Re: Batteries - EV Conversion

Bob La Londe <none@none.com99> wrote:
[snip]

Any hope of finding a decent used engine?

 
Its always possible, but the OEM for this was a 4.7L V8.  A
remanufactured 4.7 is 3 grand or less.  The balance is that you aren't
supposed to reuse the intake ($900), and you should use a new water
pump, alternator, gaskets etc.  Stuff that can leave you stranded use
new.  I figure with incidentals it might run another 3 grand in other
parts.  6 grand.  Maybe less if I spend more time shopping.  I know
plenty of people buy used engines or repaired grade engines, but I
wouldn't go with less than a reman if I went that way.  Its to much work
to have to do twice in short order.
 

Ok, understood.

I'm still actually
leaning towards an EV if I can find the right stuff.  The Chinese are
leaps and bounds ahead of the US EV market.  I can buy a new Chinese
200hp (which would be good for this application) even cheaper than the
Ford Mach-E, but I find the same problem.  A lack of supply (that I can
buy) for everything to make it work.
>

 
An EV is a worthy experiment. Thought about it myself. But a handmade
conversion won't be worth much, even if it works, to anybody but the
originator once the experiment is complete. The learning curve for the
new owner is going to be steep.  From the numbers you mentioned
earlier that sounds like it might get pricey, ~20k or something. A
used standard production EV can be resold for most of its purchase
price unless the battery drops dead.
 
I very much like the idea of an EV built with commodity components
as opposed to the proprietary designs prevailing in the marketplace.
A pickup truck seems on the face of it a good platform; lots of space
and no severe performance demands. But, it's a big project in time,
knowledge and money.

 
I asked one of my drive suppliers if an industrial high voltage inverter
could be used for an EV controller.  Polyspede makes them rated upto
500HP and input voltage from 380-480.  A regenerative 200HP Polyspede
sells for about 4 grand.  For the bigger ones the price jumps quickly.
One rated at 400HP is almost 10 grand. 

Those horsepower numbers seem exceedingly large. Is it really required?
I'm thinking in terms of 100hp peak, 20hp continuous at most. It
might require a multi-speed transmission, but that's key to efficiency
anyway. Am I overlooking something? A 12 kg LiFePO4 battery can deliver
about a kilowatt for a minute or so. Do you really want 250 of them?

bob prohaska