Gav's EV Conversion 16 - The First Trial Run

[anakinseviltwin]

So, does it actually make that high-pitched whine every time you accelerate from a stop?

[TheNomad765]

DON`T READ THIS CAUSE IT ACTUALLY WORKS. YOU WILL BE KISSED ON THE NEAREST POSSIBLE FRIDAY BY THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE. TOMORROW WILL BE THE BEST DAY OF YOUR LIFE. HOWEVER IF YOU DO NOT POST THIS COMMENT TO AT LEAST 3 VIDEOS YOU WILL DIE WITHIN 2 DAYS. NOW UV STARTED READING THIS DON`T STOP. THIS SO SCARY. PUT THIS ON AT LEAST 5 VIDEOS IN 143 MINUTES WHEN YOUR DONE PRESS F6 AND YOUR LOVERS NAME WILL APPEAR ON THE SCREEN IN BIG LETTERS

[monza1399]

i hope i can try this project on my country... but i don't have enough resource here and not sure about the law in here... how much is your total cost for this project anyway?

[kdkinen]

incredible work man

[OuKrokodil]

What about aircon? Could one have aircon and what difference wouldit have on range?

[ccoasterdesigner]

One word: JEALOUS! Awesome job and love the series! Very good! However, what about the vacuum pumps?

[zi6film]

personalty i would of put the motor in a kart !!

[Oldsellerros]

what is that noise?

[OutThereOutLook]

What kind of range did you get with this car? How much did your power bills go up? From the looks of this video its alot faster than a standard Tredia.

[Purifiedinfire]

@OutThereOutLook I second these questions! Also what was the cost of the build?

[jestarsrace06]

Simply brilliant.

[hardcoded]

That's so cool! Gratz!!!

On a darker note, we've been lied to for so long.... :(

[rtsoccerplayer]

why does the motor make a high pitched sound when starting out? i saw another conversion and the motor did the same. why?

[SniperViper1000]

It's the battery it makes a high-pitched sqeauk to tell you there working.

[bmk789]

It's actually the Curtis controller. Some other controllers don't make the sound but all Curtis's do.

[HeavyJohnsson]

Same thing for electric trains

[kdkinen]

haa, wtf? :P it was 4:20 on your clock!!!!

anyway,

GOOD JOB!!!

i was excited just watching you guys

[cant7think7clearly]

Oh yeah, just noticed that! The clock was waaaaaay out.

[kdkinen]

haha yeah :P

[DianaCMcC]

@cant7think7clearly Just found your video on top of mine. Hey thanks for the ride. It was very cool. God bless you all. Keep up the good work.

[daswada9]

@cant7think7clearly How do you go to reverse ?

[Tarzbloke]

GO KIWI!!!

When I heard that bloke talking at 00:22 I thought this was an Aussie EV job.

Then read the end of the description.

Kiwi is awesome too.

From the other side of the Tasman...

VERY WELL DONE MATE!!!!

And I love the sound. Like Back to the Future.

[BADGTS]

How did you get your brakes to work for the vacum side of it .

[mitsubishi258]

vacume pump

[kornigator]

Thanks for all the videos on your project. You are a great man.

[coquicr]

sooo cool. love how it sounds. sounds like out of a scifi movie. Now i know i wont miss the sound of a petrol engine as much as i thought

[KARStarla]

Too kool! I hope you did a driveby past the gas station lol! SEE YA!

I love your video! Heck if they start selling these cars at too high of a rate (minus the TON of junk) I wanted to learn to build one myself and bypass the car dealers as well as the gas stations lol

[paker51]

Just wondering if you used any rubber between the motor and the mount when you installed the motor to dampen the interior noise?

[sgtpepper1138]

i would use this stuff I have called Bishops Tape, it's by plymouth rubber company, it's a tacky rubber that comes in rolls

[2013andBeyonD]

That high beep before gettting up to speed..

[matx123456]

help me for 1 charge batery ...?Km ?

[Gorguruga]

These videos are great, really an amazing acheivement and quite inspirational. About to watch the next video so you might have explained it there but I was wondering about the high pitched noise when the car is starting or stopping, it sounds pretty cool but is it intentional and what's the source?

[AbosRacing]

do you think that when that thing hits 88 mph it can travle through time?

i do.

[cant7think7clearly]

LOL

Only after I install a Flux Capacitor!

[lazzer408]

Sounds like a pos Curtis 1221c @ 1.5khz. -yuk-

[leicam6]

Your car sounds like a subway train as it moves off :)

[macgyver11021991]

thanks for the turotial (very useful and cool) now i feel like trying convert that old volkswagen beetle in my neighbor's yard (trying, i don't think all those batteries will fit where the engine is, and the trunk up in the front is too small which for me is very dissapointing i liked volkswagens since i was little and would be very proud to have one without paying for gas)

[cant7think7clearly]

Hey you're very welcome mate. Heaps of people have converted VW's before so you can now buy simple EV kits that bolt straight in. You could convert your car in 5 days no worries!

[neoheadcrusher]

Congratulations , you are a genius.

[scuzzo7]

I think you'll be surprised how much weight you can make a beetle take, if you're creative i'm sure you'll find good places to put the batteries. Keep in mind the beetle is very light and won't require as many batteries as a regular car.

[TypeORedPill]

Apart from the whine, it sounds very cool.

Well done, bloody brilliant! I'm proud and envious of your accomplishment.

[wjamesdennis]

Gav, I'm just finishing up my own conversion here in UT--yes, that's somewhere in the USA, too, just like NH. :) I'll chime in about the whine. Normally the Curtis runs at 15K/sec PWM, and you can't (or can hardly) hear it. But when an EV is starting off, it draws lots of current. At 15K/sec, the Curtis has a hard time regulating that much current, because the PWM pulses come too quickly. So the Curtis solution was to drop to 1.5K/sec at low speeds which, unfortunately, is all too audible.

[ekuwa69]

I'm sure you could put some noise canceling foam around the controler. I love the sound of the motor though. I would love to drive around with a car that sounded like that.

[anthonycut]

My 2000 Ford Ranger NiMH EV is what we are all looking for...and they MADE them!

Shame the only way now is to go what Gav went through!

[HemonDey]

dude, that's soo cool. Though do you find that controller hum a bit annoying? Also, how much power does it take to travel at 60km/hr? You said around 60ish Amps, but at what voltage? thx.

[drkspd]

haha sounds like my 83 turbo tredia - spaceshipy crack-up

[riku2015]

by the way yours controller make just same NOISE like my does at low RPM ;-)

[cainen6]

couldnt you hook up an alternater to those engines and keep your batterys charged just by running the engine?

[MPaulHolmes]

no. from the battery to the motor is about a 20% loss of energy. You put that 80% of energy left over to run an alternator, and it's another loss of 20%, so you have about 0.80*0.80 = 64% of the energy left to charge the batteries. In charging the batteries, you lose about (I'm not sure exactly, but lets say) 20% of the energy to gassing or heating or whatever. Now, the battery has 0.80*0.80*0.80 = 51% of the energy that was just used by the battery a few moments ago!

[TypeORedPill]

What MPaulHolmes is explaining is the Law of Conservation of Energy: There is no free lunch.

Even if all the battery energy went into recharging the batteries and not pushing the car, they would eventually go dead anyway due to inefficiency losses.

Same reason you won't see windmills on the roofs of EVs, which a LOT of people have suggested.

Why worry, 80% is still WAY better than 20% for ICE.

[astralover]

its very futuristic

[M13H13G13]

We are two brothers from Norway that are mad keen on EV's. Your videos are great. We have two electric cars (Th!nk). This video is enguraging use to do our own electric vechile.

From Ev fans!

[matrixm777]

Way to go Gav!! Very cool stuff...

[milofonbil]

It's going to be a lot of fun taking it to the emissions test! Where's the exhaust pipe? LOL

[anthonycut]

I love these vids...I went production though...my 2000 Ranger EV NiMH is alot of fun...to HELL with gasoline!

[terrorist420x]

What kind of contactor are you using? Continuous rating and peak rating? 400A Curtis may be too much for the contactor you selected. If it is, try the Kilovac EV200 contactor; it can break 2000A. John Wayland has used(I think is still using) some EV500 contactors for White Zombie. This will later allow you to upgrade to a Zilla if you ever wish with no worries, and a meagre Curtis would never come close to welding your contactor 'On' because a Zilla 1k couldn't even do that.

[cant7think7clearly]

Thanks for the kind words and advice terrorist420x. I fixed the sticking contactor by turning the high voltage + and - leads around on it. It works great now!

I'll time the 0 to 100 km/h time in a few weeks once it's all legal and let everyone know the results.

[terrorist420x]

I especially like how the clock said 4:20. If that would have been my EV, it would have been a call to hotbox the thing. ;-)

I liked hearing the Curtis familiar whine as well.

Congrats on getting it going. And thanks for sharing with us your experience converting the Tredia to electric. A lot of people are going to be inspired by what you have accomplished.

[erio6]

I was on vaccation without Internet while you did it, must be a Murphy's Law case that I missed your 1st run. Congratulation from Québec - Canada.

[Squidlover1000]

Very pleased that you finally got some driving in the Tredia. Also liking the bit at the end where you reversed up to give your post script to the camera.

[rapelek]

Great job man. I wish i could do something like you.

PS. In 2:32 you can see the clock is showing 4:20 :P

[cant7think7clearly]

Yeah I noticed that. The clock was wrong (we disconnected the accessories battery a few hours beforehand).

[Oikid07]

i dont want to sound like a kiss ass or anything, but one of the things that i like about GAV's youtube videos is he seems like a cool guy. like he is real upbeat about everything.Does anybody agree???

[cant7think7clearly]

Oh man, I'll never fit my head through the door now! :)

[Oikid07]

Gav you are the MAN!!! i love the car!!! keep updating bro. you should peel out, that would be cool. GOOD JOB MATE!!!!

[cant7think7clearly]

I couldn't resist that little foot-down moment going up the drive at the end... ;)

[DrBones666]

That high pitched noise is normal? Yuck. Even with that it's so very cool. I want to do this. Wife is NOT going to be happy.

[kickkatnow]

Hi gav and Rob just awsome.

you'll have to put a cow bell on it so they know your coming.

hope all goes well for rego

[cant7think7clearly]

Hehehe. the high pitched noise is actually the Curtis Controller. It makes that violin-like whine at really low motor speed. Something to do with Pulse Width Modulation (don't ask me!). Haven't got the car weighed just yet, still fixing the bugs!

[terrorist420x]

Pulse Width Modulation is where you take a steady input power from the batteries, and it is 'chopped up' into pieces with a time delay placed between each piece. This is used to vary the voltage and current going to the motor, so that your accelerator doesn't act like an "on/off switch", but instead like an accelerator. PWMs are also used in DC-DC converters and other applications in power electronics.

[cant7think7clearly]

So the time delays placed before each "piece" of power would create the whine it makes? There we go, learnt something new.

[terrorist420x]

Yup. And what your motor sees is basically the average value of the signal generated from the controller. For instance, the controller might throw out 144V half the time and 0V the other half switching very rapidly, and the motor will behave as if it had a steady 72V.

The whine was probably created by the switching frequency and the losses emitted from the controller's components would have that frequency. If that frequency is in the audible range, you will hear it.

[MPaulHolmes]

Ya, a curtis controller switches at 15 kHz, which is audible. Get one that switches at 20 kHz and your dog will be the only one that is angry.

[Guru5150]

the high pitched sound is the brakes wen pressed... as he said his brakes are bit "crusty".. and it hasnt been used for a while... lol\

[anewlow23]

Hey gav is the curb weight of your car 2100 without the motor or anything in it like what is the new weight with the conversion? and what is that high pitched sound?

[xBrainwashednomore]

congratulations Gav! a true Kiwi do it yo selfa!

[goodies0goodies]

Just saw you on cambell live!

[johhn1993]

HOLY SH*TTT !! You did it guys!! I want to build my EV since 1998, but I never have enough money to do it..

I was waiting for your test drive video hoping the car would work at first try.. and it did!! CONGRATULATIONS!! AND THANKS A LOT FOR SHARING ALL THE WORK, TIPS, AND EMOTIONS WITH US.

Now I´m crazy about doing this.. again! and I WILL BUILD MY OWN EV!! This afternoon i´m going to take a look at a car. It has been broken for years. Owner would sell it cheap. Max, from Argentina.

[cant7think7clearly]

Cheers Max! Mate it's the most thrilling feeling driving on electrons! I only wish I could do more than up and down my driveway! Best of luck with your own conversion, keep me posted and I can chuck in a link from KiwiEV(dot)com!

[muncyweb]

Awesome Gavin! Loving every minute of this.

[alexanderredhead]

Well done Gav. You deserve that grin.

[willberg1]

Not bad Amps draw, 4 amps per battery.. Just replace that battery, don't mess around. Your power is only as good as your weakest battery. When you say contactor, your talking about the controller to motor link that feeds the motor?

[willberg1]

4 amps per @ 50km

[waynebw]

Nice work, and congrats, thank you so much for sharing :)

[SoggyGibblets]

Does the motor generate a charging current when breaking? I remember this on my radio controlled cars but they did only use the motor for electronic breaking (no disks/drums).

[GharedGhared]

Congrats Gav! I want one! It's time to gut my Ford Aspire.

[FredrikMedia]

It looks like a normal old tredia, but it sounds like a space ship. :D

[rky832]

Nice job Gav!

While watching the video showing the ammeter, it only shows positive current (draining the battery). Does your setup do regenerative braking?

Will wait for your next videos.

Regards,

Freddy

[inirapsag1]

Hey gav. i have been watching your series of videos with utter comptent. you have done enormous work, and i appreciate that there is people that are "just guys in sheds" doing something so incredible, sensible and utterly important to ensure our planet's future (assumung ur using green power to charge ;) )

also are you sure of the "fuel ecomomy" like km to the full charge or something? does it compare to the car beforehand?

all in all, a huge effort!

Regards,

KG.

[cant7think7clearly]

Thanks for your comments everyone. It was FANTASTIC driving it on Saturday but it just wasn't enough! I really want to get it legal. I've almost fixed all the bugs. The contactor has been behaving itself now for some reason. Odd. The car has a lot more pick-up than I expected too! Not bad for a car running on plain old electrons huh? :)

[terrorist420x]

From what I can tell in this video, I think it does 0-50 km/h in 6 seconds or so. Not too bad. 0-100 km/h is probably about 20 seconds. I'll have to watch some of your other videos first to see if you've timed it.

I love your car. Wish I had one. As much theoretical stuff as I know about EVs, at some point, I'm probably going to end up asking you for advice with the hands on things.

ADC 9" motor and 400A Curtis is ~123 Nm of torque at stall with the pedal to the floor.

[melsoftm]

The contactor may be arching when you draw large amounts of amperage! my father pointed this out, hope it helps!

[fixitsan]

Well done, excellent stuff !

[coquivagabundo]

congratulations on your project Gav!!

awesome vids youve got made. when I saw the car running on your video the first 3 things that came to my head was YOU + THE MOON +PETROL STATION.. LOL LOL...

[Odziz]

Thats an awesome test drive Gav, can't wait to see the next episode.

[RoadRunnerLaser]

Enjoy that buzz, Gav, you've worked hard for it... :)

[DeLorean4]

WOW!!!! So you said it was the best thing that happened all year... and your marriage? ;) Can't wait for the next video, I'm so proud of you. I just want to get out and buy some EV parts. Thanks alot, thanks alot indeed. You've inspired many of us, and you're doing the planet a HUGE favor.

[troytuq]

YEAH! So exciting! Congrats!

[1foxtrot70]

Excellent Job! After seeing the video I can not even imagine you being able to go to bed and getting any sleep! Congratulations! Again, Hats OFF to You!

When I was in high school in the late 1960's here in the States we have a publication named Popular Mechanics. One of it's features was "The Golden Hammer Award" where the Editor featured a noteworthy project, yours certainly qualifies!

[DeLorean4]

Now Popular Mechanics has the reader project of the month award followed by the reader project of the year. Gav should really submit an entry.

[beko105]

congratulations! Gav. Good luck with the certified stuff.

[ForkenSwiftDotCom]

GAV! Congrats, man.

I think that's the first time I've had the EV Grin (TM) watching someone *else* have their first go in an EV :)

I must admit as well I'm pretty envious of the power in your car. It REALLY scoots!

Nice work.

[ImYourLastResort]

I agree.. I have a big grin at watching Gav's grin haha

[TheCordiaMASTER]

The tredia has some serious get up and go with that electric motor, it accelerates really hard, alot more than what i imagined it would do. It surprised me alot.

ITS ALIVE Mu ha ha ah aha ha ah

[studogs80]

what is that high pitched noise when you accelerate???

[classicczech]

Wow, that thing is pretty fast. You said it yourself, this is really cool!

[Sillabnaed]

Well done Gav & co I have been watching your progress for a while now and you have done a fantastic job , I would like to do the same looking forward to more thanks

[PoisonWaffle]

Dude, Awesome!

It works! Congrats on the success!

Is the battery covered by warranty? You could probably get a free/cheap replacement from the manufacturer or distributor :)

I'm planning on building a gas/electric hybrid (front electric engine powering front wheels, rear gas engine (twin turbo V6) powering the rear wheels). What is your opinion on that? (Yes, I know it'll be a PITA to drive, but will have good acceleration)

[tooomp]

Poisonwaffle, I don't know about Gav, but I see some problems with having a car with two drive systems. First you will have two transmissions and other drive components, second you will need room for batteries and fuel. My suggestion for a hybrid would be electric drive with a generator based engine. I would think a dodge rampage would make a simple conversion as you would put generator and battery stacke in the bed. You lose the bed, bet should make a nice commuter vehicle with great range.

[PoisonWaffle]

I was planning on building the frame from scratch out of 3" tubular aluminum and using 18 gauge aluminum sheets as body panels.

I think I'd have a 5 or 6 speed manual transmission on the rear gas engine, and a 2 or 3 speed on the front electric. I'd put a button (run through a relay, of course) to engage the electric motor on the shifter for the gas engine, and have a fairly large potentiometer on the dash to act as a throttle.

(Cont'd in next post)

[randycarter2001]

Congratulations!!! You've accomplished something that the big car manufactures wont even try.

[randycarter2001]

Congratulations!!! You've accomplished something that the big car manufactures wont even try.

[mielectric1]

hats off gav very nice work, very inspirational

[V8mo50]

nice work gavin,she runs fine and not bad on speed.i have been putin it aside but now im on it ur alright bro.

[ImYourLastResort]

By the way, I spent about $AUS70 ($NZ 85? or so) on filling up my petrol tank yesterday. And it's only going to get worse.

I thought of you and other EV-ers as I stood there watching the dollars tick over.

[ImYourLastResort]

Was that a 70 or so I saw u get up to on that speedo?

It lives !!!!!

That is really cool.

[cant7think7clearly]

Hehehe, noooo. Just in case the police watch the video I made sure I stayed below 60km/h!

[caa1000]

Congratulations Cant7! Next is FOX NEWS and CNN! Keep it up!

[IQchallenged]

Yes wife is right, car sounds like the star trek enterprise. Well done, your an inspiration to others.

[mcrickman]

That's great Gavin!!! Good job! You got a major EV grin you know.. hehe

[tribluered]

Freakin Awesome!

[cant7think7clearly]

That violin-like whine at low motor speed is the Curtis controller. It sounds like something out of Star Trek!

[JesusIsMyHomeDogg]

Congrats!!! I'm only 14 and can't even drive yet but I want to convert one in the future.

[1foxtrot70]

Its great your thinking of this now. All I can say is... GO FOR IT! Cut grass, do any odd job to raise monies for the project and when you are 16 you can then drive your own car and not go broke in high school. This could also be a good science or engineering project you could use when applying to colleges, good luck to you!

[cant7think7clearly]

Whoops, sorry about the misspelling at 2:44!

[hekma]

good job! but whats that whistle like sound ?

[caa1000]

I guess is baterry related, cause I ride public buses and that whistle noise can be heard and the bus is powered by electric cables.

[terrorist420x]

I think Gav is using a Curtis PMC #1221 controller. This has a characteristic "whine" when current is demanded at stall or low speeds.