New user, new project.

Do It Yourself (DIY)
1

Hey all!
I am in the process of my first EV conversion and I thought I’d find a place to get feedback, suggestions, and just generally try to benefit from the wisdom of those who’ve been through the process. I will be converting a motorcycle for the purposes of a commuter vehicle. Goals are a top speed in the neighborhood of 45 to 50 mph and a range of ~20 to 25 miles on a charge. With the components I already have I think these goals are achievable but as with anything new I am certain there are complications I have not considered. That is where you guys will hopefully come in.

I have a friend in the EV industry who has been assisting me in selecting and acquiring the drive components (motor, controller, bms, can charger etc) and will be tuning the system for me once it is built, but his expertise does not translate to the conversion of an existing vehicle and since I’m sure he is already sick of my endless questions I am hoping to get y’all involved. Let’s start with what I’ve already got.

20200301_155021
20200301_1550213264×2448 2.89 MB

Motor is Motenergy ME0201012801
Motor controller is a Sevcon Gen4 and is configured for 48v with 100A continuous. Don’t remember peak at the moment…
BMS is a CAN enabled Orion Jr 2 (battery pack is 16s 4p so each parallel chain will be treated as a single cell but the cells are brand new and have been balance tested so I feel comfortable with this configuration)
Charging unit is an ElCon HK-H-H66-25
The throttle is an inexpensive hall effect unit that I bought Ebay.
The battery pack is 16s4p and is built from 38120 HP cells that i was able to source brand new.
I also have all appropriate fuses, mains contactor, CAN connectors etc.
I would have linked to all the components but since my account is new it seems to limit that.

What I am left with is deciding on what donor bike will best suit my needs, and the mechanical aspects of the build such as motor mount, sprockets, battery box, mounting bms and controller components, chain guard etc…
I’m currently looking for a donor bike somewhere in the kz440 to cb750 range. Don’t want a bigger bike than necessary so I can keep the weight down, but need enough space for everything and it has to support a big guy (I’m 6’5 and 260 lbs).
Any and all comments, suggestions and assistance is welcome! If it gets some interest I will update as the build progresses. Thank you all in advance!

1 Like
2

Sounds like an awesome project, some guys on here have played with those PMAC motors before.
Search around for 8K motors and Sevcon and you can see some of the stuff we are in the middle of working on. Mainly car stuff but I have great interest in a motorcycle project. I have been thinking of trying to convert my Polaris Slingshot (three wheeler) to electric.
Welcome aboard, lots of knowledge with the group on here.

1 Like
3

Awesome! Thanks for the info. Haven’t had a ton of time to dig around yet, but I’m about to crack open a beer so I will do some searching and browsing.

4

See if your buddy will share Sevcon files. Or trade.
Or maybe he has a contact at Sevcon to help us with some mysteries.

1 Like
5

Wisconsin eh? East or west? I’m extreme se Mn.

1 Like
6

I am south central wisco. Madison to be specific. I will certainly ask him. I am aware that the sevcon units have a bit of a reputation as a pain in the ass for diy builders (mostly due to the software being hard to get and little public documentation) and I will see what I am able to get from him. Being in the industry I am unsure if he is under some sort of constraints as to what he can share but if I can be any help I certainly will.

1 Like
7

It’s nice to see new projects. My friend often praised orion bms2. I didn’t use it myself, so I don’t know.