Quote:
Originally Posted by Qbranch
I've been toying with the idea of building or converting a vehicle to run on pure electricity. No specifics yet, except for maybe an old '89 astro van I've had my eye on, but I think this would prove to be some interesting conversation for all you CD'ers and FIRST'ers in general out there.
First off, what battery technology is the best? The most economical? Longest Lasting? I hear NiMH is good, but whats your say?
What kind of transmission? Leave the auto in and find a motor with a torque curve to match? Manual tranny electrically actuated? CVT?
What type of motor? AC or DC? Brushed or Brushless? Whats a good system voltage?
Drive systems? Who knows where to get real high voltage high current H-Drives? Breakers n such?
Control System? Ditch the hydro and make a servoelectric assist? Electric braking? whats best?
......Anyhow, many questions posed... but whats your opinion? if you were building an electric car, or converting one to electric, what would you do?
-q
|
There was a company I remember reading about that sold kits to convert Chevy S-10 pick up trucks to electric. (Sorry don't remember their name or where they were out of .) According to the piece in Popular Mechanics they removed the gas engine and placed the electric in the engine compartment.
They used an adapter to connect it to the manual trans of the truck.
Batteries were placed along the frame under the bed. Not sure what type exactly but think they were regular lead-acid deep cycle batteries.
The truck conversion kits were marketed for use as delivery vans.
Don't remember their range ect... this was like 15 years ago but they manage normal city driving speeds.
Your Astro van is based on the S-10 frame so the same kit should work on it too. Very interesting idea! Sounds like a fun project.
Keep us posted!
Here's a link to an company in CA that builds/ sells kits
http://www.electroauto.com/index.html their site says 1900 to 3600 lbs curb weight so your van should fit right in.