TheSamba.com :: View topic - Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain

Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:30 am

Here is my Vanabolt, a 100% electric 1980 Vanagon.
In fact, it can look like a Vanagon, but really it's a 2017 chevrolet Bolt. Almost every piece of the Bolt had been integrate in his new VW body.
So, the base vehicle was a wrecked Chevy Bolt. This one have a 60 kWh battery and an efficient drivetrain / design allowing a range* of 300-500 km (190-300 miles) between charge. In his new, wider, bigger, less aerodynamic, heavier, Vanagon body the range* I obtain after a full charge is 200-300 km (125-190 miles).

The most complex part of the project was to integrate the complete Bolt battery under the vanagon body.
Another challenge was to link the Chevy CV shaft to the VW CV shaft. By chance, I was able to find really short CV shaft EMPI 15 5/8" AXLES 33 SPLINE, rework those and build two short complete CV shaft with the original Vanagon CV joints.
So I have now a digital cluster and a touch screen in the middle of the dash. With torque pro, I have access, on my cell phone, to a lot of detail during charge or during driving (temperature, power, SOC, cells voltage).
I put E-Golf rear disc in the rear of the van to be able to integrate the Bolt rear caliper and have access to the electric park brake.

For those who want to know if it’s an easy conversion, the answer is no. Take an Eurovan with longer wheel base instead 😉
For those who want more detail: https://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/westfalia-t3-chevy-bolt-drivetrain-198653.html

Also, why electric?
Performance: 266 lbs-ft of torque from 0 rpm up to 4000 rpm and 200hp. This move the van a lot. If you want, this van is really sportier with no loss time of transmission shifting (1 single speed ratio).
Do you know what 1862 lbs-ft of torque at wheel can do? All this torque is always ready and instantly available under the right foot and this is awesome. It’s not comparable with the slow time reaction/transmission shifting time of a ICE vehicle.
Regen: The regeneration of energy (charge the battery). At each time you want to slow down the van, the motor can reverse and charge the battery with the kinetic energy of the moving van. You can almost always drive with only the accelerator pedal. No more worn brake pads or heated brake because during downhill you simply fill the battery. Same at each stop/red light.
Reliability: You know that a 2017-2020 electric car is way more reliable than a VW from 4-5 decade ago. Electric car are specially reliable with really few moving parts in the powertrain.
No noise: What a pleasant advantage! Of course in those old vans, there is no real difference at highway speed, but it’s so nice to move around at city speed, on the campground or in the wood without any noise.
No fume: Personally, I enjoy the fact that smelling other things than barely burned gas and oil. Don’t have to tell my kid to stay away of the tail pipe when I start the van and no fume problem in a garage.
Low operation cost: Right, electricity is cheap here, we are lucky. So the cost to drive 300 km can be as low than free* to 4$ (*some charge station are free).

Of course, I have to charge my Vanabolt (from 100% hydro here). Most of the time this happened when I sleep and take up to 8 hours to obtain 200-300 km of range (125-190 miles).
There is also thousand of fast charge stations available today and with a fast charge I can obtain 100 km (60 miles) of range in 20-30 mins or a full charge in a bit more than one hour. Some other electric vehicle can charge faster than this. The Chevy Bolt isn’t recognise to have high performance at the fast charge station.

If you read up to here, you know than my first language isn’t English. Sorry if it’s a little bit hard to read

*Range of an electric vehicle can vary in function of speed, climate (wind, temperature), driving habit, road type and other.
The same phenomena happen for a gas vehicle, but considering the really important inefficiency of a gas engine and the large amount of energy available in gasoline, the phenomena is less noticeable.

Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:35 am

:shock:

Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:40 am

Bravo!

Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:44 am

Ok, now we are talking!

Everything I've read about Tesla screams HEADACHE!!!!

Tesla in essence retains ownership of what you purchased and plays God with that power!

I really like this.
Thanks so much for posting your work!

Dave

Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:44 am

What they said!! Wow!

...off to read your link on the process.

Edit; gotta ask, any chance you saved your build thread offsite and can post it here? Or can you post more detail here? (...by details I really mean pictures!)

Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:46 am

Ummmmm. Wow.

I need a lot more range to be practical but WOW, this is encouraging!

Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:49 am

djkeev wrote: Ok, now we are talking!

Everything I've read about Tesla screams HEADACHE!!!!

Tesla in essence retains ownership of what you purchased and plays God with that power!

x2 the complete lack of support (hell, they barely support owners!) would scare me from that route.

this, on the other hand, fantastic!!

Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:54 am

Amazing work! For some reason I really like that the body looks like Hell too, please keep it that way! Really impressed!

Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:05 am

valvecovergasket wrote:
x2 the complete lack of support (hell, they barely support owners!) would scare me from that route.

this, on the other hand, fantastic!!
Yeah, you need to be really wise / electrically inclined (or have friends who are) to play with Tesla parts. But the trick can be to let the EV think it still is in his EV body. It's what I've done.
So, find in the scrapyards the Bolt, Tesla, Kona EV, Soul EV, Niro EV, Ipace, Leaf, BMW I3, E-Golf and save those new crash car from a sad end (important energy storage and clean powertrain ressource).

Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:07 am

I love the build.

You guys should really take a look at this guy's YT channel for some updated info on Tesla swaps and repair. The main barrier to entry for these swaps is now cost. The pathway is already tested and proven.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfV0_wbjG8KJADuZT2ct4SA

Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:17 am

Thank you!

Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:29 am

I actually dropped my jaw on this post. I'm sure people will start looking at the air cooled Vanagons a little differently from now on.

Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:58 am

That's a hell of a build, color me impressed!

=D>

Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:01 pm

That`s amazing!! I`m surprised the Chevy uses Lobro CV`s 8)

Beau boulot l`ami!! :idea: :idea: :idea:

Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:02 pm

Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:06 pm

Absolutely RAD! You sir have brains. :idea:

Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:18 pm

:shock:

Now daydreaming of a '91 Carat Volt city commuting van...

Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:19 pm

This is super cool!

Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:53 pm

djkeev wrote: Ok, now we are talking!

Dave is now looking to source a wrecked Bolt for his Ghia... and this would be perfect for a T2 bus i think... the weight difference would gain a larger range for sure.

Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:03 pm

newerwesty1987 wrote: I need a lot more range to be practical but WOW, this is encouraging!

x2

Awesome innovation going on these days! Well done, OP! 8)