Electric Car Parts List - For Ken Swift

8/4/2019 Electric Car Parts List - For Ken Swift

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EV parts list for the conversion ... reduce, reuse, recycle!

Here's a list of the parts/components used in the

conversion. Almost all were "previously enjoyed" - most of

the major ones are from an old Baker electric forklift, plus

some golf cart stuff thrown in for good measure.

Host vehicles: 1992 Geo Metro + 1993 Suzuki Swift

Drivetrain: front wheel drive, with manual 5-speed transmission (clutchless)

Before conversion, both of these cars were

destined for the jaws of the junkyard crusher. The

1993 Suzuki Swift was the first vehicle purchased

(thus the project's nickname), but it turned out to

have too much underbody corrosion to be worth saving. So we bought the 1992

Metro (in much better condition) and moved the Swift's best parts over to it. The

Metro passed its safety inspection (in ICE form) with a grand total of $79 CAD

invested.

Additional info about these host cars:

1993 Suzuki Swift: photo gallery and details

1992 Geo Metro: photo gallery and more details

Electric motor: series wound DC, from Baker forklift

This 8 inch diameter, 50 kg / 110 lb motor (with

female splined shaft) originally drove one of 3

hydraulic pumps in the Baker forklift from whence

it was salvaged.

It was probably made by Otis, according to Jim Husted of Hi-Torque Electric. It's a

beefy little motor, he told us , suitable for over-volting. It's got four brush pairs,

and a cooling fan built in the drive end. Its biggest drawback was its internally

splined shaft (see coupler section, below).

Adapter plate: custom

We made the adapter plate (for mounting the

electric motor on the car's original transmission)

Home

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The used

forklift

Conversion cost

Thanks/credits

James M. - thanks!

(menu below not

yet functional)

inspiration

lessons learned

photos

ev resources

contact...

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ctric car parts list - ForkenSwift.com http://www.forkenswift.com/electric-car-parts.ht

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from a piece of 5/8 aluminum plate. We drilled the

holes for the transmission housing bolts; the

critically aligned holes to mount the motor on the plate were made by a machinist

friend.

Additional info:

Adapter plate: more photos and details

Motor/transmission shaft coupler: adapted/custom

The coupler that joins the motor to the

transmission was the most complex design

challenge of the project because of the hydraulic

pump motor's female (internal) splined shaft. We

started with 3 items: the matching male shaft

removed from the forklift's hydraulic pump; a Lovejoy connector with rubber

"spider" bushing; the female splined clutch hub (which fits on the transmission's

input shaft).

We bored out one half of the Lovejoy connector and inserted/welded the clutch

hub in place; Then our machinist friend cut down the pump shaft and welded it in

the other half of the Lovejoy. He added a set screw to the clutch hub half to lock it

in place on the input shaft. Then, with the motor, adapter plate, coupler and

transmission at his shop, he carefully aligned everything and drilled the motor

mounting holes on the adapter plate.

Note: a Lovejoy coupler with a rubber bushing is best suited to a low/medium

power conversion. Direct connections (clutched or taper lock) are probably better

options for higher power cars.

Motor controller: Curtis 1204-412 (golf cart)

The car has had three progressively more powerful

golf cart controllers since it went on the road.

Currently it's using a rebuilt 400 amp 36/48 volt

controller from a Club Car golf cart - great eBay

find (cheap!). Much more power in reserve than

the 225 amp 1204-410 we originally started out with, and somewhat better than

the 300 amp one used briefly in between.

Much more info about the car's controllers:

Photo gallery and details: GE EV-1 and Curtis motor controllers

Batteries: eight Exide GC-5, 6 volt flooded lead-acid golf cart batteries

(48 volt pack)

The car has had three battery packs to date:

Originally the car started out with a

scrounged up pack of VERY used

Powr-Surge Trojan T-105 equivalents from

1.


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the company that sold us the forklift. These were half-dead (and worse)

mis-matched batteries. Good enough for testing, for building the battery

racks, and for and a couple of test drives around the block, but not much

more.

A big break came when we were given a second-hand set of Exides from

another EV owner. These 3-5 year-old hand-me-downs were good enough

to meet our minimum range target of 16 km (10 mi.).

2.

On Hallowe'en 2008, we bought another set of "new to us" used Exides.

These ones were approx 1-2 years old and more evenly balanced than the

previous second-hand pack. Range & performance increased nicely.

3.

Photos and more info about the car's batteries and battery racks:

Batteries & racks: photos and details

Charger: Delta-Q Technologies QuiQ

The QuiQ charger is a purpose built EV charger:

48 volts, 110/220v capable, 3-stage smart charger.

Plug it in & fo rget it - it's wonderful! Sample

recharge time: 7 hours @ 110vac after driving 26

km (16 mi).

Before the QuiQ, we were using a Vulcan EA 24/10 (24v/10A) charger meant for

an industrial floor sweeper, by splitting the pack to charge in two parallel 24v

strings. A bit of a hassle. 24v/10A was very slow - sometimes more than 12-14

hours depending on depth of discharge. As well, because the charger was running

longer than designed (charging two strings), it got very hot, and we twice burned

out a component on its circuit board.

Potentiometer (pot) box: Square-D Company (from Baker forklift)

This forklift potbox is equipped with both high- &

low-pedal microswitches. The actual forklift

potentiometer itself couldn't be used because the

Curtis controller requires a 3-wire pot, and the

forklift's was a 2-wire unit. It was replaced with a

Radio Shack 0-5k potentiometer connected to a small gear set to match its full

rotation to the throw of the potbox arm.

Contactors: GE (from forklift)

Essentially very big relays, the two contactors used

in the car are GE 36/48v rated units from the

forklift. They're primarily there for safety, to

connect/disconnect the controller from the

batteries & motor. (Controllers can fail fully

shorted - IE. "full throttle" - so it's important to have a method to break the circuit

should that happen.) One contactor opens/closes every time the accelerator is

pressed/released (via the low-pedal microswitch in the pot box); the other is

switched on/off via the ignition key switch.


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Emergency disconnect: Anderson connector (forklift) / clutch pedal

The last line of defense in the event of a short

circuit is a physical/mechanical battery pack

disconnect in the form of a large Anderson

connector mated to the car's clutch cable. Push the

pedal, and power is disconnected between thebatteries and the controller/motor. (And it remains disconnected when the pedal

is released.)

High voltage cabling & lugs: from forklift; also used welding cable;

custom lugs

The battery interconnects, motor and controller

high voltage cables are a combination of 3/0 size

locomotive cable from the forklift and used 2/0

welding cable.

Lugs at the end of each cable are either original (in the case of on forklift cables)

or custom made. The custom cable ends were made by flattening the cable ends,

dipping them in molten solder, then finishing them flat with a grinder & file.

DC/DC converter: Vicor

Not yet installed - picked up a pair of 48v/12v 100

watt modules off eBay for about $25 each. When

installed, these will convert the 48v of the battery

pack down to approximately 14 volts to run 12v

accessories like lights, signals, wipers, etc. Until

these are installed, we're recharging the 12v accessory battery with a small (2 amp)

dedicated trickle charger.

Instrumentation: ammeter, custom LED battery pack monitor

600 Amp ammeter & shunt: Bought on eBay,

this is the only "new" conversion part on the car!

(Still got it at a good price though!) This shows

current from the batteries, and is helpful for

driving efficiently (keeping amps low) o r when a

lot of power is needed (to decide which gear to use to get maximum current).

Custom LED battery pack monitor: Prior to

getting this from an EV builder in the UK, a cheap

digital multimeter was used to monitor voltage on

only the weakest battery in the pack. The LED

monitor looks like a sound system equalizer - each

column shows the voltage of one battery. Monitoring voltage is important because

battery damage can occur if voltage is allowed to drop too low under load.

Heater: sunshine, and a hair dryer


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The car was used in its first winter after

conversion, but not in its second. Its range &

performance are significantly less (because the

batteries are not insulated), so it's less practical.

When heat was wanted, the car was parked in the

sun to warm it up, or before particularly chilly trips a hair dryer was run inside the

cabin for 20 minutes to pre-warm things.

And how much did all this cost?

Read the secrets of keeping the net cost under $1000

- - -

Chevrolet Aveo & Sonic forum / owners club: info & discussion about Aveo & Sonic and its siblings (Pontiac Wave and G3, Suzuki Swift+,

Daewoo Kalos).

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Electric Car Parts List - For Ken Swift