[QUOTE=kenaparsons;2308]I have recently been gifted a 1973 Type III VW Squareback and am moving to a new city for a new job where I’ll have to commute 8 miles one way. Someone recently sent me to Wilderness EV and wow, I’m addicted to researching this EV option for the Squareback. But, I want to get a better sense of what I’m getting myself into in terms of $$ and time commitment from start to finish. I have read some EV FAQs as a way to answer these issues, but I think I am interested in people’s experiences. So,
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How long should I expect it to take from now (w/ the car as a gasoline powered vehicle w/ a Pancake engine in the back of the car) to road time (when I can, w/ some tinkering left to do, drive the car to/fro about 8mis one-way as an EV)?
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Is Kit #2 from Wildnerness EV sufficient for such a car or only for the VW beetles? Can I expect a 72V motor to run this car 20-30 miles a day?
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Should I just get a used EV and gift the squareback to one of you who has more EV experience than me…?
Ultimately, I have time and interest to do this, but not sure how much I should be expecting. I am quite handy and able to follow technical instructions (I am a linux user and espresso geek) but don’t want to naively enter into this on principled grounds alone since my funds are limited (to about 4k-5k).
Thanks for all your suggestions.[/QUOTE]
That squareback is a sweet looking car. That is an excellent candidate. If I owned a VW it would either be a Type II or III cam or square back.
All of the questions that you numerized in your list come down to one response question to you;
How much time do you have out of your schedule to put into this? It could be done inside of a day with a crew of people working on it, or inside of a couple of weeks if you were adament about doing it yourself with the occasional hand.
You can do this quite nicely well within a $5G budget.
From the kit in the link you provided, I would say that this is plenty of motor for your car. It looks like the kit comes with everything but batteries.
One thing you might consider instead of using lead-acid type batteries (which could serve to be dangerous in a collision and are heavy) is to go with a little more expensive alternative and use a LiPo high voltage pack.
The savings in weight would be dramatic and increase your range and possibly make up for some of the little weight you have in a Type III body over a Beetle.
Depending on the weight of a Lead Acid battery (approximately 40lbs each) you’re looking at roughly 240lbs for 6 12VDC batteries.
If you went with the 7210-HPS from Life Batt, which is a single 72VDC, it weighs just under 30 lbs and is just over 7"x7"x6" in size. The unit is $1,500, but it’s money well spent in my opinion, because each battery comes with it’s own cell monitoring system and they gaurantee 2000 full cycles and expect over 5000 cycles with shallow discharge (any recharge above 25% reserve). Versus 200-300 cycles from a lead-acid. lead acids are completely primitive in comparison and you’ll still end up spending more on lead-acids in the long run, due to shorter range/added weight and shorter life expectancy. It’s a quality/ quantity issue.
http://www.lifebatt.com/HPSpacks.html
Click on the retail prices logo and when the popup window comes up, click on High Voltage Packs for the list of 72+VDC packs for their stats.
You’ll get years worth of use from one of those batteries, and depending on it’s needs, you may be able to shave the cost of that kit down as you will only need two terminals instead of 12, no more than 10ft of cable, etc.
The best thing you can do is shave weight from the rest of the car. You’ll need to figure out a way to make a functioning heater for a defroster, etc. Some people use ceramic electric heaters and it decreases range a little bit, but I’m personally thinking about making a small time propane furnace with an electric ignition pilot and solenoid valve for the gas. You wouldn’t need any more than a 7,000btu system at most. And most small heaters are rated at much higher than that.
If it were up to me, I’d spend another $2G or so and go with a 96v system, if only just to make voltage regulating easier for a standard household 110ACV charge and additional range. You might look into a transformer capable of running the smaller #2 kit 72VDC motor with a 96VDC system for increased range with the LiPo explosion/fireproof chemistry batteries. That would be the way to go, in my opinion.