File037

The Winter Chill

It has been so cold lately that all work on the EV in the garage has stopped. Since the garage is unheated and it has been as cold as -20 (yes, minus twenty below zero), it has been way too cold to even think about going outside.
All is not lost. While holed up inside, I have been looking for deals on EV parts and tools online. I did manage to purchase a nice crimper (hammer style) for securing the cable ends to the battery cable. I also have been thinking about batteries. My plans are 48 volts, which I still will do just to keep costs down and it will be enough for my goal of driving around town. But, I think I may design an additional enclosed battery case in the back (between the rear bumper and tranny) to fit an extra three 12-volt batteries. This will give me a couple options if I want to upgrade later and the extra weight in the rear will help with winter traction. Plus, I figure if I plan now I won’t have to deconstruct the whole car later. Since all my EV parts will handle 48-84 volts there is some wiggle room for upgrading. If it warms up I might make it outside to take some measurements.
Stay warm!

Hunting for new tires

Where to find used tires

I will be hitting the Grab and Go Auto Salvage this weekend looking for some rear wheels for the Beetle. This summer I passed up some near new Goodyear Wrangler tires that were on a Chevy Blazer (at the time I had a Chevy Blazer and was thinking of buying them) the cost for the 4 tires would have been $48 dollars! Having once purchased Wrangler tires for a Jeep (and actually worked designed Goodyear advertising for awhile) I know those tires would have been $125 a piece. Yes, I am still kicking myself for not buying them this summer… maybe they are still there? How sweet would that be. They probably aren’t the best choice for an EV, but they sure would look cool on the Beetle.

48 Volt SOC Battery Meter

Got my SOC (state of charge) battery meter the other day. It is a 48 volt golf cart meter. The empty marking is 20%. This was a new old stock part I got off ebay for $10 bucks shipped (the guy had only one, but there were other similar ones and a cool illuminated one). My “plain Jane” meter doesn’t have a light so I’m thinking of adding a couple LEDs above the speedometer and gauges of the bug. There is a small lip where I should be able to fit 3 L.E.D.s had have them shine down on the gauges.

48 Volt battery meter for the electric car.

D&D Electric Motor ES-15-6

I’ve had my electric motor for quite awhile and just realized I hadn’t posted anything about it. I haven’t done much with it yet except for fitting and measuring.

Here are the motor specs:
D&D electric motor, model ES-15-6 DC  – 48-72 volts – 10 HP cont, 40HP peak
Not sure of the actual weight but I would guess around 60lbs. Measures 6.7″ Dia x 12.28″ Long
It has a 7/8″ single-shaft (although the back of the motor does have a removable cover plate covering the shaft – might to rig a tach to it).
It has front mounting holes and a base plate.
Purchased mine used off ebay.

Electric motor #ES-15-6 shown with my Gates pulley

Adapter building – EV conversion

Like others I am disassembling the clutch disk, so I can have something to fit the splined shaft of the transmission.

Here is the before.

Electric car adapter/coupler building

Just grind off a few pins and it will pop apart.

Clutch disk apart

I have a second clutch disk as a back-up. It is slightly different, but this one seemed to fit the shaft very good. I will update as I get more parts for the adapter.

Get a working vehicle for an EV conversion.

My original plan was to purchase a working, running VW Beetle to convert to electric. Saw this project and thought perfect.

Save some time and get a working vehicle so you know what you have!

Configuring the Alltrax AXE 7245

So, I’ve had this big paper weight on my desk for about a month now. I was hoping that after I cleaned out the basement one of the “computer boxes o’ junk,” that there would be a serial to USB (9-pin RS 232 to USB) so I could play around with the Alltrax AXE 7245 settings, but nothing was found. I have one on order and hope to receive it soon!

The Controller Pro software looks pretty basic and extremely user-friendly. But, the settings will be more than enough for me. You can adjust the General settings, Throttle response and even record the performance. The Monitor option sounds cool as it will be perfect for my wife’s netbook.

Here are the options available to the AXE (also has DCX optioins listed) controllers.

Once my new cable arrives I will screen capture some of the configuration pages.

Alltrax AXE 7245 Controller

Got the controller for the Bug today. It is an Alltrax AXE 7245 controller. 24-72 Volts, 450 amps. Just need to get this thing DONE. Parts are coming in, excitement is brewing. Photo… I need to find the SD card for the camera (think the kids have it in the Wii). If you don’t know about Alltrax you can find their website here.

If you want to know prices or where to purchase… I got mine here from EV Drives.

Will update with photos. It looks snazzy!

Alltrax AXE 7245 Controller - also pictured is the Kilovac contacter, pre-charge resistor, diode and fuse.