eMog

[carlt]

Indeed was Cedric
I have moved on to different things so lost touch
sounds like you've done your research
I recommend the PM motors for simplicity and performance/packaging
All the AC/DC converting just seems to introduce unnecessary complications
It was a fwd escort van , the mounting plate went across the bellhousing , the stub axle [from escort rear beam ] bolted through this plate , the plate extended above the bellhousing , to which mounted the motors .
It was designed as a conversion , remove engine , bolt in new mounting plate to which is attached the electric motors and the clutch / drive
[ or to fit new rolling shells ]
Was very simple and also easily removable for maintainance .
One battery pack mounted [ self contained ] where the IC engine was .
the other battery pack [ also self contained] bolted in where the fuel tank was .
It was all simple and productionised : un bolt the IC stuff and bolt in the Electric

Shame it never came to anything
Bit too early to be successfully marketed [ we also didn't have anyone who knew how to market it ]
The electronics were never sophisticated enough for a production vehicle

But I'm proud of what I achieved with the Pre Production Prototype ,
The packaging of the various components was all sorted and ready to go
The performance on the road was equal to the IC engined van

Good luck with your project

[bmcecosse]

Sounds excellent - where is the van now ? Is it still on the road ??
I'm desperate to have an electric car - but would need 100 mile range, although 50 mph would be fine.

[andy-harris]

You have plenty to be proud of carlt by the sound of it. There has been a lot of stuff'n'nonsense talked about electric cars ( I could get wrapped up in consipracy theories...), but it's all about guys like you (and me one day?) actually doing it. It must have been very frustrating.

Your package sounds very similar to what I plan to do in the first instance - minimal mods, KISS approach, but without all the hassle of doing a restoration first...

[carlt]

I ended up owning the van as payment for my time

I was commissioned to fit the electric motors, controller ,batteries [Genesis lead acid ] from the Escort into a Daihatsu mini bus which was already electric converted but some numpty had buggered up the existing motor and battery pack [ It was owned by Energy 21 , it went to Bristol/Bath ? ]

I put the IC stuff back in the van and used it for a bit , then sold it on .

Yes there is all sorts of Guff about electric vehicles , they are perfect for a lot of specific usage .
Anyone who does a fixed daily commute , charge up on cheap/residual electric at night , perfect trasport

[polo2k]

I know a guy who is in the process of converting a 2001 polo to electric drive by driving the flywheel and leaving everything else in place. The guy doing the work is Dan turner at Turner racing developments in Glos.
I looked into an electric minor and everything was looking reasonable with a 72V system until I priced the batteries, they were aver £1500 on their own and put an end to the project.

I heard really good things about Lynch motors for power and efficency. they powered the water speed reccord for years!

[dantournay]

I agree with what you're saying about the cost of the batteries. Take a look at these electric 2CV conversions
http://www.everything-ev.com/conversion ... p-385.html

Odyssey Superior Lead Acid - recommended (+£2,350.00)
Lithium - the Ultimate! - best for range (+£13,806.25)

[andy-harris]

Just over four years!

Hello.
well, I didn't want to bore you with all the pictures of rusty panels and dodgy welding.

The worst of the restorative work is over and I've been fitting the new front suspension & working out how/where to mount the motor between tidying up and preparing for the rear axle fitting.
Below are my current thoughts on the motor. Please remember that I don't actually know what I'm talking about!
The plan is to have a ~150V AC motor driving a propshaft to a live rear axle. The motor puts out about 160 HP and 190 ft lb to 5,000 rpm.
My favoured option at the moment is to mount the motor roughly where the gearbox was, but a bit further aft. Jonathan has suggested that I could put the motor between the cross member and the heel board. More on this later.

This picture is of the underside with a rough mock-up motor.
Motor is 9" diameter and gets bolted to a 1/4" steel plate, which is a circle with wings.
I've mocked up a mounting on one side of the car using a cardbush (TM) bracket. These 2 rear mounts need to take up the torque reaction of the motor. The front mount will just support the weight of the motor.
It isn't in the right place fore-aft. My intention is to move it much closer to the crossmember.[frame][/frame]

[andy-harris]

From the top, the 60mm hollow section cross brace might need to have something bridging the gap between the 2 sides. The big cone thing sticking out the back is a very rough outline of the motor -> propshaft link. I don't want the motor bearings to have to deal with the weight of the propshaft. I'm not sure how to fit this to the 1/4" plate yet. I've also wondered about fitting an overdrive unit to give me a bit more flexibility.[frame][/frame]

[andy-harris]

Finally, the other option of fitting the motor to the heel board. It's a bit harder to mock up, so here is a cross-section drawing which hopefully shows enough. There's already a big box section here and adding some heavier metal work would only strengthen the car. I'm a bit worried this will be too close to the rear axle (especially with the propshaft link or an overdrive) plus I'm not sure how to fit any framework - it all seems to interfere with the motor. Early days though...[frame][/frame]

[motherofgod]

http://www.plasmaboyracing.com/index.php

I don't know if you've read about this guy, but shows you what you can do with electric power

good work

James

[M25VAN]

Interesting stuff. There is another member on here doing an electric conversion. http://electricminorproject.co.uk/