It has been a while since I posted my recent updates, so I thought I would share. most responses to my first post over a year ago were very positive.

Again if you have nothing kind to say please keep it to yourself.

I actually found references to my post on the Australian Corvette Forum, I registered but apparently the moderators were not interested in allowing me access to post. I was also going to update and answer some questions they had on their site. They were extremely positive to what I was doing as well.

To answer a few questions:

My range is almost 30 miles at 55 mph ( a Prius without the motor running gets about 40 miles) obviously I can go further at lower speeds.

I have had the car over 65 mph and it was still pulling good in 3rd gear. I generally drive in second gear, there is no clutch needed. I would imagine the top speed is about 85-90 mph

The car weighs 3434 Lbs and takes about 3 hours to charge from 80% DOD. ( this was by my choice of a battery charger)

With pulling about 500 Amps ( battery limitation) from the 240V (260 volts at float) battery pack, I'm pulling close to 400 ft/lbs of torque from 0-3200 RPM's

The motor is 100HP peak at 144 volts I'm hitting in the 150 -160 HP range. I am currently working out to see whether to go to a larger motor or siamese two of the ADC 9" motors together. The controller is capable of driving 2 motors and switching the power between series and parallel.


I started with a 144 volt system with a Curtis Controller and a 4L60E automatic.



I have put about 3000 miles on the car in the past year it has been on the road as electric.


For now here is how the Zilla controller is placed:



The total battery count is 10 in the front I have updated with a battery rack for the top 4 batteries shown strapped down ( another 6 under the temprorary wood plate).



I rearranged the batteries to get 10 in the rear versus the original 6:



I also replaced the Automatic with a ZF6 six speed transmission:



I went clutchless and I have no problems shifting, I generally start in first and run through 50 MPH in second. I have reached 65mph with no issues shifting to 3rd gear.

I am running 20 Optima D34M's total.



Mo

 

Cool project that took a whole lot of talent for sure.

 

Very impressive and well engineered.

 

Wow that is cool. Better looking, handling, braking, than a Prius too. I assume when you say a Prius has a range of 40 miles you are talking the new plug in hybrid version?

 

Nice!

 

I think that this is alsome. If you said a honda 4 banger motor then some bad words will come. But I think this is great. Id love to see it in person.

 

I remember when you posted up a while ago about it. I wondered how you and your car have been doing. Im in San Bernardino frequently. That is totally cool what you have did. Must be a rush driving it with it being so quiet. You should contact Jay Leno about featuring it in one of his garage episodes. If you ever watch is garage episodes, your vette would fit right in.
He likes new technology and being green.
Nice work. Enjoy

Mike

 

That is.....amazing. Does it feel any different from a standard engine at "wide open throttle"?

astepup said that

 

Hey Mike , if you're ever in town, shoot me a PM I'll be happy to show it to you.

Thanks that's a good thought!
Thank you everyone for the kind words, it is a rush driving around. Aside from mild gear noise from the transmission, this thing is eerie quiet...

People keep looking over from the other lane looking for the rumble LOL...

Regards,

MO

 

That's a great idea Mike! It has my vote.

Steve

 

It pulls pretty good through about 3200 RPM, the torque then starts to fall off at about 3600. Just like a gas engine it depends on what gear I'm in.

It reminds me of when I had the supercharged 396 in it, alot of low end grunt like a big block. It is almost the opposite of a "ICE" (internal combustion engine) Where the stock 350 would make say peak ~ 360 lbs of torque at about 3600-4200 rpms. This has about 400 ft/lbs of torque from 0 rpm through about 3200 and falls off to about 100 ft /lbs through 3600 in 2nd gear. In third gear it will pull about 400 ft /lbs through redline of 5500 rpms ( at the expense of using alot of current).

Also like a gas motor there are variables as well, such as how much voltage the traction pack is, how much current the controller is capable of ( mine is 2000 amps) and the gearing. I'm only only using about 50% of the capacity of the controller.

I hope this answers your question.

Mo

 

Impressive work. Here is the original thread from a year ago:
http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c4-g...-corvette.html

 

was the car coil-over before the 396 came out? pretty cool. I sometimes think about making a car like this (but not a vette- something more utilitarian), but don't even know what is out there.

I work with 3 phase inverters and diesel-electric power generation on an industrial scale, but could never work out a good way to make a car out of anything we make (too big).

 

Also- how do you change your registration to electric vehicle and get them to stop sending you the smog reminders?

 

Hey Mike 100,

Yes I converted the car to coilovers while I had the 396 in the car. They have been on it for over 7 years, It really helps, actually I failed to mention i had the car weighed to be sure it was not over the gross vehicle weight, I was within a pound of 50/50 weight distribution...

They come in handy setting the ride height for a nice rake.

After I failed smog for 15 mph Nox by 9 points I could not get the smog referee to give me a waiver. as was mentioned in my post over a year ago after seeming to "throw money at getting it through smog is when I decided to make the change. I can agree with going to a more utilitarian type car. But I like being a bit different, and the car was paid off. So I sold the motor trans etc, which funded what I have done thus far ( with a few grand added in).

It terms of registration it was actually more straight forward than I expected it to be.

I pulled the motor converted he car to electric and called the smog referee for an appointment telling them it was an electric conversion.

It was the same smog ref that was busting my chops HEH, I pulled in he looked at me with a VERY funny look on his face. I said I'm here to get my car signed off for a BEV ( Battery Electric Vehicle) Almost apologetically asked me if i could pop the hood. e was totally blown away... He signed it off in like 2 seconds... the referee station was near the Automotive Technology area of the Community College. Word spread like wild fire... I spent 45 minutes answering questions from the students.

So the smog sign off was instantaneous. I went on down to DMV with the signed paperwork showing the car was in fact a BEV, at the DMV they changed my registration from a "g" to an "E" on the motor type. They told me that this would keep the car from being flagged every 2 years for smog. They said in the "event" it tells me to go for smog to swing back by they would sign it off and I would be on my way.

Mo

 

Hell, I'd like to see the smogmans face when you pop the hood

' I dare you to stick that sniffer in my exhaust'

OP-it appears to be almost a straight trade off in weight; is there another type of battery that would be lighter in the future?

 

Mo nice work.
If you could get ahold of some lithium-ion cells imagine what you could
get out of those.

This part is not a knock on Mo's project. It is information only.
We can't tell by your pictures of the wiring and I just want to ensure everyone looking at this and considering their own project knows that.
It is standard to have any high voltage wiring orange in color.
It can be purchased in that color or covered. This is to identify it for any emergency personnel that HV may be present so they can proceed accordingly.
.

 

Wow, that's some serious work. Where is the electric motor from and how the heck do you figure out what to use?

 

Yes there is no exhaust to put the "sniffer" LOL

I wish i had a camera, it was priceless.

Yes Lithium batteries are are about half the weight but still very expensive... I have been trying to find a battery sponsor but no bites yet.

The lithium pack equivelent in voltage (240 volts) to what I have now is around $10K, so for now I'm content to wait it out...

Yes in terms of weight, I'm about 150 pounds over stock weight. I kept the batteries towards the lean side group 34's versus group 31's as I didn't want the car to be a "lead sled".

Regards,

MO

 

Thank you!
It has actually been alot of fun.

I'm an engineer and did alot of research. The motor is actually from a forklift it is a 9" ADC FB1-4001A, there are a couple larger motors that I'm eyeing they have 11" and 13" motors but they get heavier and a ton more torque. So it is a matter of weighing options. I'm rapidly approaching the performance of a stock 350 engine.

There are basically 3 items to make this all work...

The motor which I mentioned is 100hp peak at 144 volts I'm sending about 800 amps and 154 volts to the motor at WOT.

The batteries ( my weak link) will handle about 500 amp draw ( they will sag down to 10.5 volts ) As i mentioned above the lithium batteries are the " holy grail" but are a small fortune.

Then the controller, many folks ( and myself originally) use a curtis contriller which is designed for golf carts and fork lifts as well. The "Zilla" controller that I have is specifically designed for racing. It is capable of pulling 2000 amps from a battery pack, and control 2 motors.
so I have the capability to make some serious power, i'm just taking baby steps and running up the power as I increas the voltage. I'm at 240 volts the controller is capable of handling 300 volts.

Regards,

MO