Motor is over priced imo.
I’ll stick with my suggestions above.
Everything else first.
See what motor you have now.
Apologies Mike didn’t mean to leave out that detail. Thanks for clarifying that.
My concern with the 5/6.5 is for sustained periods where i’m driving up to 50mph it craps out. Hence the 8kW motor if it can handle HV.
I do want to go HV for sure.
Dave, copy on the motor price, it does seem steep.
Having said that I wish there would be more usage data on the factory motor and the HV setup Matt is running on his. Ernie has the setup i want, his seems pretty reliable, I’m willing to spend the money but not give it away either.
I just noticed that this is a new car with solar option. I doubt solar will work with upgrades.
Not that it’s useful in any case.
I can’t recommend the full hotrod treatment if reliability is high on your list.
High speed gears can be noisy, but are reliable.
Reprogramming for 9000 rpm has been reliable so far.
I have a stock voltage 2p14s battery that should increase range without issues.
Swapping controller for high voltage high performance is a work in progress.
It will only be reliable if one of the group does the mods and can drive it for a few weeks to get the bugs out of it.
I cant think of a single hotrod we got right first try.
Dave, didn’t go that option, Scott never got back to me and I didn’t want to wait 6months+, I’m trying to buy a used one with low miles, just limited info from seller on what has been done.
I was basing my upgrades on the fact someone else has done them before and has had good success and reliability with theirs, ie Ernie. So i was trying to mimic his setup b/c it is proven and works well. But now there is all these other options as Ernie pointed out he was an early adopter so things have changed a bit.
I guess i would ask who has a reliable setup with the factory motor i can replicate where tuning isn’t needed that can handle HV and up to 50mph reliably if the 8kW motor is not an option?
Matt should be easy to replicate. His took 3 tries, but i think we have it.
I haven’t been able to get him to check in on forum. He always seems to answers me on messanger.
Getting you together with matt is a good first step.
Ernies system can be cloned if you are happy with his results.
Need the 8kw motor though. Unlike dc motors, tuning is radically different for every ac motor.
If you start with oem motor, Matt system is running well. Switching to 8kw only requires reprogramming to Ernie dcf file.
Are you on fb, or should i keep trying to get Matt on here or email?
@AssyRequired has a motor that may be less money if you want to jump to the full Ernie out of the gate.
That would be Matt @fundad. You need to hear it all from him.
Gear noise, top speed, etc.
@djgabriel2004 may have an example as well.
More Matt info.
He is up North, middle of winter. Afaik, only drove car once with the new dcf.
All diy.
24s tesla battery, gears, 5kw motor, s4 Sevcon, dual throttle. 80v dc-dc, 72v dq charger, my conversion harness.
Quote
"42mph!!! No problems with hills. Probably could have hit 45mph but was in a 30mph zone coming up to a stop sign soon.
Loving this thing!!
I also love the sound but I feel like I may be really winding the ■■■■ out of this 5kw motor. The sound is hilarious though. It just screams!! It just also makes me a little nervous."
Matt
End quote
Sound imo is gearbox not motor.
Couple of thoughts…
I’ve hit around 54 MPH on the flats with my car… it’s a bit terrifying. While i can, I don’t really want to go that fast in it, especially with moving cars around me. I usually stick to 35 mph roads, the occasional 40 mph. I really wanted the extra power to be able to climb and maintain the speed limit uphills.
I will say, I’ve done 2 more HV setups like mine with @MikeKC making an SD trip (we’ve actually done conversions get together with a bunch of folks from the forum… and smoked cheese from @JarJarJava)… we ran into some… didn’t expect that… but once we worked through it, the setup was solid. all i hear from the folks with the cars is how much they love it and haven’t run into issues.
I still have my factory 5kw motor… i guess I could throw that in, load up Matt’s DCF, and see how it runs… but man… my car has been trouble-free for over a year now… i haven’t wanted to mess with it!
long pole in the tent is finding you a car!
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I think the 6.5kw motor with a set of gears would work great and have the same reliability . No need to go hv, you won’t gain anything. Start with what you have, add a big 16s battery pack and get Dave to get you a Sevcon programmed for the 6.5kw motor. Probably will hit your goal. You can always build on it later if needed without having to take any steps back
Hi everyone. Havent been on here in a while. Got Dave’s FB message and figured I would jump on to see whats up.
My 2016 GEM E4 is rocking and rollin. I love it and cant wait to see what the 8kw motor does.
She is a little bit loudera full throttle. Kinf of like going into boost on a supercharged car.
Everything works great now. My battery is fantastic even with the gear and 17x7 wheels. I can keep the flow with traffic just fine. Im no longer worried about a 30 or 35 mph zone where drivers in my area do 40 to 45 all day.
No bogging or dying or other drama. Just turn the key and go.
I installed all the stuff myself. Not the handiest person but if you take your time its no too bad.
Feel free to ask any questions you would like.
You can text or call me too if you would like. I have received a TON of help from Dave and others on here. I am absolutely willing to help whoever I can.
Matt - 847-922-4803
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Thanks, that’s what I was looking for, a review of a HV upgrade with oem 5kw motor.
IMO enough for anyone except someone wanting to keep up with Grant.
Moving the goalposts again. Check out his swaybar thread.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I’m going to pickup the Gem this Sat hopefully and will find out what it has.
Matt based on what Dave posted it makes me nervous about the winding sound from the motor, if it is the gearbox like Dave said that is another issues in itself. What is driving you to go with the 8kW motor curious?
Ernie I really like your setup, seems like it is tried and proven. I plan do also do some suspension and brake mods to make it more comfortable at those speeds.
Dave i reached out to @AssyRequired, hopefully he has a 8kW motor i can get from him.
Did you install bushings to separate the differential mount from the frame? I’m using skateboard bushing and that seems to help. I’d like to get my hands on the ones installed in the 2020+ models.
iMO - it is the gears making the whine - they all do it, some more than others.
Motors are quiet…
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What did you find?
Are you able to take it to one of the group for experienced help?
@Erniea15 @AssyRequired Are you nearest?
What do you have for inventory?
Goliath?
I have stock in KcMo.
Is there a harness kit in the chain?
I have big inventory of controllers, but understand if you want to use yours or Gabes.
Seems Af8 is set to go big right away, but a demo of stock motor and speed box may change his mind.
Grant wants to step up his game and may trade gear boxes. He has a 12:1 now.
No sense him swapping a perfectly good tested gearset for 8:1. IMO
@grantwest
What kind of range are you looking for?
30 miles? 45?
If this is going to be a full boat repower (batteries, controller, motor) It might be a better plan for me to go up and kidnap his car.
I could do a much better/cleaner job and not feel rushed trying to get it all done in one day. This way I can drive it around a bit to make sure there are no issues before returning it.
This being a new car to him I figure he might need a bit of time to get registration and insurance sorted out and maybe drive it a while in stock form so he can appreciate the mods when it is returned.
I installed the skateboard bushings first and then sent a set of brackets to Rodney to modify. I have been happy enough with the skateboard mod. So much so that I havent even installed the modified brackets. I should probably sell those but just havent got around to it.
It is probably the gears making the noise. I had the supercharger ported on my ZR1 and that makes a whine when you get on it. It kind of sounds like the GEM is supercharged too. LOL!!