 hp at 6000 rpm (ICE speed) and fully loaded against a steering stop, but not unloaded at idle. Less than 1/2 HP, I would guess. Especially with an efficient treadmill motor doing the work. By comparison, your A/C pump will require 100X the energy to run.

I really don't need P/S so I am going to loop it for now and if I do need it I will get a MR2 pump.

We got the A/C compressor mounted with the motor and tomorrow I am going to wiring it up for a test run. I've done some research and 30-40 volts on the treadmill motor seems to be a magic number so that's where I will start.

I have a 2004 Civic that I was playing with today and turning the A/C on and off doesn't seem to use much power in driving or idling. However, the steering pump will cause the engine to rev up. So hopefully tomorrow I'll hook up my current shunt to the PM motor and test to see if it works.

[TheSGC]

I've decided to use a smaller accessory motor to power my A/C unit in my 2001 Civic EV. I can't use the second shaft on my motor and I don't want to deal with an electric A/C compressor so this is going to be an experiment.

So the past two days my dad and I have been building the mounts for the stock Civic EX A/C compressor and the motor I am using, a treadmill motor I got years ago for $20. The specs are: 2.5 HP peak @130 volts, 1.5 HP cont @ 95 volts, 18.5 AMPs and 6750 RPM.

After doing some research on this motor I decided that 36 volts would be a good base start, which seems to be about 2500 RPMs at the treadmill motor unloaded (just on A/C pulley, clutch disengaged). I hooked up my current shunt to the (+) line and proceeded to test as there is no data on the actual power requirements on the Honda Civic A/C compressor.

Test 1:
Pulley on the treadmill motor: 3" diameter
Pulley on the A/C compressor: 4.5" diameter (stock)

Voltage: 36 volts
Current: 25 AMPs

The A/C was blowing cold in about 15 seconds and it gave me two very important pieces of data: It takes 1.2 HP to run the A/C and it's too much current for my little treadmill motor!

I decided to bump up the voltage to see if it would lower the current for my next test.

Test 2:
Pulley on the treadmill motor: 3" diameter
Pulley on the A/C compressor: 4.5" diameter (stock)

Voltage: 48 volts
Current: 29 AMPs

Well, the current went up! It went up because the compressor was at a higher RPM and more load was on it so it needed more power.

For my next test I am going to stick with 36 volts, but go to a smaller diameter pulley. I have a 2.625" pulley that I am trying to get onto the motor shaft and I have found a 1.93" pulley online that I may order up after this next test.