Hi all,
I'm working on a '71 Volkswagen Super Beetle Conversion. We've de'ICEd it. At this point, it's a matter of making decisions in regards to the EV parts and I'm shooting for the moon...
This is my first EV build (hopefully the first of several). I live in Southern California near Los Angeles, and driving distances (and times) out here can be problematic. There's a lot of highway driving out here, which obviously puts more strain on the range, particularly with something with as bad of a cdA as a VW Beetle (0.48 cdA).
As far as skillset - I design and build recording studio gear. Soldering, PCB design, yada yada yada. I have a fairly solid self-taught understanding of analog electronics, CAD and mechanical work is in my wheelhouse, and I fortunately have a lot of contacts in CNC and fabrication that will help me along here.
Here's my goals:
TOP SPEED: minimum of 70mph. Any slower and people think you're a speed-bump out here (did I mention people in Southern CA drive like maniacs?)
RANGE: in a perfect world, a minimum of 100 miles (160km) of range at 80% DOD. We can probably get by with 70 miles (112km). Getting closer to our "ideal" range would be around a 24-25kWh battery pack. Also to note - we need some fairly heat-resistant batteries, as we often have 100F+ days out where I am during the summer. The 24kWh Leaf batteries from 2014 and later might do the trick, and I'm looking at figuring out how to manage their temp in some creative ways.
COST: We're probably putting a minimum of $2500 into restoring the body, interior, etc. The Beetle is a mess. I'd REALLY like to keep my costs down on the EV conversion to the point where we're no more than $7.5k in for a total of $10k. Looking at my speed and range goals, I understand that may not be entirely realistic, but hey...daring to dream here.
MOTOR CHOICE: I'd really like to go with a Nissan Leaf AC motor...
With that in mind, I'm looking at salvaging a 2014 or newer Leaf. I have a few concerns about doing this, but I think salvaging is probably the best way to hit my range and speed goals within our budget. Here's my (probably stupid) questions and concerns:
1) Does anyone have actual dimensions/weight for the 2013-2017 leaf motor (motor ONLY)? I'm having trouble finding actual dimensions. I need to know if I can actually fit this in my wee tiny engine compartment or if I'm going to have to do the half-moon cutout I've seen when folks stick a WarP 11 in there.
2) I obviously don't need the insane amount of power the Leaf motor can provide for a vehicle that will probably weigh less than 2000lbs when finished. The original 1600cc ICE was about 55hp...the Leaf motor conservatively puts out about 110hp continuous. Here's my first dumb question: can I cut down the DC voltage I provide to the motor by swapping the parallel/serial config the battery packs? Will I be dropping efficiency / torque in such a way that makes this undoable? If I drop the battery voltage down to, for example, 200Vdc, that puts the AC RMS around 140V. My thought process here is varied:
Thanks for bearing with the (hopefully not-too-)dumb questions. I could go simple with a forklift motor, or go with an expensive HPEVS or Netgain motor/controller combo. But I tend to shoot for the moon with all my projects, and more often than not I get a good distance there. I come into this lacking some of the necessary skills to utilize Paul and Arlo's work, but that's what YouTube (and a few very smart friends with EE degrees) are for.
If I can make salvaging Leaf components work, I think that goes a long way towards taking a significant chunk of the cost out of the project. My plan is to document this as carefully as possible in order to contribute back to the community that's already teaching me a ton.
I'm working on a '71 Volkswagen Super Beetle Conversion. We've de'ICEd it. At this point, it's a matter of making decisions in regards to the EV parts and I'm shooting for the moon...
This is my first EV build (hopefully the first of several). I live in Southern California near Los Angeles, and driving distances (and times) out here can be problematic. There's a lot of highway driving out here, which obviously puts more strain on the range, particularly with something with as bad of a cdA as a VW Beetle (0.48 cdA).
As far as skillset - I design and build recording studio gear. Soldering, PCB design, yada yada yada. I have a fairly solid self-taught understanding of analog electronics, CAD and mechanical work is in my wheelhouse, and I fortunately have a lot of contacts in CNC and fabrication that will help me along here.
Here's my goals:
TOP SPEED: minimum of 70mph. Any slower and people think you're a speed-bump out here (did I mention people in Southern CA drive like maniacs?)
RANGE: in a perfect world, a minimum of 100 miles (160km) of range at 80% DOD. We can probably get by with 70 miles (112km). Getting closer to our "ideal" range would be around a 24-25kWh battery pack. Also to note - we need some fairly heat-resistant batteries, as we often have 100F+ days out where I am during the summer. The 24kWh Leaf batteries from 2014 and later might do the trick, and I'm looking at figuring out how to manage their temp in some creative ways.
COST: We're probably putting a minimum of $2500 into restoring the body, interior, etc. The Beetle is a mess. I'd REALLY like to keep my costs down on the EV conversion to the point where we're no more than $7.5k in for a total of $10k. Looking at my speed and range goals, I understand that may not be entirely realistic, but hey...daring to dream here.
MOTOR CHOICE: I'd really like to go with a Nissan Leaf AC motor...
With that in mind, I'm looking at salvaging a 2014 or newer Leaf. I have a few concerns about doing this, but I think salvaging is probably the best way to hit my range and speed goals within our budget. Here's my (probably stupid) questions and concerns:
1) Does anyone have actual dimensions/weight for the 2013-2017 leaf motor (motor ONLY)? I'm having trouble finding actual dimensions. I need to know if I can actually fit this in my wee tiny engine compartment or if I'm going to have to do the half-moon cutout I've seen when folks stick a WarP 11 in there.
2) I obviously don't need the insane amount of power the Leaf motor can provide for a vehicle that will probably weigh less than 2000lbs when finished. The original 1600cc ICE was about 55hp...the Leaf motor conservatively puts out about 110hp continuous. Here's my first dumb question: can I cut down the DC voltage I provide to the motor by swapping the parallel/serial config the battery packs? Will I be dropping efficiency / torque in such a way that makes this undoable? If I drop the battery voltage down to, for example, 200Vdc, that puts the AC RMS around 140V. My thought process here is varied:
- This would keep any issues with traction at bay
- I can (hopefully) not have to set up a liquid cooling rig but keep the VW air-cooled legacy alive (while also cutting costs and weight by not having to set up any sort of liquid cooling. There's not exactly a place for a radiator on a Beetle.)
- I'm not a "car guy" to the extent where I only learn about something on my car when I need to fix it, so I'm obviously concerned about how much stress I'd be putting on the stock VW Beetle Transaxle we're keeping if I ran the Leaf motor onto it.
Thanks for bearing with the (hopefully not-too-)dumb questions. I could go simple with a forklift motor, or go with an expensive HPEVS or Netgain motor/controller combo. But I tend to shoot for the moon with all my projects, and more often than not I get a good distance there. I come into this lacking some of the necessary skills to utilize Paul and Arlo's work, but that's what YouTube (and a few very smart friends with EE degrees) are for.
If I can make salvaging Leaf components work, I think that goes a long way towards taking a significant chunk of the cost out of the project. My plan is to document this as carefully as possible in order to contribute back to the community that's already teaching me a ton.