| Owner | Gavin Shoebridge | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | New Plymouth, Taranaki New Zealand map | ||||||||
| Web/Email | WebPage | ||||||||
| Vehicle | 1987 Mitsubishi Tredia Classic 80's square shape. Excellent Brickodynamics. :) | ||||||||
| Motor | Advanced DC FB1-4001A Series Wound DC I think the motor install was the hardest part of the whole conversion. Once that was complete the rest was easy. | ||||||||
| Drivetrain | Originally a 1.6 Litre, 4 Cylinder Planet Killer, Front Wheel Drive. | ||||||||
| Controller | Curtis 1231C The Curtis controller gives excellent performance for low cost and I've decided to love the noise it makes. :) | ||||||||
| Batteries | 12 Hella Endurant, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded 85 A/hrs, Deep Cycle, 515 CCA. | ||||||||
| System Voltage | 144 Volts | ||||||||
| Charger | Zivan NG3 I used to have a charger-per-battery method with a 32-pin plug but it was too slow. This Zivan charger takes only 2hrs 45mins from 50% empty to completely full. Love it! | ||||||||
| Heater | A standard 230V household ceramic heater element has been modified to fit and is installed. It works ok and takes the chill off the car though next time I'll use a 110V US element and get it blazing hot. I measured a max of 60 deg C (140 Deg F) coming out of the vents after a few minutes. | ||||||||
| DC/DC Converter | Thermaltake 450 I modified a 450W computer power supply to put out 12.7 volts. It's replaced the accessories battery completely. I wish I'd done it from the start! I've included instructions on my website for those keen to copy me and save money on a DC/DC converter. | ||||||||
| Instrumentation | A digital display 500A Ammeter and separate 200V Voltmeter are installed. | ||||||||
| Top Speed | 85 MPH (136 KPH) It sits at 62mph effortlessly. Must be because the battery pack is fairly small & light. | ||||||||
| Acceleration | Excellent acceleration under 35mph. For example 0 to 35mph in 2nd gear takes only 5 seconds on a freshly charged pack! I wasn't expecting acceleration that good. | ||||||||
| Range | 50 Miles (80 Kilometers) Range is not important as our town is small and so is my 144V battery pack. I estimate I should be able to squeeze a maximum of 50 miles from my little pack but that would be completely flat. | ||||||||
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| Seating Capacity | 4 adults | ||||||||
| Curb Weight | 2,600 Pounds (1,181 Kilograms) 1180 Kilograms. That's exactly 200 kilograms (440lbs) above the original weight. | ||||||||
| Tires | I had 2 new tyres put on the front. They were the cheapest I could find in the whole town. | ||||||||
| Conversion Time | 9 months of occasional weekends. About 4 months of that was just waiting for things/people/money. | ||||||||
| Conversion Cost | Approx $9000 USD. Quite high but a lot of that figure is just shipping and taxes. | ||||||||
| Feel free to check out the webpage for photos & videos of the EV Conversion process as it unfolded! Check out my website for much more info/videos/pictures. 2007 & 2008 Timeline: -------------- February 11: The Tredia has passed it's Warrant of Fitness test and I have it registered! It's LEGAL! WOOOHHHHOOOO!!!!! February 4: Car passed it's big inspection! It's almost legal! January 18, 2008: My new recharging socket/plug has been installed and works great. Only minor things required now before the big inspection in 2 weeks! November 24: Main cables are installed and connected. First test drive went great! Acceleration much better than expected! November 15: Batteries have arrived and are to be all secured this weekend with luck. Sent my main cable away to be cut & crimped yesterday. November 9: The loan's approved, the batteries are on their way from Auckland! Should be installed in about a week! October 30: Battery racks are installed at last. Now installing control box/controller etc. Batteries to be ordered very soon. September 16: Heaps of gadgets such as my ammeter, voltmeter, circuit breaker, High Voltage relays etc have been ordered and are in transit. My brake vacuum pump arrived. September 14: The recharging socket, ignition blocking relay and turbo timer (for the battery vent fans) have all been wired up and the accessories battery is installed in it's new location. September 25: My Curtis 1231C arrived and went through "NZ Customs Proprietary Ltd" after paying $308 in taxes. Grumble grumble moan. August 25: I've bought my controller from EVA. Should be here within a month. I've also done my first (uncontrolled & illegal) 20 metre drive up the road. :) August 20: I've cut enough room for batteries to be installed. Looks like I'll be using 12 x Hella Endurant MDC27/105's and I'll fit 6 in the front! August 02: The motor has been installed with a shiny new motor bracket holding it in! July 30: I bought my first charger so far. I'm going to buy one each pay-day. I won't notice the cost that way! July 20: The motor/gearbox adapter has been created. May 20: The motor has been purchased from EV America. March 15: The donor Mitsubishi Tredia has been purchased! | |||||||||
1987 Mitsubishi Tredia
“Treddles”
Last Updated 09-30-2008
Copyright © 1997-2024 by Mike Chancey