Electric engine swap?

[Fishguy]

Has anyone thought of using a DC electric motor fed from a battery/generator to power their van? It sure would eliminate a lot of common problems that we all post here.

[rubbachicken]

the weight of the batteries and lack of range will give you more problems than we all have now
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[WAgrower]

A vanagon would be far to heavy to make an efficient EV.

A small pick up is about as heavy a vehicle as you want to use to convert to EV.
there comes a point where the vehicle is so heavy that the amount of batteries needed to provide a decent range would weigh more then the motor could drive; putting a larger motor would mean more batteries, more batteries decrease the range.

I've done a conversion with a 87 ford ranger and that was really too heavy to make an efficient EV. I had a 20-40 mile range with it and had 24 batteries and a 144v system.
Also EV's have short ranges so they make great cars to run errands in and commute to work, but you wouldn't want to take your family to the grand canyon in one. Stopping every 30 miles to "fuel up".

here's a pretty good chart that shows vehicle weight to range over different power types- It look a little optimistic to me for Lead acid though. Maybe a fuel cell vanagon

As battery technology advances this may one day be an option, but currently it just takes too much mass to store enough energy for a vanagon EV. [/img]
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[buildyourown]

Not what the OP had in mind, but the idea of adding hub motors as an 4WD drive system occured to my the other day. Hmm, a couple DC stepper motors, a motor controller and some type of computer would be needed to make them turn the right speed at the right times. If only used to pull you out of slippery parking spaced or up short steep hills, you could probably feed it off of a large house battery and a strong alternator.
Not sure how you would input vehicle speed since a traditions axle based VSS would give you a false reading when your wheels were slipping. Hmmm...

[insyncro]

There is a blog somewhere that a Vanagon received an electric motor from a mass transit vehicle.
I dont have the link any longer.
Possibly someone else has it.

[ALIKA T3]

google youtube electric vanagon,but their site has never been updated
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[insyncro]

Thats probably why I deleted it.

Thanks.

[hans j]

It would work for around town stuff but the cost of even a mild Li-Ion pack will make an engine swap seem cheap. I have an electric VW Caddy and with 1400 pounds of lead acid batteries, it isn't fast and range is only about 30 miles on a good day with my tired pack. Add that to an already heavy, brick shaped vehicle and you just have an expensive neighborhood EV (which may be exactly what you want?).

Otmar (who created Zilla controllers) planned on doing it in his stretch vanagon. http://www.evcl.com/vw/ I don't know if it was ever converted.
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[Fishguy]

Electric Hummer H3 since 2009. 100 MPG in hybrid mode. Battery & gas generator .
There has to be some "red neck" inventors here.

[toomanyveedubs]

http://e-vanagon.blogspot.com/

they go around and do EV workshops. i think the vanagon was one of the first ones.

I think a short range EV is a great idea, especially as a second car. i plan on converting my Smart car to electric if the diesel engine ever dies

[MPLannon]

there is an electric syncro that was assembled in mt holly vt. i watched all the steps take place,the builder is a member i will encourage him to post

[hans j]

Looks like a couple conversions out there. http://www.evalbum.com is a great way to see what else is out there. I actually found the one I bought while I was dreaming of converting my other truck. http://www.evalbum.com/3484 Buying one already done was way cheaper than converting!

Sample vanagon conversions...
http://www.evalbum.com/2996

http://www.evalbum.com/3927
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1986 Canadian Syncro Westy TDI - 1989 Syncro Single Cab - 2001 Audi S4 - 1981 VW Caddy ABA - 1980 VW Caddy EV - 1973 VW T-181

[randywebb]

[86syncrowesty]

Down the street from a guy did a electric conv with an old bay window. I remember not long after it was running watching him slowly, 5 mph +/-. try to make it up a hill in our neighborhood. I have only seen it out rarely recently and much of the time I do see a cord hanging from it so it must still run. That's a lot of batteries to move around a van though.
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[Zeitgeist 13]

My van would be a pretty decent candidate for an EV setup, since I mostly use it for short jaunts to the hardware store, or dump. It's pure utility, with limited range. The parts trips to Seattle would be more problematic, but a small diesel engine as a backup would help fill the gap.
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[GrindGarage]

I liked the hybrid concept I saw with a 2wd that had syncro front drivetrain that was electric. Don't think the guy ever built it. Toyota has a small AWD suv. Front drive is gas. Rear wheels electric.
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-cliff

91 Vanagon AUTO
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[insyncro]

[edgood1]

Someone who I met on this forum stopped at my house last year to pick up some parts and had this all electric vanagon in tow:

http://www.electricautosports.com/node/294

...or it least one that was identical. Not sure how it got from B.C. to Massachusetts. The batteries were all at the end of their life. The owner had just bought it and was planning on replacing the battery units. He said that it had a 30 mile range. It looked like a well deigned and constructed EV conversion but the batteries took up a ton of space in the rear cargo area.
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[J Charlton]

I've often thought that someone should take a look at copying the train engine technology that has been operational for more than half a century. Diesel engines power a generator(s) that powers electric motors. Originally implemented to eliminate the need for a clutch, the system has been well engineered and has proven the test of time.
I sorta envision a fuel efficient diesel engine running at a pretty constant speed powering electric wheel motors with a battery bank that supplements the generator for accelerating.
I think I saw on here at one time someone's invention where the generator and battery pack was in a small trailer with heavy power cables running up into the van,
Well - its an idea anyway.
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[toomanyveedubs]

I think the term is called an 'ev pusher'

A trailer with generator to extend the range of an EV.