Planning a budget EV build

[Ryland]

Don't look at miles, look at rust, most of the wear from miles is on the engine and if you have an automatic transmission it's on the transmission as well, an electric motor is going to put a new kind of wear on an automatic and it's a new challenge, the one guy I know who has an automatic EV is putting as much work in the automatic as he is the rest of the EV.
If you find a car that is not junk that has 500,000 miles on it that has less rust then a car with 10,000 miles on it, I'd buy the one with less rust any day.

[bennelson]

Yep, hard to disagree with what Ryland just said.

[mechman600]

Ryland and Ben's advice is sound. I can speak about Mazdas. To my surprise I found mine to be a very high quality car for what it is.

My advice is to stay away from the automatic. You WILL regret it later when you are using your max battery capacity/range and the looming thought is "if I would have gone with a manual I could go that much further".

Don't get me wrong, I think automatics could be better in an EV, but only if you have a working knowledge in manipulating TCM software to alter TC lockup and shift points. But who has this kind of knowledge and means? Not me, that's for sure.

Going by the cars I have owned, only a Honda automatic is very "TC lockup happy", keeping the TC locked most of the time in gears 3 & 4. A Chrysler automatic is very slushy (AKA very inefficient) unless cruising. I believe theSGC used a 0-5K pot in place of the TPS to manipulate shift points. But there is obviously a reason he went with a manual trans for Civic EV 2.0.

Buy a car that you like. I doubt you really like Aveos.

[puddleglum]

I went to Calgary today to look, but It didn't get me too far. I didn't get to see the Mazda. The PT Cruiser is off the list because my son had a really hard time with the narrow back doors. Most of us don't have to worry about large back doors and a roomy back seat when looking for a donor car, but for me it is a high priority. The aveo is actually not that bad. Surprisingly I do rather like it. It is the larger body sedan and is fairly roomy and virtually rust free. I'm still considering it, but the engine bay is pretty tight. I think my monster motor would be a tight fit. I think I would have to cut off the tail shaft to make it work and probably limit the power as well since the trans looks pretty light duty. I also looked at a Passat the other day. The car was really rough, so I passed on it, but I really liked the longitudinal engine layout. It would make mounting the motor so much easier. This is proving a little harder than I thought, but I'm not in a big rush.

[MetroMPG]

Aveo conversion, FYI: Marco's 2005 Chevrolet Aveo

[mechman600]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Aveo conversion, FYI: Marco's 2005 Chevrolet Aveo

puddleglum, going by this conversion I wouldn't worry about over torquing the Aveo transmission. This one handles a 9" with 1000 amps, and that's some serious torque, in the range of 300-400 ft-lbs. Keep in mind that this much torque from an electric motor is much smoother of a delivery than from an ICE.

That's still a lot, though.....

[bennelson]

One issue that I had that I didn't think of until I actually did my Geo Metro conversion is the clearance between the electric motor and the passenger-side wheel drive-shaft on a front-wheel-drive car.

That is, how much room is there in the radius of the motor front its shaft (and the center of the transmission) to that half-shaft that goes to the wheel. In a small front-wheel-drive car, it can be a limiting factor.

I used a 10.5" diameter Nissan Forklift electric motor in the Geo Metro. It just BARELY cleared the half-shaft. And I also did have to cut the tail-shaft off.

Just a measurement to be aware of if looking at smaller cars.

[puddleglum]

Yeah, motor clearance was one of my big concerns with the Aveo. It could be an issue with any fwd car for that matter. It has really long input and output shafts which will make it a really tight fit. I spotted a BMW 328i for sale in Calgary today. Sucks that I didn't see it before I went to Calgary. It will likely be gone before I can do anything about it, but it may be an excellent candidate. I don't know yet if it would work for my son, and it is over my budget, but it would make a sweet EV.

[puddleglum]

Well, still looking for a donor car. I may have found one though. I just wish all the good prospects weren't 100 miles away. Anyway, I'm hoping to see it this week. It's a 2006 Mazda 3 hatchback. Owner says it's rust free with new tires and good glass, all it needs is an engine. If it's what he says it is, it sounds perfect. It already has electric power steering which should simplify things and I measured up one at a car dealer here in town, so I think my motor will fit. Here's hoping. getting it home could be a bit of an issue though.
It doesn't seem like anyone has done one yet, I'm not sure why that is. I wouldn't need to have it inspected for another 5 years, so I have lot's of time to get the project done.
Insurance agent told me that it won't matter if I have converted it to electric, if the car is less than 12 years old it still won't need an inspection. I like the sound of that. I was really concerned about the insurance issue.

[bennelson]

Mazda 3 would be a nice little EV. Those are fun cars.