Hi From Melbourne, Australia (looking to build EV runabout on a student budget) - Page 2 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

themainstreetexile · 08-21-2012, 10:43 PM

A little cold calling, a trip out to the 'burbs and $100 later, I got a motor!

photo (1) by thmnstrtexl, on Flickr
6.5 in diameter, 12 in length.

My friend and I were looking at it yesterday wondering whether it was too small? But as a 48V motor it should be fine, right? Remembering it only has to move 500-700kg of weight (I think this is something like 1100-1500lb?)

Anyway, a big step forward for us. I'm told it needs some reconditioning so if anyone has any good resources on how to do this then send them my way!

I'll start a build thread soon with all the details, as well as the blog.

Cheers Metrompg for your help so far!

Tom

Also, there's an identical motor at the forklift place, so if I have success with this one I'll go pick it up. Its small size makes me think it could work for an electric motorcycle as well...

Edit: If the photos don't work: the specs written on the side are:

TTL160C
48V S2 60min
98 A
1920 min-1 max: 1000 min-1
(the 'max' figure might have another 0 after the 1000, hard to tell as there's a scraped off part of the label)
Class H

Code: 2319713

Daox · 08-22-2012, 08:49 AM

Sounds like it should work quite well.

MetroMPG · 08-22-2012, 10:23 AM

Yup, should be fine for your modest needs. Congrats!

Quote:

Originally Posted by themainstreetexile

Anyway, a big step forward for us. I'm told it needs some reconditioning so if anyone has any good resources on how to do this then send them my way!

Service ... usually means new brushes and possibly commutator resurfacing. Maybe bearings. Take it apart, clean it up and have a look.

themainstreetexile · 09-06-2012, 09:34 PM

Yet to take apart the motor but we had a successful day removing the fuel tank and the rest of the ICE. Two cylinder motors make it easier because you can lift them out with a couple of people.

Here's the link to our blog and first vid. Mentioned ecomodder at the end

Electric Car on a Student Budget

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACQw9Mp3vGs

MetroMPG · 09-06-2012, 11:51 PM

Too funny! (PS - if you want, you can embed your YouTube video in the forum just by posting the link in the text of your post.)

If you guys scrounge and are as resourceful as it appears you're trying to be, you'll be able to do this for your budget goal. Don't think you'll get that 50km range though, unless you buy new batts. (Repeating myself... getting old, apparently.)

We ended up spending about $1k total (Canadian dollars) after selling all the bits & pieces we could. Though, yes, it was registered and being driven at the ~$700 mark (net).

Batteries: I don't know if there's an EV club in Melbourne, but we have been running used 6v golf cart batteries - "hand-me-downs" - from other EV owners. At first we tried using returns from commercial floor cleaners from a local company that services them, but then we ended up getting used batteries from EV owners and that worked out much better (similar capacity/condition).

The good thing about other people who build cars that NEED, say, 40-60 km range is that once their batteries can no longer deliver that range, they are deemed worn out and they have to replace the pack. Meaning: we're lucky to have been able to buy batteries at not much more than scrap rates that are effectively only ~40-60% worn out, and still good for 20-40 km range in the ForkenSwift)

MetroMPG · 09-07-2012, 12:09 AM

Another bit of semi-related advice:

Make a dedicated web site for your project that you can put Google ads (and ads from other companies) on. (Not sure if you can do that on blogspot.) If you see this through to completion, document it well, and get the word out online about your project, you can make a bit of money each month from your site. In fact, over ~4 years, Electric car conversion on a beer budget - ForkenSwift.com has made back in ad revenue the entire out-of-pocket cost of the project. So it's effectively a free car. You heard it here first.

desertedev · 09-21-2012, 04:43 AM

Tom,

Interesting project! I remember struggling a bit to find suppliers in Melbourne a few years back (I'm in the UK now and there's a bit of a bigger scene here for it). I'll see what I can dig up though if you still need info. Spent many hours trawling the forums!

Ed

themainstreetexile · 09-25-2012, 09:45 PM

Hi Guys

We've been super slack with the project since the engine came out. We're trying to sort out the adapter plate and mountings at the moment, as well as still searching for batteries. We think if nothing else we can buy four new 12v batts and won't go over budget too much, but i'd really like to keep as much of the parts reused/recycled as possible. We were offered an old prius battery as a donation but it looked a bit too much trouble with the controller and charging, as well as keeping under budget. Tell me if I'm wrong...

@MetroMPG: Thanks for the tip on the EV club... We've started searching websites and phone numbers, I'm almost certain we'll be able to find some that way, if not just finding a supplier. Everyone we found so far has been interstate, and freighting is an issue with batteries apparently - the cost and finding someone to actually do it.

Also thanks for the tip on the site! I know you can put ads on blogspot as it's a google product, we are looking at linking the site to a specific domain name so it seems a bit more pro but if we can't then we'll definitely build a new site. Blogspot is just so easy! Won't get ahead of ourselves too much but making back a bit of the money would be nice!

@Ed:Yeah any help with batteries is appreciated! Were you affiliated with any clubs when you were in Melbourne? I can imagine the scene would be bigger in the UK where distances are so much shorter. How did you go registering your car and getting an engineering cert? Seems to us to be the most expensive thing we'll have to deal with!

Cheers again for the help and we'll get the next vid up soon...

Tom

MetroMPG · 09-26-2012, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by themainstreetexile

We think if nothing else we can buy four new 12v batts and won't go over budget too much, but i'd really like to keep as much of the parts reused/recycled as possible.

What about checking with a large truck service center? Big rigs have large format 12v batteries, especially the long haul trucks with sleeping quarters, often mulitple batteries per truck. I was going to take that route before landing the used batteries from another EV owner.

FYI, this "runabout" EV used four 12v batteries: EV Weblog: Yugo Greg! . It's a similar project.

Quote:

We were offered an old prius battery as a donation but it looked a bit too much trouble with the controller and charging, as well as keeping under budget. Tell me if I'm wrong...

You're not wrong. Also, Prius battery only has about ~1 kWh capacity (when new). Good for about 3 km range!

themainstreetexile · 03-13-2013, 09:19 AM

Good idea on the truck service centre, there's actually one right around the corner from my house.

Yeah that's a similar project except that bloke seemed to have more tools and machining experience. I'm handy with tools but I've never worked with metal.

Every time I think this project is going to fail I come across something that makes it seem entirely possible, if not easy. Which is great, and I can't wait to have it finished.

Can anyone tell based on the specs of my motor, remembering that it's from a forklift, whether it's dc wound series or not? I've had an offer for an Alltrax AXE 4845 24-48v controller that I think will be great for at least the first phase of the build - getting it on the road. I think this will only work with a series wound motor but I could be wrong. The motor is still sitting in the shed untouched, I'm going to take it apart and have a look, and hopefully test it after a cleanup. I will post photos on here if what I'm seeing doesn't make any sense...