| Owner | John Crosby | ||||||
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| Location | Redmond, Washington United States map | ||||||
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| Vehicle | 1986 Toyota Corolla This car was a project I started in 2008 and I hoped it would help me get into the vehicle electrification industry. After I graduated college in 2015, I dismantled it because I was relocating and it would no longer be practical to drive or sell. I still hope to convert or engineer electric cars in the future. I hope to add more pictures soon. This project taught me a lot about building relationships to achieve more, simply trying ideas, learning from failure as much as success, and having pride in what does get accomplished even if its not perfect. It took a real community to make this car happen. My sincerest thank you to each person that contributed to this project! Mary B for the donor car Jeremy M for the dirt work Scott B for the advise, concrete work, plywood battery box, and general support. Cathleen C for the initial space, and monetary and personal investment. Paul R for the coaching and help with battery racks and car prep. NAPA - Junior R for the good deal on batteries. CNA Metal Works - Chris A for the awesome key-to-hex adapter shaft and the motor-transmission adapter. Wells Precision Machining for the EDM hex shaft adapter and the sun-gear drum assembly. Nathaniel C and Family for the final work-space and the continued support. Neighbor Dave for the expert welding of cast aluminum inside of a trans- axle. Daniel N for the recovery and repair and storage of the car after the failure of the planetary gear. Oregon Tech OREC - Linda R for supporting and facilitating charging on campus. KTA EV Services for parts and coaching. Every person that advised, encouraged, challenged, and contributed along the way. | ||||||
| Motor | Advanced DC Advanced DC #L91-4003, 6.7 Series Wound DC Advanced DC L91-4003 reversible motor, 72- 120 volt, double shaft, 1.125" diameter keyed output shaft 1.37" long with a .875" diameter auxiliary keyed shaft 1.7" long, 6.7" motor diameter by 15.2" long Current Ratings: 130 amps continuous, 150 amps for one hour, 500 amps peak Horsepower Ratings: At 96 VDC, 13.6 HP continuous, 15 HP for one hour, 26.4 for 5 min., 62 HP peak One Hour KW rating: 11.4KW @ 96VDC All ADC motors use class H insulation (180 degrees C)Weight: 85 pounds | ||||||
| Drivetrain | Toyota automatic trans-axle modified to be a single speed drive. ~9.1:1 overall final drive made use of a single planetary gear-set combined with various custom made components and some good old "this-might-just-work". I used Albright reversing contactors and a little toggle switch for reverse. This was quite the experiment and overall it worked well but it certainly limited top speed and was difficult to work on if(when) it leaked. The motor just fit and was way down inside the bell housing. How it worked: The motor was mated to the trans-axle by a custom adapter plate that utilized the bolt- holes for the transmission front pump. A custom adapter shaft connected the motor shaft to a custom adapter plate the bolted to a clutch-pack drum which drove a sun gear. The sun gear sat inside a planetary set that was retained by a clutch pack the was through-bolted to custom aluminum plates that had been welded inside of the gear-tunnel. The planetary gear housing drove the final output shaft of the transmission which then drove the integrated differential. The trick: Without a front pump for lubrication, I attached an overflow reservoir and filled the transmission with a lot (~2 gallons of ATF) until the level was about half-way up on the gears. This did provide a fair bit of drag on the motor and would expand quickly with speed but it worked. I also had to fight with getting a good gasket seal on the motor- transmission adapter plate as the front end of the motor had no barrier to the ATF. | ||||||
| Controller | Curtis 1221C-7401 Input Voltage (Nominal): 72-120 volt battery system Max. Current: 400 amps 2-min. Rating: 400 amps 5-min. Rating: 250 amps 1-hr. Rating: 150 amps Undervoltage: Cuts back @ 45 VDC Voltage Drop: <0.50 VDC @ 100 amps Switching Frequency: 1.5 up to 15% power and 15 kHz between 15% and 100% power Dimensions: 12.0" L. X 7.1" W. X 3.15" H | ||||||
| Batteries | 12 NAPA GC8 8148, 8.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded Update: 10-19 Recently had a cell go bad so I replaced a battery.Range still looks fine. Location: Eight sunk into where the backseat was and four above and on either side of the motor. Performance: 117 AH SOC meter reads empty when batteries still measure 8.3 OCV right after driving so I think the SOC meter might not be set up appropriately. | ||||||
| System Voltage | 96 Volts | ||||||
| Charger | Elcon pfc 1500 120/240VAC only have 120V plug | ||||||
| Heater | Never installed but i planned on a 96V electric heater core. | ||||||
| DC/DC Converter | Zivan NG-3 40 Amp | ||||||
| Instrumentation | Curtis State of Charge, Westach Ammeter and Voltmeter. | ||||||
| Top Speed | 50 MPH (80 KPH) I've driven it 50mph but its happier between 35 and 45 which is fine for 90% of my driving. A bigger motor, lighter vehicle, or higher pack voltage would help a lot. The motor just needs more power If it were flat everywhere, this system would be great. | ||||||
| Acceleration | Update: Coming from a stoplight in traffic it accelerates to 35mph like most of the other cars. 35-50mph is not so fast. Past: Well it went ten feet tonight Aug 16th, 2011 with no problem so we shall see haha :D | ||||||
| Range | 18 Miles (28 Kilometers) Update:January 2014 Finally drove the car home from my friends house where I had been working to resolve the lubrication issue. Drove about 6 miles and have ~60% charge left. I expect this rating to go back up some as I wake the batteries up with more driving. Update: March 2012 After 235miles, the planetary gearset finally gave up as I had nowhere to work on it, and few tools. Update: September 2011 ~18miles on a fresh charge. Past: I ordered the batteries straight from the factory 08/09 and they really have not been used or properly maintained due to a non-functioning vehicle and hectic few years. | ||||||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 500 Wh/Mile On level ground it runs about 150Amps at around 90 Volts. Commuting with moderate elevation change and city streets it gets 400- 550 Whr/mile as measured from the outlet. I took the Kill-A-Watt meter value and divided by the trip miles. | ||||||
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| Seating Capacity | 2 plus all the trunk space I want. | ||||||
| Curb Weight | 2,495 Pounds (1,134 Kilograms) Update: I improved the weight distribution and the weight only changed around 100lb. Started at 2495 with a running gasoline engine. | ||||||
| Tires | Old but full tread | ||||||
| Conversion Time | ~350 estimated actual working hours for research, sourcing and labor. | ||||||
| Conversion Cost | ~7200 (estimate) real numbers will be provided some day | ||||||
| Talk and learn from those that have done it before. Things take longer when you are re-purposing and doing something for the first time, especially innovating. Do not order the batteries until the vehicle is completely ready to plug into them. Be prepared with adequate tools, space, extra hands, and some extra resources. Do it right and be proud of it whether its perfect or not.. . . This car was very much a work in progress but I had fun, learned a lot, and it worked for me!!! | |||||||
1986 Toyota Corolla
Last Updated 06-27-2019
Copyright © 1997-2024 by Mike Chancey