LocostUSA.com

Hi
I have the primitive version of your new car

It's sort of a Locost - but using Subaru suspension and brakes front and rear with a Hitachi forklift motor and most of a Chevy Volt Battery
I'm running 1200 amps and 300 volts - overvolting/currenting the motor a wee bit

Couple of comments
Don't worry too much about the driveshafts - the limiting factor is the tyre grip and with less than half of the weight of the Tesla you will only be able to apply half the torque

My car is overbuilt - it could have been much lighter - but it ended up at 805 kg - 900 with me in it - 55% on the rear

https://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/s ... ght=duncan

I do LIKE the Chevy Volt batteries
https://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/s ... 93101.html

I paid $1800US - for a complete battery

Thanks so much for the info Duncan. Really cool looking machine! Your comment about the torque hits home. I am honestly worried about going down the tesla upright/hub path due to the extra weight. I would much prefer the NA MX5 Miata route by having axles made to fit. But I don't have enough experience with knowing whether or not I'll rip stuff apart with 10-inch wide racing slicks on there. What I am progressing with is the tougher route but I fear weight balance and handling will be compromised. I'll see how far I get.
What is the total weight of battery you installed?
Martin

Hi Martin

I used six of the 2 Kwh modules and 2 of the 1 Kwh modules

Arranged as two "lumps" of 2 x 2 Kwh and 1 x 1 Kwh

Each lump was about 66 Kg - I could pick one up - just

So a total of 152 kg of batteries - the support rail that clamped them to my floor was 5 kg

The Hitachi motor was 105 Kg

We had our annual 1/8th mile Drag races yesterday

About 30 cars there - I was about third fastest car
7.83 seconds and 96 mph
Two of the supercharged V8 T buckets beat me

Talking about weight of EV bits the general Rule of thumb is that if you take all of the dino burner bits out and replace them with electric you save somewhere near 200Kg

Then you need batteries!

As you add batteries you get to the same weight as the IC car at about 70 miles range

Nice! Congrats. Must be a good feeling!

Yeah, I've plugged the numbers in and get around 1,450 lbs which is 100 lbs heavier than the dino-juice sucker but with 2.5 times the torque and hp. With EVs I realized a compromise was necessary. For lightweight you have to give up on range, which is fine for it's intended use.

Visited EV West today to check out the best battery arrangement on the market for powering a Tesla unit. The LGChem batteries are surprisingly small - I could easily fit a dozen modules in the car. But just 6 modules in series is what I'm going for. 400v 16kwh for 240 lbs. Really cool cars in the shop including a "brand new" DeLorean. Really friendly guys and they let me take pics:

Getting close to getting the bracket figured out for the NA Miata rear brake caliper. The pads align well with the OD of the rotor. Just needs some more hardware to arrive.

Visited Good-Win racing yesterday. The very helpful Greg helped me ensure the rims I wanted would work before I committed to purchasing. Came away with a beautiful set of Konig Hypergrams in racing bronze.

Wow! Very nice. Your car is going to look beautiful with those on there.
Regards,
Eric

_________________
MGiata current build here: https://www.mgexp.com/forum/mga-forum.2 ... n.3898051/

Thanks Eric. Looking forward to putting them on something in the not to distant future!

So the latest news is, despite being confined to home, little work has been done. Waiting for the last few orders of parts for the rear support arms to come in. But I was able to make a start on brackets that will couple to the rear spindles - with a little help from my workshop apprentice. She was born during the build of the first car!

BTW, if you are interested in the list of major parts and their associated costs, I have added a list to the start of Page 1.
Martin

Great work both of you bending those unmentionable br@cketz
You have my interest on this pic, at first I thought it was a ratchet tightening the br@cket in your vise. But it isn't. Is that a magnet with a handle on it?

_________________
Perry

'If man built it, man can fix it'
"No one ever told me I couldn't do it."
"If you can't build it safe, don't build it."

Perry's Locost Super Che7enette Build
Perry's TBird Based 5.0L Super 7 L.S.O
Perry's S10 Super 7 The 3rd
Perry's 4th Build The Topolino 500 (Little Mouse) Altered
Perry's 5th Build the Super Slant 6 Super 7
Perry's Final Build the 1929 Mercedes Gazelle

I wondered who'd be the first to ask!
Because I can't complete the bracket "wings" to 90 degrees with the press, the final squeeze was done with the vise. So to stop the base of the bracket from bending I clamped it down with my strong hand clamp. Worked pretty well. Near-as-damnit.