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yabert Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2019 Posts: 152 Location: Québec
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:30 am Post subject: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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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.
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dobryan Samba Member

Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 17124 Location: Brookeville, MD
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dougass Samba Member

Joined: December 13, 2016 Posts: 300 Location: NJ
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:40 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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Bravo! _________________ '91 GL - 2.1 automatic named Klaus for weekend adventures.
#klausvan & @thisisklausvan |
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djkeev Samba Moderator

Joined: September 30, 2007 Posts: 32983 Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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Alaskaberrys  Samba Member

Joined: June 19, 2016 Posts: 1070 Location: SE Alaska
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:44 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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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!) _________________ '91 Westfalia, Bordeaux Red Pearl 2.1L 2wd Auto
'91 T3 Syncro Doka, Escorial Green 1.9L TD AAZ “Gremian” (to provoke, irritate, exasperate, vex...)
Last edited by Alaskaberrys on Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:55 am; edited 1 time in total |
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newerwesty1987 Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2010 Posts: 407
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:46 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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Ummmmm. Wow.
I need a lot more range to be practical but WOW, this is encouraging! |
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valvecovergasket Samba Member
Joined: October 10, 2018 Posts: 1499 Location: pnw
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:49 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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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!
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x2 the complete lack of support (hell, they barely support owners!) would scare me from that route.
this, on the other hand, fantastic!! |
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xoo00oox Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2010 Posts: 2724 Location: East Nassau, NY
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 10:54 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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Amazing work! For some reason I really like that the body looks like Hell too, please keep it that way! Really impressed! |
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yabert Samba Member
Joined: August 12, 2019 Posts: 152 Location: Québec
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:05 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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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). |
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Zeitgeist 13 Samba Member

Joined: March 05, 2009 Posts: 12161 Location: Port Manteau
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:07 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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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 _________________ Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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Vanagon Nut Samba Member

Joined: February 08, 2008 Posts: 10495 Location: Sunshine Coast B.C.
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:17 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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Thank you!
_________________ 1981 Westy DIY 15º ABA
(VW Gas I4)
1988 Westy DIY 50º ABA
VE7TBN |
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RainierSyncro Samba Member

Joined: February 26, 2013 Posts: 812 Location: Seattle
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:29 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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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. |
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SyncroButter Samba Member
Joined: February 02, 2016 Posts: 401 Location: Seattle
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:58 am Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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That's a hell of a build, color me impressed!
 _________________ Grant
In the stable: 1986 Syncro Westfalia/Bostig, 1989 Doka Tristar, 1974 Vespa Rally 200, 1973 Vespa Primavera 125, 1963 Solex 2200, 1938 Buick Special
Gone but not forgotten: 1989 Porsche 944, 1973 Standard Beetle |
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ALIKA T3 Samba Member

Joined: July 30, 2009 Posts: 7161 Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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shagginwagon83  Samba Member

Joined: February 07, 2016 Posts: 4308 Location: SWVA
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:02 pm Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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_________________ "Jo Ann" - '83.5 Westfalia EJ22e w/Peloquin
Instagram: @joannthevan |
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ntaramorris Samba Member

Joined: July 03, 2013 Posts: 20 Location: East Tennessee
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:06 pm Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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Absolutely RAD! You sir have brains.  _________________ "Bruce Vanner" aka: The Incredible Hulk
88 Westy 2.5 Subaru |
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joetiger  Samba Member

Joined: January 27, 2005 Posts: 5234 Location: denver
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:18 pm Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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Now daydreaming of a '91 Carat Volt city commuting van... _________________ Joe T.
'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'91 Wolfsburg Carat "Barchetta"
'02 Baja-ish Beetle "Bubbles"
"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron
"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond
Justice for Megan: https://linktr.ee/justiceformegantrussell |
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driverdave Samba Member
Joined: October 15, 2014 Posts: 66 Location: Denver, CO
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:19 pm Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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This is super cool! _________________ 1984 Vanagon Westy with a 91 EJ22 KEP Conversion |
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dabaron Samba Member

Joined: June 21, 2018 Posts: 2703 Location: Philly, mang
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 12:53 pm Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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djkeev wrote: |
Ok, now we are talking!
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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. _________________ 1991 Vanagon GL Camper
i had no idea i wanted to be a mechanic |
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kamzcab86 Samba Moderator

Joined: July 26, 2008 Posts: 8420 Location: Arizona
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Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 1:03 pm Post subject: Re: Vanagon 100% electric with Chevy Bolt drivetrain |
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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!  _________________ ~Kamz
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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