TheSamba.com :: View topic - ICE Breaker - converting a 1967 split to electric drive

Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:31 am

Introduction to the 1967 VW Microbus that I'm converting to electric drive 8)

This is an old video but the project is very much alive and I'll start posting regular updates.

Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:36 am

I finally got the van through an MOT which is required for UK registration. Once the van is registered I will strip it down ready for it's electric drive conversion.

Lots of work has been undertaken on the electric drivetrain in the last year. I started with a Nissan Leaf donor car and had that stripped down and running on the bench top. However about a month ago I was offered a Tesla drivetrain and battery and have decided to switch course because that offers an easy 200+ miles range and ~200HP in a small motor package 8)

If you are interested you can read some of the history over on the DIY Electric Car Forum;

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=177489

Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:50 am

I had a quick play with the Tesla drivetrain and my Red 9 IRS today. It looks as if the motor will fit with only minor reworking of the IRS and leave a huge cavern where the ICE used to be 8)

The Tesla drivetrain is an integrated package that contains the electric motor, inverter, and the single speed transmission. I'm using the 'small' drivetrain that weighs 88kg and produces ~200HP. A much larger version is available that produces ~500HP.

Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:50 am

Wow! Way cool. This is something I have wanted to see someone do for a very long time. I can't wait to see your progress. Thanks!

Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:52 am

yea.. i will be following this.. solar panels going on roof ?

Mon Aug 28, 2017 6:27 am

:popcorn:

Mon Aug 28, 2017 10:41 am

60freak wrote: Wow! Way cool. This is something I have wanted to see someone do for a very long time. I can't wait to see your progress. Thanks!

how about this effort? https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=539140

Tue Aug 29, 2017 3:26 am

Thats electric!

Tue Aug 29, 2017 3:57 am

mandraks wrote: how about this effort? https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=539140
I love Jehu's work and the conversions by EV West and Zelectric Motors 8)

To date they have followed the 'traditional' conversion path of bolting an electric motor onto the ICE transmission bell housing... by using the Tesla drivetrain you remove the ICE transmission completely, reducing weight, complexity, and gaining space where the ICE and gas tank is traditionally located.

Tue Aug 29, 2017 4:04 am

vwjetboat wrote: yea.. i will be following this.. solar panels going on roof ?
I'm considering flexible panels for the roof... it won't make much difference to the range but will keep the 12V system battery topped up and provide useful auxiliary power 8)

Here's a typical example from EVTV

Tue Aug 29, 2017 4:14 am

Kevin Sharpe wrote: I had a quick play with the Tesla drivetrain

:shock: :shock: :shock:
That's insane!
Looking forward to your updates man!

Tue Aug 29, 2017 11:04 am

Kevin Sharpe wrote: mandraks wrote: how about this effort? https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=539140 I love Jehu's work and the conversions by EV West and Zelectric Motors 8)

To date they have followed the 'traditional' conversion path of bolting an electric motor onto the ICE transmission bell housing... by using the Tesla drivetrain you remove the ICE transmission completely, reducing weight, complexity, and gaining space where the ICE and gas tank is traditionally located.

i thought about that myself, seems that even a standard live axle kind of situation would save weight? since a tranmssion is really not needed? direct drive if you will?

Wed Aug 30, 2017 3:40 am

mandraks wrote: i thought about that myself, seems that even a standard live axle kind of situation would save weight? since a tranmssion is really not needed? direct drive if you will?
Many electric motors will rev to 16,000 rpm or more and therefore a gear reduction is required. As you suggest this could be 'direct drive' but in reality using a VW transmission is a simple solution even if you end up only using one or two gears when driving (interestingly EV West recently developed a two speed VW Transmission - see here).

Given I'm installing a new IRS in the bus the decision to use the complete Tesla (or Nissan) drivetrain is obvious and it will be interesting to see just how much weight it saves when compared to the existing ICE setup.

One of the issues when using an electric drivetrain is the open differential... fortunately this problem has been solved for the 'large' Tesla motor at least - Quaife LSD (see here)

Thu Aug 31, 2017 6:22 pm

I love this idea and that technology is getting much better for the money nowadays. I'm in the market for another bus soon but I read through the link and I'm totally lost. I understand I'd need to do my homework for all the details, can you post up a lot of pics of the process?

I'm capable of fabbing and doing metal work, I live 80 miles from the Tesla plant and see one on the road every day if I drive long enough. Finding parts shouldn't be hard. If you can explain all the basics from start to finish, it would be awesome. Most of us here are like me, we know busses quite well and accept the fact that metal work needs to be done already. We find busses that need engines and they are NOT cheap to build anymore. Tesla conversion for dummies. I don't even have a clue what makes the Tesla so different from a Nissan Leaf, all I know is they have awesome performance and I would totally do a conversion.

Fri Sep 01, 2017 4:41 am

roachdub58 wrote: I understand I'd need to do my homework for all the details, can you post up a lot of pics of the process?
Now that the project is moving from the bench to the fabrication stage I'll start using video to record the process. I'm happy to share everything that I learn and answer any questions :)

Unfortunately, it's difficult to use OEM electric car parts straight out of salvaged cars because they often use encrypted and proprietary control protocols which are not available to third parties. Indeed, most electric car OEMs don't even publish workshop manuals or sell spare parts :shock: The workaround is to develop 'open source' hardware/software that gives us complete control over the OEM parts and allows anyone to build and modify the system as they wish. Today we have a number of talented developers working on the Tesla motor, charger, and battery system... other developers are doing the same for the Nissan Leaf systems :)

If you're interested this guy is a car 'hacker' doing great work;

https://www.youtube.com/user/pooey1911/

Fri Sep 01, 2017 1:25 pm

It's the ineviable future once the world gets serious about carbon emissions.

Fri Sep 01, 2017 3:56 pm

Thanks Kevin, seems like the same path was needed for guys to create Megasquirt to be able to run salvaged parts for EFI conversion. I was unaware that the tech was so encrypted.

Sat Sep 02, 2017 5:46 am

Braukuche wrote: It's the ineviable future once the world gets serious about carbon emissions.
We clearly need to do something drastic about ICE emissions and hopefully our everyday transport can go zero emission while allowing the classics to carry on to some extent 8)

That said, there is something rather wonderful about driving on electricity produced on the roof of your house. The economics are also interesting - charity boss travels length of Britain in electric car - for just £20 :D

Sat Sep 09, 2017 3:57 am

Happy to report that my bus has finally been registered in the UK and I can now strip it down ready for conversion :)

In the last few weeks I've been visiting fabricators to review options on the chassis redesign to accommodate the Tesla battery. I've also found a motorsports company who will add motor mounts to the Red 9 IRS for the 'small' Tesla rear motor. While it's very tight in the old engine bay we believe we can fit the Tesla motor and IRS without modifying the bus... a bolt on upgrade 8)

Sat Sep 09, 2017 5:12 am

Kevin Sharpe wrote: Braukuche wrote: It's the ineviable future once the world gets serious about carbon emissions.
We clearly need to do something drastic about ICE emissions and hopefully our everyday transport can go zero emission while allowing the classics to carry on to some extent 8)

That said, there is something rather wonderful about driving on electricity produced on the roof of your house. The economics are also interesting - charity boss travels length of Britain in electric car - for just £20 :D

We have to get the power grid to no emission too, otherwise we just shift the emissions . You guys are 16% nuclear too, which is another barrel of monkeys emissions wise