Date: Fri, 16 Apr 2010 13:31:25 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: EV Conversion of an '84 Vanagon with Automatic Transmission?
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on the conventional cars that I have seen converted to EV , they usually
have a manual trans.
I say a ......can't think of the name of it right now - a GM mid-rear engine
small car, like the Toyota MR2 ..
but GM's copy/version - with manual trans.
I asked them what gear they used. They said 'we just leave it in 2nd'.
Obviously having gears that you don't use is extra weight and ineffeciency
...
so a modified gasoline car isn't likely to ever be as good as a
designed-for-it-from the beginning EV.,
as for auto trans ...
it would work but just as you loose some effeciency of power transfer with
an auto trans and IC engine ..
you'd be giving up something .....performance, range, etc. by retrofitting
an electric motor to a conventional car with auto trans, I would think.
Electric motor has full torque at zero rpm ...so having solid gears and no
clutch between electric motor and wheels is the natural approach.
A torque converter of an auto trans would just reduce efffeciency.
If you want to re-engineer the auto trans for EV opertion and eleminate the
torque converter ....I suppose someone could ...
but since EV's often only use one gear anyway ....not much point in doing
that.
buy hey, if that's what you have to work with...........given what you
already own or can get easily , and your budget ...
then go for it,
but I think that fundamentally a manual trans is likely to be 'less bad'
than an auto trans.
there's been at least one Vanagon EV so far I think. Google it. or
Wikipedia.
Lots of room for batteries !
the differential is part of the trans, and to keep from re-engineering the
entire drive train ...
you just keep the stock manual trans with integrated differential for most
EV's that are converted IC cars.
Scott
www.turbovans.ccom
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tobias Gogolin" <usertogo@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, April 16, 2010 12:22 PM
Subject: EV Conversion of an '84 Vanagon with Automatic Transmission?
> Being still far from the financial liquidity to start my project I have a
> question:
> I know that many EV conversions leave the manual transmission as an
> interface to the drive train and to have that torque converting gear range
> option!
> But to invest energy into a lossy automatic transmission, I never heard
> about!
> I also see that the differential is integrated in the vanagon transmission
> ( http://www.gowesty.com/ec_view_details.php?id=3862 ), so what do people
> do
> in such a case? Replace the differential?
>
> Using two motors is probably not an option since I would like to do AC
> drive!
>
> Thanks for any recomendations!
>
> Tobias
