I purchased a 1995 Dodge Neon 5 speed and the rest wil be history.
For those of you who have a perpensity for pictures, I have over 50 now. Most of them are the tear down and replacement parts pics, but some are of modifications required to produce an electric car.
Starting from the beginning, I did three months of research looking for the right company to provide the necessary equipment for the conversion. I chose Candian Electric Vehicles, Ltd. Randy Holmquist is the owner, and a very knowledgeable EV guy. I purchased a kit that includes the battery boxes, ADC FB4001-A motor, Zilla Z1K-LV controller and HB-2 Hairball Interface. Other items included are a power steering pump, vacuum pump. E-Meter State of Charge meter, motor adapter and various contactors.
I chose the Zilla Intelligent interface over a Curtis (dumb controller) because of the saftey and user controllable option features afforded by the Zilla.
One of the main items that I am changing is the way the motor is coupled to the transmission. The orignal setup couples the motor to the trans. using the original flywheel,clutch disk,pressure plate, throwout bearing, and pilot bearing. This is a total weight of about 50+ lbs. I am adding an L-110 Lovejoy coupler half to the motor and adapting a clutch disk spline to the other half. This is a total weight of 7 lbs.
I have found that these “kits” are far from plug-and-play, but the manuals provided by Zilla and CEV do a great job in describing what is required for the EV car world.
On that same note, Otmar from Cafe Electric has provided answers to all my technical questions It is because of Randy and Otmar that I have been able to get this far with this EV project. I have built street rods in the past and am very familiar with auto modifications and I am very knowledgeable in electrical circuits and wiring. That being said, let’s continue the journey down the EV project path.
To date, the car has been stripped of all interior pieces and the engine and engine components have been removed, along with the fuel tank and exhaust system. All new urethane bushing have been replaced both front and rear. New struts were installed up front and new struts and heavy duty springs (springs included in kit) are being installed in the rear.
I am now waiting for the motor and battery boxes and other pieces to be shipped (they have to go through Customs as they are from Canada). When I get them the big portions of the job will began.
One of the concerns that I am still pursuing is the battery selection. This will be a 144 volt system (8 batteries in the rear and 4 up front) They will be Group 31 batteries (size 13 X 7 X 9). If any of you have any suggestions, pass them on.
I will keep you updated on the progress. If you would like pics, let me know and I will post them.
Pictures were requested and can be found on:
listed under docpaul1_neonEV
There are 92 pics in all showing various stages of disassembly and modifications. If you want info on any particular picture, let me know and include the pic. number. I hope they make sense to you.
The Doctor is IN.
