Electric car conversion: Project ForkenSwift

[me and my metro]

There is an electric Rabbit in Eugene, Oregon with a bio-diesel fueled pusher for long trips. I have seen it at the Solar fair in John Day, Oregon, about 150+ miles away. FYI.

[Thalass]

I bet you get a few comments about staying out of the water, though! bzzt.


I have thought a generator trailer (originally i was going to put a genset in the tray of the ute i was going to convert) would be a great idea for the occasional long-distance trip you might have to take. I'd rather rent one of those, than a whole new car.

And for my motorcycle conversion (getting there, so close to starting!) i think a combination luggage/generator trailer would be great for road trips.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I'll tell you: it's elegant launching / retrieving from a boat ramp with electric drive compared to internal combustion with either an automatic or manual transmission.

Haha, never thought of that. Very true!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Thalass

And for my motorcycle conversion (getting there, so close to starting!) i think a combination luggage/generator trailer would be great for road trips.

Or a cool looking side car. But there goes your aero... trailer is likely more efficient (for a given load).

[will88]

that is awsome man

[MetroMPG]

Just checked the odometer: the car has gone 4814 km (2972 mi.) since the conversion.

Assuming I could have gotten 60 mpg US (3.92 L/100 km) in the same driving conditions, that's 189 litres (50 gal) of gasoline not burned. 5 tanks worth.

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Received this question via email:

I have watched all your videos and I gotta say, I'm impressed with what you have put together.


Can this be done with an Automatic? You know the saying "Can't teach an old dog new tricks" lol I could never get the hang of shifting a standard and would love to build an EV.


I always see affordable Swifts out there.


ThanX

Answer is: yes, it can be done with an automatic. It's less efficient though (losses in the torque converter, plus some automatics require the electric motor to "idle" even when coasting/stopped, to keep up pressure in the automatic's transmission fluid pump).

From what I've read you should expect about 10% less range with an automatic transmission conversion.

That said: you can design an EV conversion with a manual transmission that is effectively an automatic (meaning, no need to shift, or very infrequent shifting). Much of the time, I just leave the ForkenSwift in 3rd gear, and do all my in-town (level grade) driving without any need to shift.

All the commercial/production EV's I can think of have direct drive, single speed gearboxes (not torque converter based automatics). You can get away with this if you have enough power from your batteries / controller across the range of speeds you expect to drive.

[will88]

pretty good tip there man im thinking karmen ghia ev what do u think

[comptiger5000]

Personally, if building an auto tranny EV, I'd install a high performance torque converter with a stronger lockup clutch, and just keep it locked in most or all situations. Then, the efficiency difference is much smaller.

[yepvegas]

Cool project

[vpoppv]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Just checked the odometer: the car has gone 4814 km (2972 mi.) since the conversion.

Assuming I could have gotten 60 mpg US (3.92 L/100 km) in the same driving conditions, that's 189 litres (50 gal) of gasoline not burned. 5 tanks worth.

Good gravy! At the rate I'm going, it would take me 10 years to rack up that kind of mileage! I wonder if the batteries will hold out.....