So this project is a little different from what's normally found on here, but I am building an electric pilot. Here's the state of my slate:



I obtained the rolling chassis of a person who was parting out their pilot. Subtle clues suggest the chassis was involved in a wreck, such as scratches on the upper roll cage and a lower front tube that is bent.

Here's the basic goals of the project:

1. Gross vehicle weight similar to stock
2. Power output will be limited to 40 HP
3. Electrical system will meet IP67 requirements to protect against water immersion
4. Be able to drive vehicle by next summer
5. Have fun

So far the plan is to use lithium battery cells from a wrecked Nissan Leaf. These cells will be housed in a waterproof aluminum housing. A draft version of the battery box assembly can be seen below. Further refinements will be added, such as showing covers, adding connectors, showing cable routings, and etc.



Three contactors will allow the battery to be completely isolated (shutting off high and low pins of connector) and to provide a disconnect in the middle of the pack for a lower working voltage. These contactors will be driven by the 12V lead acid battery. This battery box will be located behind the seat and in front of the drivetrain. As of now, the stock transmission can be used or a custom built gearbox. This box will utilize the stock Engine mounts and couple to the drivetrain.

Speaking of drivetrain, the electric-motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) will be a ME1302 from Motenergy. This is a brushless electric-motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) that is liquid cooled.



This electric-motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) will likely be going directly above the gearbox. Currently, there are no plans to use a CVT as the electric-motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) will couple directly to the drivetrain. A Hi/Lo gearbox can be a way of achieving a better combination of top speed and acceleration, but the single reduction stock transmission could also work just fine.

Here's some more photos showing different seating options of the stock seat and a Kirkey aluminum seat:

I had to laugh at the new found irony of this automatic correction..... "electric-motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) (( Internal Combustion Engine ? ))"

Your project sounds pretty awesome. I will be following. Best of luck with your build!

Very cool. I took a look at the "moter" too, as I have no idea about electric moters or setups. I hope you don't mind I added some information with picture. If it's an issue I'll ask H to remove them. Can't wait to see and read more.

This is really cool man!
I wish you the best of luck. Getting those "green" parts are not cheap at all.

I'll be watching this thread as I love projects like this.
Hopefully I can lend some advice too :)

I had a typo in my first post. The electric-motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) is an ME1302 from Motenergy. It has the same physical size, but is wound differently to accept higher voltages (28 winding turns vs 20 winding turns for the ME1304). A little note:

An ME1302 is essentially a ME1115 with a liquid cooling jacket. An ME1304 is essentially a ME1114 with a liquid cooling jacket. Those are the manufacturer's model names, but some distributors will pay a premium to have their own model name, and as a result, charge an additional premium as if they have a different motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )). Couple this with misinformation from distributors, and it gets confusing for consumers. I verified from John from Motenergy that the ME1302 is the same motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) as the DLC-28 and the EVD35.

Here are specs:


These specs are for 120VAC, but the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) can also be ran at lower voltages, such as 24VAC. The difference is that you wouldn't get as much power output since a lower voltage is associated a lower max attainable rpm. As power (W or nm/s) is the product of angular speed (1/seconds) and torque (nm), with the same amount of torque and a lower rpm, you would have a lower power output. You can achieve the same amount of torque at any voltage as torque is directly dependent on current. You may see something called a torque constant, such as nm/A or ft-lbs/A. Simply multiply by the current, and you'll get the torque output before accounting for mechanical and electrical losses. The main limiting factor on the amount of current you can pump into a motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) is heat, which can melt the insulating varnish if too high.

I do intend to use a liquid-cooled plate for the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) controller whether I make one or buy one. There will be a much more simple box above the battery box, which will house the motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) controller, wire terminal blocks, small relays, and other miscellaneous components. Below you can see the space I intend to place the box, which is circled in blue below:



Does anyone know roughly what kind of flow rate was used with the stock radiator and water pump? I obviously don't intend to use the water pump, but I may consider using the stock radiator.

I have also attached a mechanical drawing if anyone is interested in dimensions.

Your build is really cool!! Thanks for sharing with us and I can't wait to see your progress.

This is going to be cool as hell if it turns out right
I rode in a Tesla the other day and the acceleration is insane!

Is that a little play on the "insane mode" the Tesla has?
Very quick car but what makes it crazy is the lack of noise.
I read they have a ludicrous mode now as an option too.

I'm looking forward to this too.

always wanted to build some small electric buggies for the kids to rip around the yard in.

Pretty much your biggest problem is going to be keeping us satisfied with pictures and info!

Agree with all of the comments above and can't wait to see and read about the outcome.
You got way to much time on your hands bud do dream up stuff like this.
Cool idea.

My big curiosity is range and or run time.

It should be able to burn a set of tires of in no time!

Rand

Points for doing something different.

How much is all that electric stuff going to weight do you guess?

And that its going to get even extra rediculous in this thread with that internal combustion auto correct stuff :(

You checked to see what the conversion ratio is between the electric and gas engines I know 40 hp gas is not the same as 40 hp gas you might only need a 20hp electric-motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) to do the same as the 40hp gas Engine giving you longer battery life.

Extra ridiculous in deed maybe this will be good training for those morons too stupid to know the difference between a Engine and a motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )).

Was watching the ASS monkey garage the other night and the bearded monkey cant make up his mind yet he will refer to an Engine as a motor (( Internal Combustion Engine ? )) 8-10 times in a row then insert the proper terminology "Engine" in the next sentence makes me wonder what else the moron spews is correct or NOT, the head monkey is not any better the regular employees seem to be much smarter and get it right most the time. You would think someone that works in the gasoline Engine industry would at least grasp the basics lmao.

Hopefully the Pilot will not flip over backwards the first time he goes WOT (Wide Open Throttle), I assume the controller is adjustable and will allow it to soften the acceleration rate?

Is throttle the correct terminology for electric buggies?

It will be cool I like the idea of recycling the batteries out of a wrecked automobile cant wait to see what the batteries look like. Seen a thing on TV about the electric cars and how one used over 8000 AA batteries if his uses batteries the size of AA batteries you could distribute the batteries all over the Pilot to distribute the weight any way you wanted making them safe might complicate this?

[quote="hoser"]Is throttle the correct terminology for electric buggies? [quote]

"Soo I was coming out of this corner and mashed the potentiometer !"

"My potentiometer was stuck wide open!"

"My moter sounds great when I blip the potentiometer!"

He definitely won't be able to use the term "Hit the gas" correctly!

Rand