My 84 GTV 2L EV Project

TheConverted · January 08, 2010, 12:05:55 AM

MD, the GTV wasnt my 1st option, but I have always had an interest in the design and style of it. IMHO, people who convert very small cars to electric regret not doing a car they like the look of. Hence the GTV. My 1st option was a Gemini coupe, but there were no good examples to convert when I started looking. That Honda s600 would be an ideal one to convert, but again, would be difficult to find one in reasonable condition.

Mike, centreline of the drive shaft is one of the things to consider when building the motor mounts. What will happen is an adaptor plate will be manufacturer to mount the motor to the bellhousing. Here is a link of an example of what they look like, but mine will be just a flat plate,

http://www.cameronsoftware.com/ev/EV_AdapterPlate.html

And an example of the motor mount that I am considering.

http://electricvehiclesolutions.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=9&products_id=22

Batteries I havent give much thought to so far, due to the fact that they will be the last purchase decision being made. Im hoping by then, Lithium polymer batteries will be at a reasonable price by then.

Sheldon McIntosh · January 08, 2010, 12:15:20 AM

It would be more of a crime to convert an S600 than a GTV IMHO. The S600 had a little jewel of an engine; four carbs, almost 100bhp per litre, and could rev to 8500. Not bad for the mid-60s.

TheConverted · January 08, 2010, 02:41:54 PM

OK, some success this morning, the motor spins the correct way. Clock wise if it was installed in the car looking at it from the front of the car. Another words, anti-clock wise when looking at the driveshaft end of the motor.

It was abit tricky to re-assembled it back together but we got there in the end....

Darryl · January 08, 2010, 11:08:27 PM

Quote from: MD on January 03, 2010, 10:56:00 AM
QuoteOn an EV, the kilowatts come from the batteries, more the better, and not the motor.

...
The crux of the matter is that the batteries only provide the wattage but its the motor that DELIVERS the wattage that does the actual work. This point appears to be glossed over by you.

As for the controller, well it's no different than to claim that the ECU in a petrol injected car does the work. Both these systems are subserviant to the motor that does the actual work.

...

HP = V x I x Eff
746

HP = horsepower
V = voltage
I = curent (amps)
Eff. = efficiency

All true. But in the internal combustion comparison, lets say you have a supercharger and a bunch of pulleys so you can pick charge density - now your power limit has nothing to do with rated from factory power running atmo and everything to do with when something mechanically fails due to the increased loads (yes I know there are a bunch of real issues - just pretend its all "perfect"). Electric motors are simple things. They are close to "perfect" except that superconducting windings are still a bit exotic for this sort of application... Due to that the biggest imperfection is the I^2R losses - so keep I (volume of charge) constant and increase V (density of charge) => more power.

A big "accumulator" produces a lot of volts (boost). The internal resistance of the battery is typically very low so peak current (compressor flow) is massive (but average is limited by themal issues - as demonstrated by laptop battery fires). The controller is there to limit average watts based on user demand and to protect the whole system (battery and motor). Don't take on this car in a 1/4 mile drag (well - it is still running the stock tailshaft and taxle - so maybe you should)...

Or something like that - analogies are dangerous...

TheConverted · January 09, 2010, 08:33:09 AM

QuoteDon't take on this car in a 1/4 mile drag

LOL.....I think you maybe getting ahead of yourself there. Having said that, you know how it goes, you just want it to go faster and faster, regardless of the engine type....

MD · January 09, 2010, 08:46:21 AM

Quoteanalogies are dangerous...

No argument there..It's the Yellow Brick Road that's got me stuffed.

TheConverted · February 12, 2010, 07:03:38 PM

A quick question to all 2L experts. Is the horizontal centre line of the crank shaft inline with the bottom engine mount bolts? The ones that bolt on the to engine block.

Eye balling and a rough measurement seems to indicate that it maybe very close.

I am asking this because I need to consider making up a motor support that will mount to the original engine mounts, which will support the electric motor.

Alan Hopla · February 14, 2010, 09:16:07 AM

Be a bit careful here I'm pretty sure that the 3 studs in each side of the engine block are at slightly different heights.
Alan.

MD · February 14, 2010, 11:48:50 AM

Bottom edge of the lower mounting bolt is 65.14mm on the RHS and 41.67mm on the LHS from the cranshaft centreline.You can take the centreline to be the cleaned surface of the engine block-to-sump junction.

TheConverted · February 14, 2010, 07:35:53 PM

Thanks Alan, I only checked the RHS (passenger side) of the block and made the assumption that both engine mounts were the symmetrical (spelling?). Having another look, one can clearly make out the difference in height/position.

MD, how accurate are your figures?

Im roughly getting about 62mm (RHS) and 40mm (LHS) and the crank centre line to block-to-sump junction is about 60mm. I dont have the engine on a stand at the moment, so my measurements are probably out by +/-2mm.

Thanks MD, great info.

MD · February 14, 2010, 09:20:23 PM

As accurate as most vernier calipers are at room temperature.

TheConverted · February 15, 2010, 09:17:22 PM

Thanks MD, I thought it may have been from technical engineering diagrams.

Davidm1600 · February 15, 2010, 09:33:21 PM

Hmn an interesting idea, and there was a guy in Melbourne I think from memory who did something similar but to a Fiat X1/9, however, and I suspect I know the answer, but why would you really want to make an electric, battery powered GTV. The whole point (well maybe not quite but close enough) about having one of these cars is the engine/carb/exhaust note. Instead you will have no noise, I am not sure I understand the appeal of this.

I recently had a ride, my first and hopefully last ride, in a Prius. Quite frankly it was strange, totally non-car like and plain horrid.

I guess you could always have a CD of an Alfa going up and down through the gears but seriously why would you want to do that when you can have the real thing. In truth, I don't think there is anything novel about making an electric battery powered car, and won't you need a lot of batteries to be able to travel any serious distance. Batteries weigh a lot, so won't this change the handling of the car.

I seem to recall Topgear testing the Testler and I think their overall conclusion was that it was nice in a way, handled well but had a seriously short travel distance if used with any verve, so basically was pretty useless.

Good luck with the science experiment but I don't think it is something I could ever cope with.

TheConverted · February 15, 2010, 10:16:28 PM

Thanks David for your comments, for me its the journey rather than the destination that excites me about this project.

Battery technology is advancing at a rapid rate, so Im sure an EV will even excite you, some day.

OzMidnight · February 18, 2010, 05:54:49 PM

Well...an electric Alfa should at least stop....and not accelerate when not asked to.....unlike some Priuses...so the OP is already ahead of the game there! I dug up an article...late '90's or early '00's, with an electric RX7 running 10's on a 1/4 - sounds reasonably exciting. Although the electric-powered TT bike at Isle of Man sounded awful...