VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Tell us about the project you do with the open inverter
Johannes.l
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by Johannes.l »

Ben_VWeT3 wrote: Thu May 13, 2021 10:44 pm Hey Johannes,
what a great project! I have nearly the same goal! Here you can see my project!
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=1597

Did you found some more informations for the right angle of the SDU?
My Plan is to have the rear screw 15mm higher than the front screw of the SDU. The reason for that is the constuction of my frame. But the third screw is also horizontal then. More or less;-)

Good luck for you project!
Ben
Hi! It seems like we are a couple of people converting type-3 VW busses now :). I don't know If I have progressed longer on my build but I will try to be helpfull if you wonder something. I'm not the smartest guy though and have done a lot of trial and error with the mechanical/construction stuff. I don't have a fancy CAD model of the car for example haha.

I think, when I have been looking on photos, that the screw through the third mount should be horizontal. The problem is that you don't have a lot of straight places to measure from on the car itself.
Johannes.l
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by Johannes.l »

Mounting almost done. I've used 6 and 5 mm steel because that's what I have lots of. It's easy to weld as well.

Next step is the find a pair of driveshafts that fit. They need to be a bit longer then the original ones. It would also be a plus if they had different fittings. Because now I have 100mm on the hub side and 108mm on the transmission side.
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IMG_20210522_184046.jpg
IMG_20210522_184118.jpg
IMG_20210522_184215.jpg
Johannes.l
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by Johannes.l »

Update finally!

It has been a while since my last update here but the project is still going forward, though slowly. I kind of hit a milestone today with running the motor in the car with driveshafts connected, oil in it, coolant flowing and at full battery voltage. I have also connected the BMS (Orion BMS 2) to the batteries and succesfully charged them. The battery boxes are also almost done and mounted for the first time under the car.
Attachments
Mounting the battery boxes wasn't really just bolting them to the car. I had to adjust some things and it's still very tight.
Mounting the battery boxes wasn't really just bolting them to the car. I had to adjust some things and it's still very tight.
There are 3 boxes. One large in the middle holding 2 modules and two smaller ones one the sides. The middle box is a part from the original Model 3 battery pack and the two smaller ones I had to make myself.
There are 3 boxes. One large in the middle holding 2 modules and two smaller ones one the sides. The middle box is a part from the original Model 3 battery pack and the two smaller ones I had to make myself.
I got a company to make the covers going on top of the batteries. They are made of 2mm aluminium.
I got a company to make the covers going on top of the batteries. They are made of 2mm aluminium.
Johannes.l
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by Johannes.l »

More pictures:
Attachments
I got specially made adapters from a company called EPYTEC. So I could connect my old driveshafts to the motor.
I got specially made adapters from a company called EPYTEC. So I could connect my old driveshafts to the motor.
HVJB plus charging almost done. I'm later going to add contactors for the fast charging.
HVJB plus charging almost done. I'm later going to add contactors for the fast charging.
Lots of cables coming together.
Lots of cables coming together.
I put the charging inlets behind the registration sign where you before could check oil and coolant. I think it turned out really well.
I put the charging inlets behind the registration sign where you before could check oil and coolant. I think it turned out really well.
I also mounted an iBooster brake booster from an Honda Accord. I haven't wired it up yet.
I also mounted an iBooster brake booster from an Honda Accord. I haven't wired it up yet.
Johannes.l
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by Johannes.l »

The bad:

I accedentially managed to puncture a cell in one of the battery modules when I was redoing the boxes a bit. :(

It smoked for a second but then nothing more happend. I instanly disconnected the punctured cell from the rest of the module, by removing the small wires on the underside. I then tried to take the cell out of the module but soon relized that it was almost impossible without destroing the other cells aroung it. The next day I discharged the punctured cell very slowly with a small resistor. Nothing happend to the rest of the module but I'm not sure if I want to have it in my car... So I have ordered a new battery pack as my brother also was interested in some modules.
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Johannes.l
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by Johannes.l »

Back to the motor:

While it seems to run fine I think I have quite a lot of tinkering with the parameters left. Right now I have to push one quarter of the accellerator to get the motor to even spin and when it does it spins really fast. I have to study the paremeters more I think...
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by alexbeatle »

Johannes.l wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 3:42 pm More pictures:
Looks so great! So inspiring!
I'm converting a T2 with Tesla SDU and MS batteries. Probably should start a thread here too, but been posting on Instagram so far...https://www.instagram.com/getevfied/
What's your plan for the charging controllers?
I bought a bmw Lim module for CCS and AC charging, but also want to do the CHAdeMO for versatility.
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by johu »

Johannes.l wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 4:01 pm Back to the motor:

While it seems to run fine I think I have quite a lot of tinkering with the parameters left. Right now I have to push one quarter of the accellerator to get the motor to even spin and when it does it spins really fast. I have to study the paremeters more I think...
Just saw this.
Sounds good to me :)
No seriously, immediate spin up is the very nature of torque control. Say you command just 0.5Nm but there is no resistance it will just spin up. The thrttle deadzone is for regen operation. Can be adjusted with brknom
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nkiernan
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by nkiernan »

Johannes.l wrote: Wed Dec 22, 2021 3:29 pm I have also connected the BMS (Orion BMS 2) to the batteries and succesfully charged them.
Hi Johannes.l,
How are you handling the battery temperature readings in your setup? Are you tapping these on the batteries and wiring to the Orion 2 BMS also? Be interetested to see a photo maybe?
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Re: VW Transporter -85 EV conversion

Post by Landsi »

Can you give more details on your pack if you have them, like model year and trim? I've seen (supposedly) 55kWh packs that use the full length of the battery case, so it'd be good to see if there's a way of knowing if a pack has short or long modules. The short modules would definitely be the ones to get
Didn‘t validate, but someone has offered a (probably non-exhaustive) list of serial numbers for this:
https://www.diyelectriccar.com/threads/ ... st-1108255
Plan to build someday soon<TM>:

VW T3 Bus
Leaf Motor Stack incl Transaxle
Brat Industries VW Driveshaft Adapters
(Leaf 40kwh Battery incl BMS) Model 3 55 kwh Battery w/ BMS
BMW i3 LIM CCS (or OpenInverter CCS)
Zombieverter VCU
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