Gem motor replacement options

GEM Forum
1

Hi All,

I’m on my 3rd ride-4-fun motor, and I keep burning them out on the hilly roads where I live. Does anyone know of any good motors that I can buy instead?

I just don’t know which manufacturers offer quality motors that I can adapt to my 2008 e4.

Thanks!

2

D&D offers torque motors. Grant knows all about them. @grantwest

What year Gem?

3

If you were near @AssyRequired , Cosa Mesa, I think, he may hook you up with an ac 5kw-7.5kw motor.

4

I got a D&D torque motor. It had zero top end

5

And by zero you mean, 25mph?
I know you are in the ac motor column, now.

6

Yes Dave you’re correct. I think 2 things. The Torque motor is great but it must be paired with the right gear raito. I have not tried it but the 9.1 transmission is where I would start or lower if possible if you wanna go faster then 30mph. Cause the one i had was paired with a 12:35 and it took off like crazy but was done going any faster after it got to 25-30 IMO with Brushed DC motors you get speed or Torque. You don’t get both. You gotta go AC if you want that.

1 Like
7

Grant was hinting at something that should not be ignored -

You really need to build a car to your needs and environment.

To offer sound advice, one needs to understand more details about your car.

The known so far:

  • 2008
  • e4 (4 passenger)
  • hilly terrain?
  • R4F blue motor → burning up? What exactly is getting cooked?

Some other things helpful to know:

  • What batteries are in this car? (weak lead acid will need more amps to drive the motor- therefore more heat)
  • What gears are in the gearbox? (guessing 12.44? ← which is good for hills, but not for speed over 30)
  • What speeds are you looking to do?
  • What programming is in the controller?
  • Any speed modifiers? (MMagnet?)
  • What is your skill set? (farmer, welder, rocket scientist?)
  • What is in your toolbox? (hammer, basic tools, full machine shop?)
  • Where are you located?
  • What is your budget?
8

Hi, it’s 2008 gem e4

9

very hilly terrain, north county san diego. Is that costa mesa, CA that you’re in?

My engineer neighbor helped me swap out the batteries with some LiFePO batteries, have amazing range on it. We have just about a full machine shop at our disposal.

10

@AssyRequired are you in SoCal?

11

Yes I am.

12

Do you have a website for those ac motors?

13

No- I am not a business. Most of us here are backyard tinkerers, hot rod rocket scientists, and/or farm engineers figuring things out and having fun.

1 Like
14

Well tell me more about this ac motor, how does it compare to the r4f?

15

Ac motor will run 9,000 rpm making it much faster. No brushes to wear out. Ideal for high torque when coupled to low speed gears such as 2005+ Gem. 12:1
A few years ago, we develpoped a plug in kit, but only had 50 or so motors. Search 8kw ac motor.
We now have 5kw oem Gem motors, as in the 2016+ 48v Gems. They can provived 24kw peaks at 72 volts.

16

The problem I have is, to get geared up, I need a donor car for testing. One of us needs hands-on car to wire a new kit. I’m in Mn. Not much for Gem enthusiasts here.
Byron has kits in Costa Mesa.

17

How do they handle engine heat? I need mine to go up about 1000 ft of hill to get to the village and back

18

Should be fine. Won’t burn out in any case. It has temperature protection. A part removed in the motors you have. A 15kw motor may fit as well. A 50hp monster.
Needs to be installed and tuned by someone with programmer,
If it was easy, everyone would be doing it. :slight_smile:

19

Which 15kw? I want to be able to go 35 miles per hour up my hills

20

There’s more than one? I think Im done here!