DIY EV Recommendations?

Whelp. Found someone parting out a leaf in Chicago. Emailed them.

Let's see what happens 

In reply to Robbie :

oh hell yes

sleepyhead the buffalo said:

GIRTHQUAKE said:

In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :

The charger is typically in intrical part of the controller so you can't really remove it :p

Packs operate best in the 50-80 degree range I think. I know the stock 1st gen Leaf used fans and a solid chunk of Aluminum to cool- I wonder if you made a sort of copper heat sink and CPU Thermal paste would it work just as well keeping pack temperatures down? Plus, copper looks hella cool.

So, the charger might be intergrated with the controller/inverter... especially since the charge point is up at the front, and charger box is back between the wheel wells... based on this tear down...

https://www.marklines.com/en/report_all/rep1049_201202#index06

so... maybe they could be divorced?  It's also possible that this is specific to the early ones, and the later ones have a more integrated charger, because there's talk of weight reductions being realized in 2015?

Are you wanting to remove the charger for weight reduction? To be frank, I doubt the potential savings would make it worthwhile.

In reply to Robbie :

HAPPENING

But yeah, unless you got a very cheap AC motor and could make your own controller a wrecked Leaf or Volt would be a better source- though god knows what the prices on IBGTs will be even in a couple of years! 

If your deal for that damaged Leaf falls though, HBPowerwall has a video here dsicussing a website that has a full Leaf pack for sale and a discount at this link for a claimed $2200 shipped. Since it's the entire tray, they claim it includes the controller, busbars and assorted hardware. He also provides a little code for a discount to use as well.

So I emailed, talked to the guy (who seemed quite knowledgable), asked for his asking price on a variety of parts, 

And never heard back.

Bumped him for an update today.

Robbie said:

So I emailed, talked to the guy (who seemed quite knowledgable), asked for his asking price on a variety of parts, 

And never heard back.

Bumped him for an update today.

 

fingers crossed for you I am really interested in this project

BBC

Just riffing here, but it occurred to me that a pre-1957 American car might be a neat candidate to convert -  think stylish, not as heavy as people think, and due to the tall seating height, one could put the batteries underneath one's arse for a low cg and useful trunk space. 

That car^^^ is listed at 2500 to 2700 lbs. at the two places I looked, and that's complete with heavy iron-block motor and other things one could get rid of. 

hmmmmmm.

Apparently a SparkEV might be an option?

edit: 

it's probably a good thing I'm not in the us right now... 

https://www.iaai.com/VehicleDetails?itemid=33449152&RowNumber=0&similarVehicleItemId=&isNext=&loadRecent=true

I want to find and meet the mad lad at GM that was like "Yeah, this crummy EV hatch needs 400-wheel torque". I also had a feeling when I saw the thread return that someone had watched Rich too :p

In reply to GIRTHQUAKE :

I'm pretty sure there's probably at least four of us that watch Rich's videos on here.  Interestingly, I then went and found a Spark vs. Leaf (dunno what year) drag race...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Co_A85XX-vA

that claims as 16.04 on the Spark, and a 17.8 on the Leaf.  So, outwardly, a bit of weight reduction, and tire selection (woot 4x100!)... it might could be interesting at GRM $2k challenge.  Unfortunately, there's not that many out there.... and now ~200k odd people know about it too.  So, the 'RichRebuilds" effect that hit Zero motorcycle auctions might come to Sparks too.

I dunno if it's just Chicago, but I've seen exactly zero cheap leafs or sparks here ever.

Even the copart acuctions I've watched had the leafs going for more than challenge budget in the end.

on eBay there's very little difference between Tesla motors and other "slow" ev motor dropouts. If there was an easy way to control the Tesla motors, that could be a really cool option.

Robbie (Forum Supporter) said:

If there was an easy way to control the Tesla motors, that could be a really cool option.

Expensive option

More expensive but includes motor, axles, etc.

$500 VCU for leaf motors

The leaf option is unfortunately limited to leaf power ranges.