Hybrid e30?

[moatilliatta]

im exited to see what will happen. hope you do it.

[RobertK]

I don't know about anyone else, but when I clicked on the link in the first post my AV went ape shit.

Win32:Agent-KKK[Trj]
Win32: Dlena-DU[Trj]

Anyone who clicked on that link needs update their AV and scan their PC.

[ismellfish2]

That's weird... that's the first time I've used that URL shrinker thing, since I don't know the nice way of doing it on this site. The full URL is: http://www.motherearthnews.com/Alter...ectic-Car.aspx
and I'll go back and replace the first link just in case.

[e304me]

dude you have an E, you already get like 35mpg

[ismellfish2]

Well, I have a 535i, so I get like 19 mpg, but that's true. I more want to do it just to see if I can. Besides, I could double that mpg rating if it works.

[atomic]

you are going to need alot of rolls of these ....

[ivo316]

I hope I'm not looking at a whole lot of money here... the biggest component I'll need is the electric motor, which I'd planned on getting military surplus or something like that for not so much. The guy who wrote the plans I'm going off of used a motor designed as a jet engine starter (!). The generator will just be some sort of little lawnmower engine and an alternator. I mean, I'm sure it'll run me a couple grand at least,

OK, sorry to blow your plans.

First, the biggest component you'll need is the controller for the electric motor, that can go from 1000 to 2000 US$.

The other expensive component is the battery bank, which will set you (if you use optima yellowtops, marine) around another 2000 US$

The E30 is going to need.
1) Steel structures to accomodate the batteries, in three groups, one at the center of the car and the other two at the front and rear to balance the weight load, also extensive high amp wiring.
2) New springs and shocks (to handle the extra weight).
3) New tires, with low rolling resistance and able to handle the extra load.

A LAWNMOWER MOTOR WON'T DO !!!!!!!!!!!

I'm quoting here "Yes it will work, but not a well as you might think. To drive a conventional size car at freeway speeds requires about 10 to 14 horsepower. An on-board generator would have to be able to deliver 15 to 18 kilowatts of power to drive it. This would require a gas engine of about 30 to 35 horsepower to drive the generator, way bigger than a lawnmower engine."

Please don't get me wrong, it's a great project, but dont go into it unless you have lots of cash, if you start cheap on this you will end up with a butchered E30 with an 8 mile range.

Plese read next reply carefully...

[ivo316]

Here you will find some info on the real thing:

http://ecow.engr.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/getbig/ece/491/lorenz/hondamotor/honda_ipec2005_evmotors_392.pdf

This is a quote from http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/build

"The least expensive conversion I know of was done for $1,500. This was a 72 volt, 12 horsepower, Yugo conversion, and many would say, a poor example. While it is certainly a reasonable commuter car, it would never be considered a performance car. Most conversions are done for $4,000 to $6,000. When more "goodies" are added, the more the cost goes up. It also depends on how much repair work the donor car needs."

Follow the link, and read carefully.

Regarding your choice of motor, the one you are talking about is highly inneficient, and brushed motors tend to arc and burn brushes or controllers.

I recommend you to build one of these first, use it as a learning experience, once you finish it, decide wether you want to go for the "big guys"

http://www.barstoolracing.net/Electric_Powered_Bar_Stool_Plans.htm

good luck

[Jscotty]

I hope I'm not looking at a whole lot of money here...

Don't count on it being a cheap project to do. Anytime the big automakers mass produce a hybrid and still have to tack $15K to the price tag I can't imagine that you will be able to do it much cheaper.

At best I think that you are more likely to be successful with building a car that is all-electric. Then at least you can use it to go anywhere that isn't more than 20 miles away or on a road where the speed limit is over 35.

[Firestorm]

Your car will weigh about 2-2.5t when finished, probably more. You'll be spending thousands and thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars on an unreliable giant fat lump of fabricated steel and batteries that'll probably take you years to build in which time you could've worked and just paid for some fucking fuel instead.

Go buy a fucking prius or something. Hippy.

Or put a ls1/t56 in there, with the right tune and gearing you can top 30mpg easily on the hwy.