Xtreme's Honda Civic electric car conversion

Xtreme Cartz

Got it all figured out now. I drove the car to school this week on 48 volts but with the new motor and 2 banks of 8 volt batteries. It did pretty darn good going 40-45 mph the whole way. The industrial electronic controls instructors were very interested in the car and helped me with the new controller wiring. The problem with the pot box was it didn't have the 3rd wire coming out of it for the supply voltage I think it was. We soldered on a new 3 wire cable and it should work. They determined the middle microswitch terminal isn't used.
They informed me that you are able to have 2 seperate voltage systems and the same ground like the 120 and 12 volts. It makes sense now.
The brake and reverse switch aren't used.


Hey leadfoot what's the best range you've seen out of a lead acid EV? I'm looking for another one to build and keep like a ranger or s10. Would like it to be a distance beast.

leadfoot

you can do it,, it will have 6 volt batteries and be pretty heavy.. but a small truck like that is perfect.. just remember the more you discharge the batteries between cycles will decrease the life of the battery pack.. If you want distance, I strongly recommend looking into AC drive systems.. A little more money, but way more efficient.. ( Think TESLA roadster).. A good example in golf carts is the new EZGO RXV .. less capacity in the battery pack than the TXT, but because of the drive system has alot more range...

Xtreme Cartz

AC drive would be cool!! Any idea where I can find the motor and controller? I bought a 91 toyota pickup 5spd so I'm ready to start on another one.

Over the weekend I put in the new 120 volt controller and added more batteries. The car sunk down in the back so I made lift shackles temporarily until I buy beefier springs.
The car is exciting to drive but it's slower than I thought it would be. Last week going to school with the new motor and 48 volt 480 amp logisystems controller the car cruised along at 40-45 mph nearly the whole way. On 120 volts it seems to reach 55 top and acceleration is about the same as 48 volts. When not running on totally flat ground or downhill it averages in the range of 118 volts or about 7.8 per battery.

leadfoot

theres a few places out there for AC drive components.. off the top of my head I would say check the TEVA2 website, there are tons of links for full size EVS, series and electric.. As a sidenote.. where are your battery hold downs, man? lol.. remember there is a ton of potential energy in those batts if something were to happen.. a couple good things to add as you go up in voltage/ amperage.. an emergency disconnect, and a fuse to put in series about midway through your battery pack to ensure your safety if anything were to happen... youll see the specs for both as you check out some of those links... keep up the good work!!

Xtreme Cartz

I'm gonna put in battery hold downs eventually. How's a good way to control the fumes if the batteries are inside the car? I was thinking about building an aluminum or styrofoam box exhausting it outside through a pipe and electric fan.

An emergency disconnect is a great idea. I'm a bit shaky around the car because while doing the connections I had my knee on a piece of metal trim and was shocked through my arm. Have any suggestions to make this safer? Its just too easy for someone who doesn't know to lean over and touch the battery terminals.

Nate

Fishing Dude

Use to be a plastic coating for tool handles that could be put over the batter connection straps, then use little dixie cups held down with elastic strips over battery terminals with cutouts for the straps connecting the batteries. Might look cheesy but would keep people safe from getting dead.

leadfoot

Some polystyrene sheeting or other pvc sheeting works well for an enclosure, lexan looks great as well.. The cool thing with the lexan is you can show it and not worry about people that may not recognize the danger from being car-b-qued .. lol.. Nate brought up some good points with the fan and the transmission.. the lower gear you use the less amps youll be pulling on acceleration, less amps= more range, less heat, etc... and for the pusher fan.. dont forget to make sure it is brushless as not to ignite any trapped vapors.. If you havent already you should put up some video clips, Im sure all these combos your doing would be very informational to people that are interested in ev's but dont know where to start..

Fishing Dude

Go with a intake facing forward with a vent tube and a vent facing rear to exahaust gasses like when a boat is under power. Nice thing takes no power.

Xtreme Cartz

All of those are great ideas. Would one or two of these be sufficient for the battery box and does it look like a brushless fan?
http://www.evparts.com/prod-FN2513.htm
I'm having trouble picturing how the fan should be positioned. So if the batteries are enclosed in some form of a pvc box, would the fan go inside the box venting out through a pipe?

I was out at advance auto and they have nice rubber battery terminal caps that may work out good. The guy looked at me funny when he heard I needed 15 packages of them.

Question while working around the controller even when the battery pack is disconnected, isn't there usually some residual energy? How do you get rid of that?

One other thing I was looking for advice on is whether or not I should drop the voltage down to 96? This would remove the entire last row of batteries from the back of the car and save a good bit of weight. How much would this drop the car's range and performance vs 120 volts? I don't mind saving this 120 charger for the toyota and buy a 96 for the honda.

Hey leadfoot I'll have a website up pretty soon with more organized info on the car for people.