| Owner | Steve Skarda | ||||||
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| Location | Cincinnati, Ohio US map | ||||||
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| Vehicle | 1995 Volkswagen Jetta I purchased the car for $400 and sold the engine for $325. The body was in great shape but it needed new brakes, rotors, and drums. | ||||||
| Motor | Advanced DC 9 Series Wound DC Purchased from Cloud Electric and have been very happy. | ||||||
| Drivetrain | Manual 5 speed, clutchless. The adaptor and coupler is from Craig at ev- solutions.net. | ||||||
| Controller | Cafe Electric Zilla LV Great controller! | ||||||
| Batteries | 20 Sam's Club Golf Cart, 6.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded I have been very happy with the Energizer batteries to date. I have had no failures and they seem to be going strong despite some abuse. | ||||||
| System Voltage | 120 Volts | ||||||
| Charger | Reliance Electric 3HP FlexPak DC Drive The drive coupled with a 6mH inductor has been charging my batteries very well. I also have a PLC that monitors the charger and turns off the charger when appropriate. | ||||||
| Heater | Considering Propex propane | ||||||
| DC/DC Converter | Iota 45 Amp Got a 12V wheelchair battery from Canter Battery for $19. | ||||||
| Instrumentation | Custom design using an Automation Direct PLC DL-440 and an old Optimate, a 4 line programmable display both off Ebay. | ||||||
| Top Speed | 70 MPH (112 KPH) I have gone as fast as 70 mph but have never held to the accelerator to the floor for a long period of time. I imagine that if I didn't care about the life of my batteries, I could peg the spedometer. | ||||||
| Acceleration | It can beat the ICE if I punish the batteries. Typically, I use a 300 amp and 105 volt battery limits to maintain battery life. I can get on the freeway but it is slower than ICE with those settings. | ||||||
| Range | 60 Miles (96 Kilometers) My commute is 25 miles one way and I have permission to plug in at work. I made it 65 miles on one trip. Even though my batteries read 30% soc based on specific gravity, I was pulling voltages down to 95 volts on the battery pack and could barely move 15mpg on flat streets. | ||||||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 280 Wh/Mile My Kill-O-Watt read 15.8kw-hrs for a total of 56.5 miles, mostly freeway | ||||||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | 4 adults | ||||||
| Curb Weight | 0 Probably approaching GVWR. | ||||||
| Conversion Time | 5 Months | ||||||
| Conversion Cost | $8000+ | ||||||
| Additional Features | I am using a cheap PLC for monitoring and balancing my battery pack. |






