Kirk's 1973 Porsche 914

Owner	Kirk Swaney
Location	Albany, Oregon US ^map
Web/Email	http:www.shiftev.com
Vehicle	1973 Porsche 914 The "Owner" field above defaults to the page author, and is not editable. We did the work. Roger Mansfield is the owner. This page describes the conversion from sealed lead acid (SLA) to LiFePo4, completed by SHIFT Electric Vehicles LLC in 2011. It followed the conversion (ICE to SLA) completed by Richard Rau in 2008 (Corvallis, Oregon), and restoration work by Tim Morris & crew at German Master Tech (Bend, Oregon). Guidance from my friend and EV guru Otmar Ebenhoech was very helpful and appreciated. More pics and details will be posted soon at: www.SHIFTev.com Notice an error? Or overlooked credits? -Please let me know!
Motor	Advanced DC 9 inch Series Wound DC New 9" ADC/AMD motor in 2011. Thanks to Jim Husted at "Hi Torque Electric" for the modifications.
Drivetrain	Typical motor to trans mount, with a high-performance flywheel & clutch, a 5 speed Porsche transmission with additional internal bracing. After the upgrades described on this page, it's no surprise that a CV joint failed during a 2nd gear test launch. New half-shafts/CV's (intended for V8 conversions) were installed.
Controller	Cafe Electric Zilla 2,000 Amp (replaced a Z1k) The previously installed Z1k had been set to 700A max, due to clutch slipping (common). A very high performance clutch system was installed in 2011 which holds much better. Along with the change to a Z2k, bigger fuses, a new hairball and 4/0 motor cables.
Batteries	102 100Ah CALB, 3.20 Volt, Lithium Iron Phosphate 3D CAD was highly leveraged to model various cell sizes, configurations and containment. This quantity of CALB 100Ah cells were selected for a number of reasons. Pack fit, voltage, capacity and in part, due to their higher peak current output (as opposed to Thunder Sky), while also relatively safe and affordable. New box & lids were designed by SHIFT EV, and fabricated by Hot-Rod builder Mike Asbahr at Benchmark Fab & Finish.
System Voltage	326 Volts
Charger	Elcon 6KW LiFePo4 Mounted remotely under the front-most battery box, this particular charger does not have an external profile selection button to worry about accessing. However, visibility to its charge-status LED is important. Cracking the seal (and warranty) to re-locate it by wire was not appealing. So we instead used a fiber optic "light-pipe" to conveniently route the light emitted, to the charge connector/inlet area.
Heater	Two hair dryers. Same as original conversion.
DC/DC Converter	Iota
Instrumentation	Custom built gauges + E-Meter. Same as original conversion except for the additions of a subtle BMS "over/under voltage" LED, and a motor "over-temp" LED.
Top Speed	New top speed unknown/untested. Prior to the upgrades described, top speed was >100mph.
Acceleration	So far, the controller has been limited to 1400 Motor amps (@150 motor volts) to limit drive train stress. It was this setting that broke a CV joint. And it's at these settings that we estimated 0-60mph in about 5 or 6 seconds. More untapped power is available at the flick of a stylus.
Range	100 Miles (160 Kilometers) 100 miles is no problem. Max range at 65mph of optimal conservative driving has not been tested and has many dependencies. For clarity, the low voltage alarm testing test described below, was in dry weather over 2 days. Average daily temperature was 57 degrees F. During low voltage alarm testing, Neal Meyer joined me, a friend who contributed many hours to this project. The test drive covered a total of 133 miles before we were able to force-sag the pack (by punching it up a hill) enough to set off the first low cell alarm. The alarm threshold is 2.5 volts, on any given cell. The first 50 miles of the test was efficient driving and mostly highway miles at 55-65mph. After that was less conservative with higher peak speeds for another 60 miles. Traveling farther than planned, we ran out of time and had to put it away for the night. The next morning, without additional charging, the final distance of the 133 mile journey was aggressive acceleration and hill-climbs. When the alarm did signal, highway speeds with good acceleration were still no problem. No worries about being stranded when the test was stopped at 133 miles. Assuming a 100 mile range is a safe DOD to insure many lifecycles for this pack. On this trip, 110mi=83%DOD.
Watt Hours/Mile	245 Wh/Mile This is calculated from the trip data described in the Range section above. It would improve a bit with more conservative driving. 51mph is the average speed considering city and highway driving on this trip.
Seating Capacity	Seating for 2 adults. Some storage in front and rear. Targa Top fits properly in the trunk.
Curb Weight	2,850 Pounds (1,295 Kilograms) As measured by digital truck scales.
Tires	Michelin, ENERGY SAVER AS P185/65R15
Conversion Time	Between 150 and 200 hours for the work (very generally) described on this page.
Conversion Cost	If you have to ask...
Additional Features	Thanks to my friend, Keith Cornell, who provided a circuit allowing the user to easily adjust charger current. Handy to prevent tripping circuit breakers if ever charging from a low current outlet. Also nice for servicing, such as initial force-balancing of the pack. Replaced the AVCON connector with a J1772 inlet. Again, thanks to Keith and my Dad, Ray Swaney for the circuit to cut EVSE power, activated by the connector's release button. One pesky little air bubble can cause the coolant pump to cavitate. When this happens, the motor runs, all seems normal, but coolant is not flowing. And worse, it must be disassembled to confirm or fix. To prevent this, we added a valve stem to the top of the coolant pump, to ease purging after coolant line assembly. And we added an in-line indicator to allow visual confirmation that coolant is flowing, without having to disassemble.
For details about the "original ICE to SLA" version of this car, see www.evalbum.com/1638 or click WebPage /> Kirk Swaney www.SHIFTev.com SHIFT Electric Vehicles LLC

code by jerry