Electric roadster

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icehouse
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Joined: 17 Jul 2005 17:06
Location: Everett Wa

Electric roadster

Post by icehouse »

For starter YES I like having lots of projects going at once. I get board and like to jump around plus on projects like this there is lots of figure out time. Plus modeling on the computer is nice because some of it can be done inside or even on the road, at least when designing components stuff like this I have to sit in the garage and try and draw factory components is kinda lame. Here are some pictures of what I got and what is going on. I wanted to make the lowest roadster ever, turns out the main problem with going low with a roadster is the hood to ground clearance that mixed with me taking out about two inches of the frame leaves no room for a combustion engine well unless I wanted to go rotary which I don't. After helping my brother I thought going electric would be cool but I don't want my car to be build with a bunch of Chinese junk like my brothers car ended up being and very unreliable. Since the Leaf has been out for what 4 years, why not! who can argue with 210 foot pounds of torque. I've been looking on Craigslist and noticed a dude selling a bunch of Leaf parts all unrelated to drivetrain. I emailed him and found out he's doing basically the same thing, but to a VW truck! We hung out a few times and he showed me his project, I talked him into letting me borrow a few things. Anyways I like pictures way better than typing.

Please don't turn my thread into a chat about renewable energy.

The original owner, this was about 4 years ago when we got it.


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The original owners handy work. He attempted installing a L28ET into it…. Lets just say the frame and firewall got butchered.

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How it's going to sit, rockers sitting on 2" blocks, all the ground clearance it's going to need :)

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Measuring the frame in the back yard.

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All the frame to body mounting points in solid works

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Leaf engine

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Engine and tranny cool huh!!


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Motor going into solidworks pain in the ass!! So many angles and crazy shit


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The artist!


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"People don't like it when shit doesn't match their rule of thumb." Sam
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PoorMtnKid
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by PoorMtnKid »

Thats a pretty cool project Jeff. With the Leaf being FWD how do you make this work out for the RWD Roadster?
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dcuplover
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Location: Burnaby

Re: Electric roadster

Post by dcuplover »

a buddy is building an electric split window VW bus in North Van. That wouldn't be who you ran into was it?

Update: just saw you aren't in Vancouver BC by the looks of the plates...
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icehouse
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by icehouse »

PoorMtnKid wrote:Thats a pretty cool project Jeff. With the Leaf being FWD how do you make this work out for the RWD Roadster?

That motor set you see in the picture won't know if it's in the front or rear. To tell you the truth I'm going to try and run one in the front and one in the rear. The batteries can easily put out enough power according to the research I did. So with one motor I'm going to run all the Leaf parts I can. Power column, maps, blue tooth phone, ac, power brakes and mass other cool stuff. The rear motor I'm going to try and figure out how to run if off an aftermarket controller so I can control the output better. Even if I run both at stock output that would be about 420 foot pounds of torque and 240 hp!! I don't think it should weigh all that much more that stock either if I only make it RWD. That motor setup in the pics above is about 150lbs and the batteries are about 384 lbs. adding in all the creature comforts and the second motor may add a bit but I don't think it will be to bad.

My buddy Jim who loaned me all the parts took his wrecked Leaf and unhooked different important things just to see what would happen. Turns out it doesn't care on all the things I want to get ride of. If you unhook the wheel speed sensors it just removes the traction control and allows you to get max torque right off the line. He said it was a burnout machine! So time will tell. Gotta keep doing research and keep at the frame design.
"People don't like it when shit doesn't match their rule of thumb." Sam
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icehouse
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by icehouse »

dcuplover wrote:a buddy is building an electric split window VW bus in North Van. That wouldn't be who you ran into was it?

Update: just saw you aren't in Vancouver BC by the looks of the plates...

I've tried to meet local people that are into "cool" electric cars with my bro. We've determined they are really hard to find. Most of them are into dorky cars and just shoot for longer range. None of them think of cool performance aspects or even using half way new technology like the Leaf components.


Does he have a build thread anywhere?
"People don't like it when shit doesn't match their rule of thumb." Sam
dcuplover
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by dcuplover »

this is a very high dollar build (well over the 100K mark by the time it is done). I messaged him and will post a link if and when I get something back. I also have a roadster sitting in a garage somewhere that I need to get to...too many projects and I am still sitting on my ass doing nothing...
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icehouse
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by icehouse »

Still need to add some important features such as the parking brake switch deal and the main wiring exit. Couldn't resist adding it into the Solidworks model of the narrowed S13 suspension. I think it's 6" narrower than stock maybe 8" I forget. This was more of a "prof of concept" it will get fine tuned as the weeks and months go by.



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"People don't like it when shit doesn't match their rule of thumb." Sam
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Mattndew76
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by Mattndew76 »

In simple terms "Kick Ass!" :wink:
An Idea doesn't work unless you do.
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two_68_510s
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by two_68_510s »

WOW, man what a cool idea!
Is the braking built into the "lump"?
Joel

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'95 240SX


“We will either find a way, or make one.” – Hannibal
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icehouse
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by icehouse »

Yes the Leaf has regenerative braking, from what my buddy Jim up north told me this is how it works. It auto regens slightly when you let off the throttle and slightly more during the first bit of the brake pedal. He said he ran it with the abs system unhooked and it turns out at about 5mph the regen kicks off and the abs takes over to make the slow down feel smooth. If you unhook the abs he said it almost feels like it accelerates at 5mph when the regen since the regen brakes are turned off. I plan to leave all the Leaf systems in tact including the abs. I'm not going to run the airbags or the traction control though which it will drive fine without it. Anyone who has driven a Pruis knows why!
"People don't like it when shit doesn't match their rule of thumb." Sam
analogxb
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by analogxb »

Whoa that is crazy cool man! Im really digging the innovation!
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two_68_510s
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by two_68_510s »

icehouse wrote:Yes the Leaf has regenerative braking, from what my buddy Jim up north told me this is how it works. It auto regens slightly when you let off the throttle and slightly more during the first bit of the brake pedal. He said he ran it with the abs system unhooked and it turns out at about 5mph the regen kicks off and the abs takes over to make the slow down feel smooth. If you unhook the abs he said it almost feels like it accelerates at 5mph when the regen since the regen brakes are turned off. I plan to leave all the Leaf systems in tact including the abs. I'm not going to run the airbags or the traction control though which it will drive fine without it. Anyone who has driven a Pruis knows why!
I wonder if you can fine tune the biasing when the two machines, front and rear, are working together to stop the car.

In F1 this season they are having some trouble because of two different braking systems.
Joel

2 '68 510 2 door sedans
'95 240SX


“We will either find a way, or make one.” – Hannibal
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icehouse
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by icehouse »

My car's don't really meet F1 standards haha. I would like to autocross it but can't imagine running into to many issues. The regen on a Leaf is petty weak.
"People don't like it when shit doesn't match their rule of thumb." Sam
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McShagger510
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Re: Electric roadster

Post by McShagger510 »

:mrgreen: Very cool Jeff! :mrgreen:

James
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