Not necessarily. It would depend on which end of the potentiometer is wired to the speed controller, and which side of the potentiometer he is referring to when listing the numbers.
I was thinking about putting an electric motor in a 79 Buick Regal. Watch most of your videos but I didn't see one that explain what to do about power steering.
This project vehicle did NOT have power steering, which is why it wasn't covered. Three options that I know of when it comes to power steering: 1: Add a small electric motor to a short belt to run the power steering pump. (There are kits for this. For example, www.canev.com/pwrSteering.php) 2: Disconnect the pump and loop the hoses, converting power steering to manual steering. 3: Replace the power steering with a manual steering box. (Easy to do on something like a Chevy S10 pickup where vehicles were available with and without power steering.)
Also, some vehicles like the Acura NSX only activate the electric- motor-powered-power steering pump under say, 10 mph. It would pay to have a set up like that on an electric car.
For anyone concerned about safety, please note: All of the original safety features of the car - airbags, daytime running lights, etc., are unmodified. The car is still within the original Gross Vehicle Weight. Electrical systems are protected by proper fuses. The vehicle was inspected by the state for an emissions testing exemption. 300mpg.org/2014/08/03/red-tape-and-electric-cars/
The Open Revolt motor controller isn't a product for sale, it's an open source project which you can build. The project was lead by my friend Paul. He still makes parts available at his web page. Here's where you can get the instructions on how to put it together. He also sells circuit boards for this and other projects. www.pandspowerelectronics.com/help.html
I also decided to convert the car into electric. I have it Trabant. You can see him on my channel. I made the gas pedal on the hall sensor, it is mechanically more reliable. And he adapted it to the controller with a special board. Which I collected from a mobile phone charger and integrated into the same controller
This project only had about a 20 mile range, but it was also dirt cheap and made from recycled parts. Here's a little more info about figuring out how far an electric car can travel per charge: 300mpg.org/projects/electro-metro/battery-range/
Your pedal-to-potentiometer cable looks very much like bicycle brake cable or something similar. Have you noticed any problems with fatigue, weather resistance, and/or stretching? Bicycle cables usually use a cable housing, terminating into a barrel adjuster to account for stretching and to provide weather resistance.
Could you make a video showing how you assembled the controller? All the info in this video is standard on installing the controller but i want to know how to build one
@@BenjaminNelsonX hey, the website is nice, but the links he used are all "errors" probably to old? Do you still have the links? Or maybe you can reach out to him, so he can renew them, would be really helpful, thank you!
@@naren4wood560 That project is from more than a decade ago. The best info I have for the Open Revolt controller is at: 300mpg.org/open-revolt-cougar-controller/
I'm very intrigued by this series of videos and am thinking about building an electric version of my dream car, a 1961 Cadillac convertible. I know it's a massively heavy car, and so any and all weight that can be removed, should be. With that in mind, and with an electronic motor control, couldn't you just remove the transmission entirely and couple the electric motor directly to the driveshaft?
Yes, you can essentially connect an electric motor straight to the drive-shaft. The main concern is that the vehicle would have poor acceleration. It would draw very high current at low RPM to get the car going. Somewhere here, I have a video of the electric Geo Metro pulling away from a dead stop in 5th gear. The electric motor can do it, but it's NOT the type of acceleration you would be used to! (I think that on a 5 speed manual, 4th is actually closest to 1:1 gear ratio of engine to shaft output.) If you want to go straight to the driveshaft, get as POWERFUL of an electric motor as you can. You may also be able to change the gearing inside the differential to reduce the speed of the wheels, but increase torque. You would also want to make sure that you had a motor which can easily reverse directions and have the appropriate controls to do that, since the motor is directly connected to the driveshaft. Lastly, make sure to have an emergency power disconnect. If anything ever went wrong with the power electronics controlling the motor, you would have no physical way to disconnect power to the wheels. A "Big Red Button" to kill all power would be a good safety feature.
Very nice but what about the car computer? Vacuums, O2 sensors and mass airflow, basically all of those. The check engine light would be on all the time.
I don't remember the check engine light EVER turning on in this car. For starters, it's a simple car, so it likely has fewer sensors etc on it than other cars. Many sensors do NOT activate a check engine light simply by being unplugged (depends on the exact type of sensor.) In the case of a more complicated car, sometimes converters "spoof" a sensor by adding an appropriate resistor or even something as fancy as an Arduino. Frankly, I've never met a converter where this was really an issue. On a related note, keep in mind that cars have MULTIPLE computers. For example, the one which controls the airbags was not touched in any way. When turning the car on, the airbag computer still does it's safety check and flashes the airbag light several times on startup to indicate that it's working properly. The daytime running lights, airbags, and seatbelts were not modified in anyway on this car.
@@BenjaminNelsonX thank you for your answer. I am an electrical engineering tech and was curious about how this would work on a more complicated vehicle. I think these convertions are the way of the future for those who want to keep their older cars and go electric at the same time. The new electric cars may be too computerized and have special proprietory connectors that could discourage some people from making the transition. Thanks again.
We have a VW Beetle on our family, loud and old but still going, my dad and I were talking these days about converting to eletric, joking you known but watching your videos, I´m really excited about doing it Watching your videos one after the another, great explanations
I experimenting later with running this car as a hybrid. I added a generator which could supply some power to the batteries on the fly. The style is more like a Chevy Volt than a Honda Insight. Here's one video about that project. ruclips.net/video/xXVi-g4jWqI/видео.html
The original cable from the gas pedal goes to the spring-loaded potentiometer inside a weatherproof box in the engine compartment. When I press the gas pedal, it moves the cable, which pulls on the potentiometer. The potentiometer sends a signal to the motor controller which then varies the speed of the electric motor.
@@BenjaminNelsonX yes i fully understanded that, i mean what would be your solution if the cars original throttle pedal is electric instead of the old fashioned wiring pull mechanism
A friend of mine has experience with that. Tom and his Dodge Neon are featured in my Electric Car 101 series. The Dodge Neon had a mechanical linkage to the throttle in the engine. In there was a 0-5Kohm potentiometer which would then send a signal to the car's computer. 0-5kOhm is a common signal type for throttles for electric motor controllers. So, he simply sent the output of that to his motor controller. Ironically, he ended up with an electric car which still had a throttle valve on it! If your accelerator pedal outputs a 0-5kOhm or 0-5V signal, it's very easy to simply send that out to a typical motor controller. If it has some other type of signal, you would need to figure out how to capture that signal and then convert it to an appropriate signal for a motor controller. I don't have experience doing that, but I would imagine it could be done with something like a small dedicated micro-controller, such as an Arduino. Alternatively, you could remove your gas pedal unit and replace it with one from another car. For example, I know that Toyota Prius gas pedals have been used for this. www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=274
BenjaminNelson but would it not destroy the motor?, I currently have a forklift series wound motor rated for 24v, could it run on a 36 or 42 v system? , I am using that motor for a electric motorcycle project!
I’ve run a 36VDC motor at 144VDC. Most forklift motors are pretty solid and have no issues being overvolted. The main thing to watch for is current, which can cause overheating. At high voltages, you might need to adjust the brush timing.
Im building a light weight Velocycle and I have a 24 volt motor from a hydraulic pump for a forklift as well as a gas pedal unit like yours and 12- 100 amp hour agm batteries, my controller is an open source like the one you built.This controller is 200 peak amp 300 for 5 seconds .just wondering if you could tell me if Im ok with this size controller or do i need larger one.
What voltage are you planning to run? 200-300 amp is probably fine, but POWER is rated in Watts. At 48V, you would have 9600 watts/14400 peak. That's about 13HP/19HP peak. That sounds like plenty for a Velomobile. I ran my original electric motorcycle at 48V with a 300 amp controller and it was fine.
@@BenjaminNelsonX Hi Ben Pleased to chat with you here. Id like to send more info to you my friend like pictures of the components that I've collected . I'm not sure how to place the specs on this 24 volt electric motor as it doesn't say much on the tag other then NA57003 MCF 24VDC . Wonder if the nominal thing would work 36 or 48 volts for this motor even though its 24 volts. Here's my Email Ben .ID love your input your a wealth of knowledge and I watch all your vids. glassblastcollision@hotmail.com Louie
@@andyfumo8931 I built that motorcycle in 2007. That was before any of the modern electric cars came out and there were NO lithium batteries that could possibly be considered "affordable". That cycle ran from 4 lead-acid batteries and had a 20-25 mile range. I live two miles outside of town, and it's all 25 MPH speed limit in town anyways, so the motorcycle was FAR more than enough for what I needed, but it was never designed for 60+ miles at 65MPH and more. I later had a Vectrix electric motorcycle and put used Nissan Leaf cell modules in it. That had a top speed of 100 KPH (62MPH) and could go up to 90 miles on a charge. (probably 60 miles at full speed.) For a good look at the specs on modern, commercially-built electric motorcycles, check out ZERO. zeromotorcycles.com/
@@BenjaminNelsonX do you have any recommendations for an AC motor system, using a car alternator to power a 4-8000w hub motor, can that work as back n forth, the motor RPM turning the alternator to continue powering the motor?
So the DC Series wound forklift motor I got says "48V" and i have been designing the system for 48V. It sounds like I can up the voltage (72V) to get a higher top speed. I bought a curtis 48V motor controller but it sounds like I'll need to get an entirely new motor controller to handle the 72V. Is it possible to reprogram a motor controller (48V) to handle higher voltage (72V) or does it need to be a whole new unit?
Most typical "golf-cart type" DC motor controllers are only designed for one voltage. Some are designed for a range, such as 48V-72V, those can be adjusted or reprogrammed. Since you already have a 48V controller, just test it out on 48V to make sure you have everything working right and test everything. Then upgrade to whatever higher voltage you would like by getting an appropriate controller.
@@BenjaminNelsonX sounds good. Thanks for all the help! Another question I had was regarding the cabling amperage. If there are periods of over 200 amps being pulled by the motor does the cabling need to be large enough to handle 200 amps (4/0 copper)? Or can a smaller cable be used (1/0 copper) because the typical amperage isn’t quite that high?
@@yatravis 1/0 should be fine for 200A.. www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html How much current a cable can carry actually depends on ambient temperature, what kind of enclosure it's in, etc. One big reason higher voltage systems are typically recommended is that it reduces the current required for the same amount of work. That allows you to use thinner cable, which saves weight and money.
@@yatravis What happens when drawing too much current through a cable is that it creates more heat and it drops the voltage. Both are bad things. But it's not as though the cabling acts as a fuse where it works fine up to a certain point and then suddenly doesn't. (Unless you REALLY screw up...) If you just have brief periods of time where you are drawing more current through a cable than is appropriate, you will get more heat. Not a huge deal as long as your aren't doing it all the time, and it's not a LOT over what you should be drawing. HOWEVER. It would be BAD design to use cabling too thin for how much current could be drawn. Maybe you think you would only draw do much current, but then you end up driving up a mountain, where the car is constantly drawing very high current for a long time. Potentially, you can melt a battery cable, leading to a short circuit. Even if not, you are lowing power to heat. Power that could otherwise run the car. Ideally, you just want to look at the maximum your motor controller can draw. Install a fuse and cabling appropriate for that current.
Neither of the controllers used on this car were designed to support regenerative braking, which is fine, because this is a series-wound motor, which doesn’t do regenerative braking anyways. A permanent magnet motor and Kelly controller would allow for regenerative braking.
It's www.ecomodder.com The original main build thread for that controller is at: ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/paul-sabrinas-cheap-diy-144v-motor-controller-6404.html The ringleader of that project, Paul Holmes has also moved his web page. The current incarnation of that is: pandspowerelectronics.com
Yes, absolutely! Please keep in mind that this video if from a project well over ten years old. At that time, AC motors and controllers were very expensive. AC motors are now more available and less expensive, including ones from production electric vehicles. I'm currently working on a project using a Nissan Leaf AC motor. Please check current videos on this channel about that. ruclips.net/p/PLmHss3DBZUintEK36PluyOT_dv159z3Gt
No. We generally use the term "controller" for DC and "inverter" or "drive" for AC, but they are the same thing - an efficient electronic speed control. AC motor speed is varied by frequency, whereas DC is controlled by voltage, or a Pulse-Width-Modulation that effectively acts like a change in voltage. Other than that, a controller and a variable frequency drive serve the exact same purpose, just work a little differently based on the type of motor.
@@BenjaminNelsonX i am in the contemplation stage of building an ev model t. I would like a 200 mile range with a top speed of 65-75 mph. Would you advise ac or dc motor? I plan on using a modernized drive train with manual transmission, but am looking into hub motors.
@@ShaunPaget Just keep in mind that the specs you just listed are more or less that of a Chevy Bolt. Take a look at the cost of buying one of those, they are not inexpensive, and building something similar yourself will also have a pretty good cost to it. Do you mean to say that you plan to convert an old Model T Ford? I don't know what top speed those were designed for, but it certainly wasn't modern freeway speeds! AC motors are now MUCH more available and less expensive than they were over a decade ago when I originally shot this video. You can get used Nissan Leaf motors from junkyards pretty easily. I'd recommend an AC motor nowadays. I don't know of ANY widely available hub motors appropriate for a car.
@@BenjaminNelsonX Yep spec top speed for a model T was 23hp at 30mph. was looking at using donor electric fork truck with borg warner t18 and dana40 axle from a jeep. With the top speed i desire I may have to shift focus to a model A more weight but little safer with class. Planned on after market frame and body. Thank you for your input. I will look more into ac motors.
A/C current actually reverses direction 60 times a second. That is so fast that it appears the light stays on and also with incandecent bulbs, the filament stays hot so it actually doesn't go off. Flourecent lights are different. With a hight speed video recorder, you can actualy video the bulb going on and off as the current changes direction.
Confederate Son. The light stays on (to our eyes) due to “perception of vision” of about 24 frames a second. A chicken has a perception of vision of 60 frames a second. This means to a chicken a fluorescent light flashes all the time.
The controller doesn't need a separate M+ terminal. Both the positive side of the motor and the battery connect to the B+ terminal of the controller. See the following image for an example. alltraxinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Doc100-045-A_DWG-AXE-No-Reverse-wire-dia.pdf
Number of controllers has nothing to do with battery pack size. Are you asking about multiple controllers to get more CURRENT from the batteries to the motor?
@@BenjaminNelsonX Just starting out. But I want to convert an old truck. (1940s) So I will likely have about 20 batteries below the bed in parallel. What limitations would be on the controller with a 48v system with 600lbs of battery?
@BenjaminNelson actually good question, when i build in 2 controllers, to one motor, would that even work? And how do I sync the controllers? Would be interesting to know, but what I ask myself is how do you program this self-made controller?
A year or two later, I played around with running this car as a hybrid. I added an LP generator with a remote start to power the charger. Essentially a poor-man's Chevy Volt! ruclips.net/video/xXVi-g4jWqI/видео.html
@@BenjaminNelsonX Pretty cool, you ever do a gas engine combo? I am looking to do a project like that for my gas guzzler, without breaking the bank. Any suggestions?
@@MR-uk7iy I think you beat me to mentioning the "High torque motor in the driveshaft" trick. I do know somebody who did a pickup truck like that, and went for a ride in it. Seemed to work pretty well.
@@BenjaminNelsonX I saw an old vid of you with the same concept. You called it the super truck Pretty cool stuff. With the salvaged stuff available today electric motor wise and the VESC motor controller. could you guide me a bit?
@@garyatate No, I didn't use the micro-switch. A common application for that switch is to disconnect the main contactor when the throttle is completely released. That seems like total overkill to me. It's the equivalent of turning off your engine every time you let off the accelerator.
Yoi I like ur videos but I thing u should try this I wanted to build it but finance Is bad so u can have a crack at it so u ganna make an fwd electric engen with a generator at the back wheels so when front wheels drive using battery the back wheels charge the batterys note u got to use more gerneraters to create more electric charge this create free drive keep me posted on project
You've opened my eyes I didn't know where to start thanks a lot I'll be watching your Channel : )
please share the datasheet of controller and manufacturer of it
Really helpful videos ,keep it up!
The best video about electric conversion. Congratulations !
Do you have a current supply list of the parts for the open revolt?
9:10 isn`t it back to 5000 Ohms, since the less the resistance, the more the current ?
Not necessarily. It would depend on which end of the potentiometer is wired to the speed controller, and which side of the potentiometer he is referring to when listing the numbers.
I'm going to do this. I've got a cheap car lined up, now I gotta find the motor
what car you modifying?
Could you let me know the dc motor specifications? Rpm? ..voltage? Please
By the way you are so smart and genius
Greeting from egypt
Can u make thumb press electronic accelerator and break.. I m handicapped persons
Please reply
On this vehicle, the throttle is a simple potentiometer. It would be easy to modify to some other sort of control.
I was thinking about putting an electric motor in a 79 Buick Regal. Watch most of your videos but I didn't see one that explain what to do about power steering.
This project vehicle did NOT have power steering, which is why it wasn't covered.
Three options that I know of when it comes to power steering:
1: Add a small electric motor to a short belt to run the power steering pump. (There are kits for this. For example, www.canev.com/pwrSteering.php)
2: Disconnect the pump and loop the hoses, converting power steering to manual steering.
3: Replace the power steering with a manual steering box. (Easy to do on something like a Chevy S10 pickup where vehicles were available with and without power steering.)
Also, some vehicles like the Acura NSX only activate the electric- motor-powered-power steering pump under say, 10 mph. It would pay to have a set up like that on an electric car.
use electric steering, they are pretty common these days..
That can’t possibly be up to any kinds of government standards, or legal to drive on public roads. How many times has it caught on fire?
For anyone concerned about safety, please note:
All of the original safety features of the car - airbags, daytime running lights, etc., are unmodified.
The car is still within the original Gross Vehicle Weight.
Electrical systems are protected by proper fuses.
The vehicle was inspected by the state for an emissions testing exemption.
300mpg.org/2014/08/03/red-tape-and-electric-cars/
any chance we could put the serial connection on straight ?
Love your channel... i'm OCD
The joy of any open source/DIY project is that you can do things however you want!
My 1500 Chevy pick up would be perfect for this
Pickup trucks have always been popular for electric vehicle conversions. You can see a number of converted pickups at: evalbum.com/type/TRCK
isnt a little heavy?
@@omegarugal9283 he will need a bigger motor and more batteries, but then it will be fine.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you
Nice video. Thank!
Am a great fun of your well informative videos, kindly how much does the Open revolt motor controller cost?
The Open Revolt motor controller isn't a product for sale, it's an open source project which you can build. The project was lead by my friend Paul. He still makes parts available at his web page. Here's where you can get the instructions on how to put it together. He also sells circuit boards for this and other projects.
www.pandspowerelectronics.com/help.html
@@BenjaminNelsonX thanks a lot
The ecomodder doesnt have the BOM, PCB and schematics files anymore, do you know where to find them?
I don’t know where can I buy electric motor sir
300mpg.org/projects/electro-metro/ev-parts-suppliers-links/
Dude, this is great info! You're too smart for your own good.
Might be unrelated, but you made me and my wife argue about the location of Boston. Great vid though!
Do a new video series telling how to reuse Tesla, Leaf or some other EV parts.
Hi great channel ..please can you put the linke of this controller ...or where i can find it ..thank you so mutch
It's right in the video description. Please read that.
@@BenjaminNelsonX ok thank you again
I also decided to convert the car into electric. I have it Trabant. You can see him on my channel. I made the gas pedal on the hall sensor, it is mechanically more reliable. And he adapted it to the controller with a special board. Which I collected from a mobile phone charger and integrated into the same controller
What dot com does he say at time @2:35 duration in the video is ecomotor.com or something else?
think it's ecomodder.com
Hey, did you get the exact link to build the controller?
how many autonomy hours does this six bateries means...?? aproximately..? and the charging time to a totally full batteries...? PLEASE..!
This project only had about a 20 mile range, but it was also dirt cheap and made from recycled parts. Here's a little more info about figuring out how far an electric car can travel per charge: 300mpg.org/projects/electro-metro/battery-range/
Your pedal-to-potentiometer cable looks very much like bicycle brake cable or something similar. Have you noticed any problems with fatigue, weather resistance, and/or stretching? Bicycle cables usually use a cable housing, terminating into a barrel adjuster to account for stretching and to provide weather resistance.
I just reused the original throttle cable. It IS very similar to a bike brake cable. I never had any issues with it.
Sir, can Open ReVolt work on 48DC with 200+ amp ?
Yes. It's rated for up to 144V and 500A. If you only need something lower power, a used golf-cart motor controller can be very affordable.
You should not run your motor on 48 volts. Run higher volts for better performance and also better efficienty..
Great video. Thank you for taking the time to do it! 👍🏻👍🏻
How much is the motor controller
Sir it's Good project, please what does your motor specifications have such as torque, kw or hp, and voltage
Hi Ben you should do some follow up videos
Are there any brushless controllers around
Де можна купити такий контролер
Great ✌️ hello 😎 north Carolina 😎 USA😎 😎
Could you make a video showing how you assembled the controller? All the info in this video is standard on installing the controller but i want to know how to build one
Hi Paul, you can read about building this controller at: www.instructables.com/Homemade-100-HP-Motor-Controller-for-an-Electric-C/
@@BenjaminNelsonX hey, the website is nice, but the links he used are all "errors" probably to old? Do you still have the links? Or maybe you can reach out to him, so he can renew them, would be really helpful, thank you!
@@naren4wood560 That project is from more than a decade ago.
The best info I have for the Open Revolt controller is at: 300mpg.org/open-revolt-cougar-controller/
too bad you cant get all the info and schematics on the open revolt anymore :(
What I have of those files is located at: github.com/Open-ReVolt/Cougar_Controller
I'm very intrigued by this series of videos and am thinking about building an electric version of my dream car, a 1961 Cadillac convertible. I know it's a massively heavy car, and so any and all weight that can be removed, should be. With that in mind, and with an electronic motor control, couldn't you just remove the transmission entirely and couple the electric motor directly to the driveshaft?
Yes, you can essentially connect an electric motor straight to the drive-shaft.
The main concern is that the vehicle would have poor acceleration. It would draw very high current at low RPM to get the car going. Somewhere here, I have a video of the electric Geo Metro pulling away from a dead stop in 5th gear. The electric motor can do it, but it's NOT the type of acceleration you would be used to! (I think that on a 5 speed manual, 4th is actually closest to 1:1 gear ratio of engine to shaft output.)
If you want to go straight to the driveshaft, get as POWERFUL of an electric motor as you can.
You may also be able to change the gearing inside the differential to reduce the speed of the wheels, but increase torque.
You would also want to make sure that you had a motor which can easily reverse directions and have the appropriate controls to do that, since the motor is directly connected to the driveshaft.
Lastly, make sure to have an emergency power disconnect. If anything ever went wrong with the power electronics controlling the motor, you would have no physical way to disconnect power to the wheels. A "Big Red Button" to kill all power would be a good safety feature.
@@BenjaminNelsonX Thanks!
Very nice but what about the car computer? Vacuums, O2 sensors and mass airflow, basically all of those. The check engine light would be on all the time.
I don't remember the check engine light EVER turning on in this car. For starters, it's a simple car, so it likely has fewer sensors etc on it than other cars. Many sensors do NOT activate a check engine light simply by being unplugged (depends on the exact type of sensor.)
In the case of a more complicated car, sometimes converters "spoof" a sensor by adding an appropriate resistor or even something as fancy as an Arduino. Frankly, I've never met a converter where this was really an issue.
On a related note, keep in mind that cars have MULTIPLE computers. For example, the one which controls the airbags was not touched in any way. When turning the car on, the airbag computer still does it's safety check and flashes the airbag light several times on startup to indicate that it's working properly. The daytime running lights, airbags, and seatbelts were not modified in anyway on this car.
@@BenjaminNelsonX thank you for your answer. I am an electrical engineering tech and was curious about how this would work on a more complicated vehicle. I think these convertions are the way of the future for those who want to keep their older cars and go electric at the same time. The new electric cars may be too computerized and have special proprietory connectors that could discourage some people from making the transition. Thanks again.
sealed in epoxy? to prevent service? if it breaks, have to buy a new one
Open source hoo rah!
We have a VW Beetle on our family, loud and old but still going, my dad and I were talking these days about converting to eletric, joking you known but watching your videos, I´m really excited about doing it
Watching your videos one after the another, great explanations
Send your trans to EV West and swap it for a two speed (they sell for 2K)
Sir, have you done any Hybrid IMA technology (Gasoline + Electric) experiment ?
I experimenting later with running this car as a hybrid. I added a generator which could supply some power to the batteries on the fly. The style is more like a Chevy Volt than a Honda Insight. Here's one video about that project.
ruclips.net/video/xXVi-g4jWqI/видео.html
Very nice and detailed video! Can I ask how would you make the original throttle pedal work if it's electric? Talking about a B6 Passat from 2009
The original cable from the gas pedal goes to the spring-loaded potentiometer inside a weatherproof box in the engine compartment. When I press the gas pedal, it moves the cable, which pulls on the potentiometer. The potentiometer sends a signal to the motor controller which then varies the speed of the electric motor.
@@BenjaminNelsonX yes i fully understanded that, i mean what would be your solution if the cars original throttle pedal is electric instead of the old fashioned wiring pull mechanism
A friend of mine has experience with that. Tom and his Dodge Neon are featured in my Electric Car 101 series. The Dodge Neon had a mechanical linkage to the throttle in the engine. In there was a 0-5Kohm potentiometer which would then send a signal to the car's computer. 0-5kOhm is a common signal type for throttles for electric motor controllers. So, he simply sent the output of that to his motor controller.
Ironically, he ended up with an electric car which still had a throttle valve on it!
If your accelerator pedal outputs a 0-5kOhm or 0-5V signal, it's very easy to simply send that out to a typical motor controller. If it has some other type of signal, you would need to figure out how to capture that signal and then convert it to an appropriate signal for a motor controller. I don't have experience doing that, but I would imagine it could be done with something like a small dedicated micro-controller, such as an Arduino.
Alternatively, you could remove your gas pedal unit and replace it with one from another car. For example, I know that Toyota Prius gas pedals have been used for this. www.evwest.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=274
@@BenjaminNelsonX thank you very much!!!
If I have a 35v motor and hook up a higher voltage (60,72,96,144v)controller, the higher the speed?
Baloo Tube Yes, on a DC motor, speed is proportional to voltage.
BenjaminNelson but would it not destroy the motor?, I currently have a forklift series wound motor rated for 24v, could it run on a 36 or 42 v system? , I am using that motor for a electric motorcycle project!
I’ve run a 36VDC motor at 144VDC. Most forklift motors are pretty solid and have no issues being overvolted. The main thing to watch for is current, which can cause overheating. At high voltages, you might need to adjust the brush timing.
Im building a light weight Velocycle and I have a 24 volt motor from a hydraulic pump for a forklift as well as a gas pedal unit like yours and 12- 100 amp hour agm batteries, my controller is an open source like the one you built.This controller is 200 peak amp 300 for 5 seconds .just wondering if you could tell me if Im ok with this size controller or do i need larger one.
What voltage are you planning to run? 200-300 amp is probably fine, but POWER is rated in Watts.
At 48V, you would have 9600 watts/14400 peak. That's about 13HP/19HP peak.
That sounds like plenty for a Velomobile.
I ran my original electric motorcycle at 48V with a 300 amp controller and it was fine.
@@BenjaminNelsonX Hi Ben Pleased to chat with you here. Id like to send more info to you my friend like pictures of the components that I've collected . I'm not sure how to place the specs on this 24 volt electric motor as it doesn't say much on the tag other then NA57003 MCF 24VDC . Wonder if the nominal thing would work 36 or 48 volts for this motor even though its 24 volts. Here's my Email Ben .ID love your input your a wealth of knowledge and I watch all your vids. glassblastcollision@hotmail.com Louie
@@BenjaminNelsonXwhat was the range of that motorcycle? Could it cruise at freeway speeds for an hour, 65ish mph?
@@andyfumo8931
I built that motorcycle in 2007. That was before any of the modern electric cars came out and there were NO lithium batteries that could possibly be considered "affordable".
That cycle ran from 4 lead-acid batteries and had a 20-25 mile range.
I live two miles outside of town, and it's all 25 MPH speed limit in town anyways, so the motorcycle was FAR more than enough for what I needed, but it was never designed for 60+ miles at 65MPH and more.
I later had a Vectrix electric motorcycle and put used Nissan Leaf cell modules in it. That had a top speed of 100 KPH (62MPH) and could go up to 90 miles on a charge. (probably 60 miles at full speed.)
For a good look at the specs on modern, commercially-built electric motorcycles, check out ZERO.
zeromotorcycles.com/
@@BenjaminNelsonX do you have any recommendations for an AC motor system, using a car alternator to power a 4-8000w hub motor, can that work as back n forth, the motor RPM turning the alternator to continue powering the motor?
So the DC Series wound forklift motor I got says "48V" and i have been designing the system for 48V. It sounds like I can up the voltage (72V) to get a higher top speed. I bought a curtis 48V motor controller but it sounds like I'll need to get an entirely new motor controller to handle the 72V. Is it possible to reprogram a motor controller (48V) to handle higher voltage (72V) or does it need to be a whole new unit?
Most typical "golf-cart type" DC motor controllers are only designed for one voltage. Some are designed for a range, such as 48V-72V, those can be adjusted or reprogrammed.
Since you already have a 48V controller, just test it out on 48V to make sure you have everything working right and test everything.
Then upgrade to whatever higher voltage you would like by getting an appropriate controller.
@@BenjaminNelsonX sounds good. Thanks for all the help! Another question I had was regarding the cabling amperage. If there are periods of over 200 amps being pulled by the motor does the cabling need to be large enough to handle 200 amps (4/0 copper)? Or can a smaller cable be used (1/0 copper) because the typical amperage isn’t quite that high?
@@yatravis 1/0 should be fine for 200A..
www.engineeringtoolbox.com/wire-gauges-d_419.html
How much current a cable can carry actually depends on ambient temperature, what kind of enclosure it's in, etc.
One big reason higher voltage systems are typically recommended is that it reduces the current required for the same amount of work. That allows you to use thinner cable, which saves weight and money.
@@yatravis What happens when drawing too much current through a cable is that it creates more heat and it drops the voltage. Both are bad things. But it's not as though the cabling acts as a fuse where it works fine up to a certain point and then suddenly doesn't. (Unless you REALLY screw up...)
If you just have brief periods of time where you are drawing more current through a cable than is appropriate, you will get more heat. Not a huge deal as long as your aren't doing it all the time, and it's not a LOT over what you should be drawing.
HOWEVER. It would be BAD design to use cabling too thin for how much current could be drawn. Maybe you think you would only draw do much current, but then you end up driving up a mountain, where the car is constantly drawing very high current for a long time. Potentially, you can melt a battery cable, leading to a short circuit. Even if not, you are lowing power to heat. Power that could otherwise run the car.
Ideally, you just want to look at the maximum your motor controller can draw. Install a fuse and cabling appropriate for that current.
@@BenjaminNelsonX Thanks for the detailed responses. This helps a lot! Do you still drive the Geo Metro?
can this controller used for regenerative braking system too??
Neither of the controllers used on this car were designed to support regenerative braking, which is fine, because this is a series-wound motor, which doesn’t do regenerative braking anyways. A permanent magnet motor and Kelly controller would allow for regenerative braking.
@@BenjaminNelsonX thankyou sir for reply and your tutorials were very useful
I'm a Nelson we might be cousins
whats the name of the site for an open source controller? eco matter?
It's www.ecomodder.com
The original main build thread for that controller is at: ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/paul-sabrinas-cheap-diy-144v-motor-controller-6404.html
The ringleader of that project, Paul Holmes has also moved his web page. The current incarnation of that is: pandspowerelectronics.com
Have you looked at AC motors?
Yes, absolutely! Please keep in mind that this video if from a project well over ten years old. At that time, AC motors and controllers were very expensive.
AC motors are now more available and less expensive, including ones from production electric vehicles.
I'm currently working on a project using a Nissan Leaf AC motor. Please check current videos on this channel about that.
ruclips.net/p/PLmHss3DBZUintEK36PluyOT_dv159z3Gt
would a vfd be more efficient way to regulate speed?
No. We generally use the term "controller" for DC and "inverter" or "drive" for AC, but they are the same thing - an efficient electronic speed control.
AC motor speed is varied by frequency, whereas DC is controlled by voltage, or a Pulse-Width-Modulation that effectively acts like a change in voltage. Other than that, a controller and a variable frequency drive serve the exact same purpose, just work a little differently based on the type of motor.
@@BenjaminNelsonX i am in the contemplation stage of building an ev model t. I would like a 200 mile range with a top speed of 65-75 mph. Would you advise ac or dc motor? I plan on using a modernized drive train with manual transmission, but am looking into hub motors.
@@ShaunPaget Just keep in mind that the specs you just listed are more or less that of a Chevy Bolt. Take a look at the cost of buying one of those, they are not inexpensive, and building something similar yourself will also have a pretty good cost to it.
Do you mean to say that you plan to convert an old Model T Ford? I don't know what top speed those were designed for, but it certainly wasn't modern freeway speeds!
AC motors are now MUCH more available and less expensive than they were over a decade ago when I originally shot this video. You can get used Nissan Leaf motors from junkyards pretty easily. I'd recommend an AC motor nowadays.
I don't know of ANY widely available hub motors appropriate for a car.
@@BenjaminNelsonX Yep spec top speed for a model T was 23hp at 30mph. was looking at using donor electric fork truck with borg warner t18 and dana40 axle from a jeep. With the top speed i desire I may have to shift focus to a model A more weight but little safer with class. Planned on after market frame and body. Thank you for your input. I will look more into ac motors.
A/C current actually reverses direction 60 times a second. That is so fast that it appears the light stays on and also with incandecent bulbs, the filament stays hot so it actually doesn't go off. Flourecent lights are different. With a hight speed video recorder, you can actualy video the bulb going on and off as the current changes direction.
Confederate Son. The light stays on (to our eyes) due to “perception of vision” of about 24 frames a second. A chicken has a perception of vision of 60 frames a second. This means to a chicken a fluorescent light flashes all the time.
@@mickcoomer9714 the human eye can see more than 24 fps
Where is the m+ on your controller?
The controller doesn't need a separate M+ terminal. Both the positive side of the motor and the battery connect to the B+ terminal of the controller. See the following image for an example. alltraxinc.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Doc100-045-A_DWG-AXE-No-Reverse-wire-dia.pdf
@@BenjaminNelsonX ok thanks,so the controller, controls the negative field? Im no Electrician .Is this for a ac or dc motor or both?
@@BenjaminNelsonX sorry for my perhaps silly question but what is the contator that you need to hook the controler to?
Ben,
Can you use two controllers at once to increase battery pack size?
Number of controllers has nothing to do with battery pack size. Are you asking about multiple controllers to get more CURRENT from the batteries to the motor?
@@BenjaminNelsonX Just starting out. But I want to convert an old truck. (1940s) So I will likely have about 20 batteries below the bed in parallel. What limitations would be on the controller with a 48v system with 600lbs of battery?
@BenjaminNelson actually good question, when i build in 2 controllers, to one motor, would that even work? And how do I sync the controllers? Would be interesting to know, but what I ask myself is how do you program this self-made controller?
@@PeterParker-wu2yithere's a better way to go about this, that's less complex.
Amazing stuff Nelson, have you ever done a hybrid system?
A year or two later, I played around with running this car as a hybrid. I added an LP generator with a remote start to power the charger. Essentially a poor-man's Chevy Volt!
ruclips.net/video/xXVi-g4jWqI/видео.html
@@BenjaminNelsonX all electric seems a lot less complicated. love your work man!
@@BenjaminNelsonX Pretty cool, you ever do a gas engine combo? I am looking to do a project like that for my gas guzzler, without breaking the bank. Any suggestions?
@@MR-uk7iy I think you beat me to mentioning the "High torque motor in the driveshaft" trick.
I do know somebody who did a pickup truck like that, and went for a ride in it. Seemed to work pretty well.
@@BenjaminNelsonX I saw an old vid of you with the same concept. You called it the super truck Pretty cool stuff. With the salvaged stuff available today electric motor wise and the VESC motor controller. could you guide me a bit?
Where did you find the potentiometer?
I simply mail-ordered the potentiometer. It's a Curtis PB-6 potentiometer. A web search will show you multiple places to order from.
@@BenjaminNelsonX my pb6 has a switch included. Did you simply not use this switch in your application (kind of difficult to see in this vid)?
@@garyatate No, I didn't use the micro-switch.
A common application for that switch is to disconnect the main contactor when the throttle is completely released. That seems like total overkill to me. It's the equivalent of turning off your engine every time you let off the accelerator.
Yoi I like ur videos but I thing u should try this I wanted to build it but finance
Is bad so u can have a crack at it so u ganna make an fwd electric engen with a generator at the back wheels so when front wheels drive using battery the back wheels charge the batterys note u got to use more gerneraters to create more electric charge this create free drive keep me posted on project
Lol, if it where just that easy...