First EV Conversion (ATV)

[sfynks870]

Hello all, first post here on ES. I have been researching electric vehicles for a while now and finally conviced my two roomates into going in on a project with me. I wanted to start with something we all were familiar with and would be easily obtainable for us since we are three bachelors. 8) Well, as it turns out, we aquired two Kawasaki Bayou 220 donor vehicles almost instantaniously for free when we decided to go ahead with the project.
View attachment bayou_220.jpg
We are currently taking down our pool table to put in the shop so that we can keep the project indoors..... I know, sounds funny, but as I said before.....three bachelors.... lol and winter is on it's way. Who wants to be freezing their butt off in the shop all winter?.... Turns out, none of us....

Anyway, back on subject. None of us are electrical engineers, far from actually, but we are inventive and willing to do the research. Our goal that we have finally settled on is as follows:

35-40 MPH min.
40 Mile range MINIMUM
Budget = ..... screw a budget... we are bachelors... :lol:
Expandable for more range incase that is decided upon later
Torque/Power should be somewhat equivelent to what a stock ATV would be

Again, I mention that none of us are electrical engineers, so we are having issues deciding on components. It seems there is a lot more to consider than we originally thought when deciding on initial components. We did not realize how much each component would rely on the others to meet our final goals.

At this point, I recommended that we put our goal and beginning platform out there for experienced EV'ers to look over and get their thoughts..... well guess what, you guys are the lucky EV'ers. We would love to hear your opinions on what we should use, pros and cons of certain components, and just any insight you could offer us.

I will be posting pictures in the next day or so of one of the donor bikes in the "work area". We only have the one so far, and will be going to pick the other up in the next few days. We got both bikes for free, although we only have one right now. The one we currently have has had some frame sections cut out for another conversion it was obviously not destined for. This one will mostly be used for measurement and perhaps prototype ideas. The bike we will be going to get this week is the one that will actually recieve the conversion, since it is in a relatively untouched state(stripped for the motor and tranny).

So, thats what we have to start with. How are we gonna go about this EXACTLY???? I dunno.... :lol:

 

[Farfle]

I am no expert on bigger stuff, hell im not even close to an expert at anything , but i think you might want to look at a smaller series ADC motor and a kelly controller of some variety.

 

[Bluefang]

Hey mate, Electric ATVs sounds like a hell of alot of fun

One of the best ways i can think of doing a atv is with a RC electronics setup, have alook thru the section of the forum dedicated to Non-Hub motor bike builds. Try and find the build that Recumperance did on his yellow trike, insane trike and massive power ~40hp more then enough to get your ATV moving pretty fast.

Running twin Turnigy http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=5142 with a Castle Creations HV160 controller and throttle setup from Recumperance will give you the basics for motor and controller. If you have a ton of money, get Astro motors from Recumperance too, but the Turnigys are fantastic for the power they have.

Batteries would have to be Lipo or something similar as Lead would be too heavy and bulky to travel the range you want. Lipos will need you to do a ton of research and learning how to charge them properly.

The hard part will be getting the motors to mate up with the clutch properly, using the RC sensorless controller is great but you will need to keep a clutch of some sort in there.

Derek

 

[TylerDurden]

I'd suggest looking at performance electric golfcart builds to get an idea of the scope.

Also see EValbum.

You will easily drop more than ten grand per vehicle, if you intend to meet the stated goals.

 

[ELI_ICE_MAN]

My first post on the site. I am also looking at a side by side UTV project. The Polaris Ranger EV is an interesting case study. It uses a 8.3 kW ABM AC Induction motor, SEVCON GEN 4 48v controller @ 650 amps and 8 12v lead acid batterys in two parralled pods of 4 series connected to make 48 volts. Weighs 1700 lbs (680lbs of Battery), top speed of 25 mph, tows 1200lbs, rides great. They advertise 50 miles maximum per charge. There are some off the shelf ATVs that are electric, you can google them up and look over their specs as a starting point.

 

[heroic]

My first post on the site. I am also looking at a side by side UTV project. The Polaris Ranger EV is an interesting case study. It uses a 8.3 kW ABM AC Induction motor, SEVCON GEN 4 48v controller @ 650 amps

That doesn't compute. 48 times 650 is a lot more than 8300... and why would you use lead acid batteries on what is undoubtedly marketed as a sports toy and therefore quite expensive to begin with?

 

[ELI_ICE_MAN]

My first post on the site. I am also looking at a side by side UTV project. The Polaris Ranger EV is an interesting case study. It uses a 8.3 kW ABM AC Induction motor, SEVCON GEN 4 48v controller @ 650 amps

That doesn't compute. 48 times 650 is a lot more than 8300... and why would you use lead acid batteries on what is undoubtedly marketed as a sports toy and therefore quite expensive to begin with?

The 8.3 kW is the rated power level, electric motors are quite capable of at least three times that for a 2 minute period, even more for shorter periods, limited mostly by heat buildup in the motor windings. The Controller being rated at 650 A gives it the cushion it needs for protection against these intermittant peak loads. The battery pack is rated @ 14.5 kW. I guess they chose lead acid due to cost, and ready availability to be easily replaced by a non electric vehicle mechanics or owners. This provides the EV enthusist an area to plan for performance modifications :lol:. As a matter of fact the combination of parts provided on this platform provides many opportunities for performance tuning, which is why I find it an interesting vase study.

 

[ce555]

Hey,

You might want to have al look at my conversion.
http://www.evalbum.com/2750
The target specifications resemble your requirements.
Because you want more range you have to use a bigger batterypack.
If your going for lead-acid, take a powerful motor like mine because you'll need the torque for a fun acceleration.

Hope it helps on your development !

Cédric