120 replies to this topic

[Bungle]

will you have to turn the mini up side down and open a little flap to change the batterys

[brightsparkz]

Some pics, click for a larger image...











You can see the size of the motor, also the swing arm that ive made.

Origionally i couldnt decide where to put the motor.. in the front ot the back... Decided to put it in the front.

[THE STIG]

a company called atlantic in the midlands made one about 10-15 years ago, think is the on woody saw was purple

used the mini gearbox driven by chain of the motor so still had 4 gears and reverse had four batterys in engine bay above the motor and 4 in the back plus normal battery for lights ect

was prectty quick cheap and had a good range for a run about

was weird as when driving it you just removed your foot from the acelarator pedal changed gear no cluth and put your foot down

good luck on your project sounds good

[koss]

When do you plan to have it finished and how much does a motor like that cost?

[alexcrosse]

absolutely brilliant project! aim to shock! look for this video on youtube of an electric powered atom beating every supercar you can think of! hillarious.

Good luck with this mate

[lvm18]

a company called atlantic in the midlands made one about 10-15 years ago, think is the on woody saw was purple

used the mini gearbox driven by chain of the motor so still had 4 gears and reverse had four batterys in engine bay above the motor and 4 in the back plus normal battery for lights ect

was prectty quick cheap and had a good range for a run about

was weird as when driving it you just removed your foot from the acelarator pedal changed gear no cluth and put your foot down

good luck on your project sounds good

Hi,

Yes I have heard about that one too.

Theres another company that does one like that too, they have the adapters to suit:

http://www.avt.uk.com

Also there is the electric mini pickup:

http://homepage.ntlw.../electric.mini/

I considered doing this myself once.

Heres a nice electric car, running on Nicads:

It is an electric supercar with 0-60 in around 4 seconds and a 250 mile charge, built by Lotus under licence to Tesla in America. Stunning Ferrari-esque looks and electric power for around £60,000.

Web: http://www.teslamotors.com/

.....something to aim for!

kind regards,

David

[alexcrosse]

what kinda price you looking at if buying the same motors running in that tesla? Anyone running brushless systems yet? with lipo's? (out of interest)

[Ethel]

Can I do the really long extension cable gag

Can I? Can I?

[roofless]

Use festool 3 Ah. batteries - I've got one on my new drill - been using for 4 weeks and I havn't had to charge it up yet !!!

[miniboo]

Can I do the really long extension cable gag

Can I? Can I?

no you can't the OP has already done it!!! lol

[chairchild]

Just curious, what bearings are you going to use in your swingarms? Guessing it's going to be something similar to the minis front wheel bearings?



Will be keeping an eye on this one, as your rear suspension/drivetrain REALLY interests me......(and I may pinch an idea or two!)

[brightsparkz]

Hi All,

Will try to answer most questions…

Driving it will be cool, no clutch, instantaneous acceleration! Unlike petrol engines i will have maximum motor torque at zero rpm!

Don’t know when its going to be finished, been thinking about it for ages, had the motor a year now! Maybe have a running car next summer? Really don’t know.

The motor was shipped from the US, weighs 56Kg so it cost £250 in shipping alone. The motor itself cost £600 and is used in fork lifts in the US. You might be lucky and find one in the UK, you can get a motor from a milk float or something but it wont have the same performance and will be much heavier.

I wish I could afford Ni-Cds or Lion batteries but they cost a bomb and need special chargers or they catch fire when charging!

I have bought replacement bearing for the front mini hub off ebay and have fitted them to my swing arm, also bought roller bearings for the pivot point.

Cheers

Suren

[Ethel]

How about Duracell double AA's, most petrol stations have 'em so filling up wouldn't be any harder than any other Mini?

Seriously though, great project. Could you do a decelerator recharger like the Prius?

Just think of the fun you'll have ducking to down to pass people in a silent, driverless Mini

[codd_coupe]

Did you consider using an inverter and AC motor to drive it? If you connect your batteries to the DC bus on an inverter, it would work the same as if it was ran from the mains!

Which controller are you going to use? I was looking into doing this, a few years ago, and the controller I was going to use was a Curtis SepEx controller, which we used at my old company for running forklift trucks. It has the ability to regen when stopping and would mean that you only use the brakes in an emergency! Having regen should mean that you would be able to cover a wider range between charges.

Also have you considered getting a little generator, so if you want to go longer distances, you could have the batteries being trickle charged as you go along!


Good luck with the project. Something I'd consider doing to a GTM, once I've finished building mine and have the money!

[brightsparkz]

Hi,

I did look at using a AC motor but found that i would need complicated and expencive electronics. I dont think curtis do AC controllers! Also AC motors get their power from their high rpm, they have little torque compared to a DC motor so i would need a gearbox.

I want to use a Zilla controller, Its specially designed for cars, its a 156V 1000A controller. It also costs 1.5K so i will be saving up for a while!

Generators are not really worth it because even though they will recharge the batteries, it wont make that much of a difference to range.

If you know of any curtis controllers going spare in your old work place let me know! Could do with somthing to test with.

Cheers

Suren