EV Beetle Conversion Project

 Finally getting close now, the battery pack is in, still needs another bracket making up for extra support, but that can be done with the bumper on. Speaking of which, the bumper is now back on and in place. As. you can see, the battery box sticks down further than I would have liked, I might raise it up more at some point if it's an issue, but for now I'm going to roll with it and get on with the other jobs. There's still all the low voltage wiring to tidy up, along with the high voltage wiring to finish and secure in place. The large fuse, pre charge circuit and main contactors will live inside the box that's mounted just above the battery box. Currently the ignition needs to be on for the charger to get power, to solve this I've come up with a little circuit that uses the Control Pilot signal in the charing connector to power up the 12V circuits. Still left to do before I can attempt to get an MOT: Clean up low voltage wiring. High Voltage wiring. Rear battery m...

 It's been a while since the car rolled under it's own power with only a single battery module, since then I've started finalising the battery box. I've given up on the fibreglass tub and now decided to use PVC sheets on a metal frame and sealing the modules in. This will mean the only way in to the battery box is to destroy it. With this in mind, I'll be externally mounting the contactors, HV fuse etc. Along with this, it's become apparent the original BMS master board design has a few errors that need correcting.  One being the power supply having a couple of components the wrong way round and the Pilot Proximity detection circuit has errors. So with the V2 design done, once I've double checked it and hopefully Rob (converting an MX5) will also cast an eye over it, the designs can be set to JLCPCB for manufacture.  There's still a few more jobs to be doing before the pack can be installed permanently and the bumper put back on. I need to mount the sma...

Still loads to do to be 'finished' if these projects can ever be classed as finished, but todays excitement is the car moving under electric power for the first time. Very pleased.   

 Now I have the awesome adaptor plate I could set about getting the motor in place and start making up a bracket to support it from the engine mount on the drivers side. The passenger side is the gearbox and uses the stock mounting. So this is what I've come up with, with it mounted up I then stood on on top of the motor and gearbox, it was very sturdy. I need to cut it off and give it a paint, and maybe add some more strengthening sections, but I'll do that when it's time for the final assembly. I'll need to bring the charger mounts forward a little, it's fouling the brake servo, I also want to add a little more support for the inverter and charger, but for now my focus is to get the car to move a little under it's own power again. This means wiring in the motor resolver, tracing a couple of wires to my VCU (custom ECU replacement) to use for the CAN BUS to connect the inverter to the VCU for rotor position signals.  I also need to wire in the contactor control...

 Very exciting day. If you've followed these posts, you'll see that previously I'd made a very rough plate to mate the gearbox and motor, with limited success due mostly to my lack of accuracy marking and drilling the holes, I no longer need to make use of my ham-fisted attempt. A massive slab of aluminium of 350x300x30mm has become my new adaptor plate, with thanks to someone with the skills and tools to turn the slab in to this thing of bea uty. If you need CAD/CAM/CNC give  Garry @ http://www.gsmachining.co.uk/ a call Can't wait to get this in the car and the mounts made up. With a bit of wiring and some temporary fudges I'd be able to have the wheels turning.

 With the engine removed, there's now a shortage of weight upfront and also space, so I wanted to put the batteries somewhere under the bonnet. The only location available isn't ideal, but then again, you can only work with what you've got. The modules have nice mounting brackets in the case aluminium, so I'd be daft not to use those. I welded up an L shape frame to hang the modules on. I'm quite pleased with how this is coming together now. I still need to come up with some way of protecting them from the weather and road debris. Not be too long now. I may pick up a second pack and mount it in the old fuel tank location if I want more range, but as this is going to be for a local run about, I'm hoping for 25 miles on a good day. That should be plenty for visiting local family and shopping etc. Should be able to replace 80% of my driving with electric.

 Starting to get on with the job of finding places and making up brackets and mounting. We're getting ever closer to having some wheels turning under electrical power. Previously, I've had the Outlander motor turning, using the Gen 3 Toyota Prius Inverter, so now I've got the location for the inverter to mount. I've put a cross bar in, and the inverter and charger will hang from it. I'll also want to add additional support for both units before driving on the bumpy roads for real. I've given it a bit of black paint for rust protection. I really want to get something laser etched on to the nice flat surface of the charger. May once we're up and running...