1988 Electric Jeep YJ

[EVBuilder]

I am just going to throw sum pictures up of this build. It was kind of rushed by the owner so I couldn't do may of the finishing touches and detail work I would have wanted to but overall it turned out not to bad.

[EVBuilder]

Here are some pictures of battery boxes and the control board that has the controller, throttle control, relays, and DC/DC converter on it. There were 20 deep cycle 6 volt golf cart batteries in this Jeep when we first built it. So there are 5 where the gas tank used to be, 5 where the front half of the engine used to be and 10 where the back seat used to be. You can see in one of the photos that I had to carry to load of the back seat battery box off the roll bar which necessitated carrying the roll bar load to the frame instead of just to the body like the factory built it.

[EVBuilder]

In this set of pictures you can get a closer look at some of the components that are on the control board. The last picture is from a local news paper of us driving the Jeep. Some technical details are as follows.
1988 Jeep YJ converted to 2 wheel drive using a straight axle from a Comanche pick up truck, fiberglass body tub.

Motor: Advance DC 9 brushed advanced wound DC motor.
Trans: Borge Warner T-5 from an s-10
Batteries: Trojan T-145 deep cycle lead acid golf cart batteries wired in series. 20X6=120VDC. Now there are four more for a total 144VDC.
Controller: Curtice MOSFET controller
Top speed 70+ MPH
Range 80+miles per charge
cost to charge= about 0.60 cents
Cost to build= about $15,000

[EVBuilder]

There are a bunch of videos on Youtube covering this Jeep including trips and such. Search EV2 Electric Jeep.

[EVBuilder]

Here are some pictures of just the control board and its components. The large black box in the center is the controller. there are two Albright relays one on either side of it. There is an ammeter shunt in the foreground of the near relay. The silver box on the front of the board is the DC/DC converter. That takes the traction voltage and converts it to low voltage to charge the 12 volt battery so all the normal 12 volt stuff works. On the other side of the board is the Throttle control. All that is is a rheostat that sends a signal to the controller of what percentage of power to send to the motor. The cylindrical part in front of the throttle control is a vacuum pump to operate the power brakes. Below the board is a switch that controls the amount of vacuum needed for the brakes and turns the pump off when that point is reached. The large connectors at the sides of the board are Anderson connectors.

[EVBuilder]

The vacuum pump was not installed when these photos were taken but there is a photo of the complete board in a previous post.

[BlueJeep]

Not including batteries, what was the approximate cost of the parts for this build? Ever consider going with manual brakes, to eliminate the need for the vaccuum pump?

I like to see new and interesting things like this, good job!

I see snow and ice on one of the pictures, does this thing get put away in the winter or is there a heater?

Also, is it set up to use the gears in the tranmission or just direct drive through one of the forward gears and then reverse?

[71swb4x4]

That looks like a great project. I have looked at electric builds a lot and hope to do one someday when the budget permits.

[EVBuilder]

Cost for the parts is around $10,000 not including batteries.

The reason to stay with power brakes is weight. This Jeep weighs 4,000# mainly because of the batteries. They weigh 70# each.

The Jeep does get driven in the winter. It looses a bit of performance and range because there are no battery heaters in the boxes. He has a propane heater in it which is fine for a Jeep with more air leaks than any other car. There are electric heaters available but they use a lot of power and shorten range. I am looking into an AC/DC heater that keeps the car warm while charging so the DC side doesn't have to work as hard.

The transmission does shift like any other with a few differences. One: you only need two gears (this one uses second and third) with 4.10 gears out back. Two: there is no clutch. Being its a synchronized transmission you can shift without a clutch. Also electric motors don't idle so there is no need to push in the clutch when stopping.

Here are some photos of the motor to transmission adapter system. The old clutch plate is used for the spline to engage the transmission. All the friction material has been removed and the fins are bolted to the adapter which then slides onto the motor output shaft. The small end of the transmission input shaft where the pilot bearing rides has to be cut off and great care taken to ensure the proper clearance between the two. The input shaft will move forward under load as the gears are helically cut.

[aerotruk63]

How much weight is attributed to just the electric set-up, excluding the vehicle itself?
Did you have to pass a safety inspection once you were finished?
How long does it take to charge up the batteries?
Could you use a battery block from a lift truck and switch over through the day?

[EVBuilder]

the batteries weigh 1500# for the 120VDC setup and another 300# for the 144VDC setup. The rest of it is really light. the motor weighs 160#. It takes about 6-8 hours to charge them depending on how dead they are. The lift truck batteries don't carry enough volts. Most of them are only 48 volts and they are even heavier. Volts=speed Amps=range.

[NONHOG]

Very interesting! Sorry to ask but how about a breakdown on the cost.
Maybe include some lower price alternatives.
As I understand it it can be built cheaper but its not as smooth. (?)
I'd understand if thats too big a pain.
Thought about converting a Volvo Amazon parts car we have.
I need another project like a hole in the head.

[EVBuilder]

The advance DC-9 that was used in this application is about $1550. The only alternative to that motor is the Netgain WarP-9 which is $1675.00. The Curtice controller is about $1500. There are others but not really sure about prices and specs. There are very few that can handle the high voltage and current that an EV conversion has. There is one controller that is the Rolls Royce of controllers Called the Zilla2000 with Hairball interface. These monsters can handle far more current and voltage than the Curtice can, it can also be programed to function on a given curve and limit the maximum current that it will allow through it. This controller is around $6000 with the interface. There really isn't a cheap way to do it so the thing will be drivable and reliable. There have been guys that take an old fork lift and swap all the components into a car but they aren't very reliable and they can't go very fast as they are only 48 volts. There is a really impressive EV to take a look at called "The White Zombie". if you go to www.plasmaboy.com you can see it in his website. It is the quickest street legal EV on the planet.

[LowBow]

plasmaboy.com takes you to some dudes website, I Googled and found plasmaboyracing.com, that's where you want to go.

[EVBuilder]

oops i messed up. thanks for the correction LowBoy.

[aerotruk63]

White zombie in action.

http://www.opb.org/programs/ofg/segments/view/1686

That is way to cool.

Need to build a system for our trucks. Electrucks!

[EVBuilder]

EVAmerica offers a ready to go kit for S-10s that I am sure can be adapted to any truck. The only thing is you would need to put the truck on a serious diet as the conversion is being done to offset the extra weight of a full size truck. The kit even makes it possible to make the bed tilt up like a dump truck to get at the batteries. It uses gas struts like a lift gate on vans and SUVs. The Jeep as stated before has a fiberglass body tub and still weighs 4000#. We had a donor Jeep that we took the body off to use its frame and that one we had to cut into 4 pieces to be able to move it. the fiberglass body could be easily carried by two guys. In-fact we did carry it across the street from his house to mine. Would have never done that with the steel body. So collect all the fiberglass body panels you can get for your truck. eliminate every bolt bracket and component that wont be used. I treat these conversions like drag race cars trying to save weight everywhere I can. I am currently working on some prototype ideas that if they work will make huge difference in performance and efficiency. It will also make them easier to drive and own. So when I get going on the next EV build I will post some of it on the forum.

[EVBuilder]

By the way here is another EV you might want to look up. Google KillaCycle

[Britain Smith]

My friend, Otmar, is the designer of the Zilla motor controllers. He has an electric 914 that has 800ftlbs of torque at zero RPM...it is crazy fast.

-Britain

[EVBuilder]

I have been wondering if the Zilla controllers are available to purchase again? There was a time when you couldn't find one. I have not looked for them recently. Last time I did, there were none to buy. I read somewhere that the manufacturer was wanting out and looking for someone to take them over that was capable of maintaining the quality in manufacturing that that they had used. So whats the story now? are they available now?