Mercedes T1 conversion [WIP]

[21j]

My project is currently based on a GS450H to divorced Magna Steyr transfer case to maintain the factory Range Rover four wheel drive setup. This hasn't been as straightforward as I was expecting (have to update project thread with latest mods). Now have the short drive shaft angle a lot better. But now that I've worked through that, I'd aim to go the centrally located rotated Tesla Model 3 rear motor route similar to how people are doing defenders. Much neater, more efficient, less potential problem areas. Just not open source yet...but its coming...hopefully I have a TM3 drive sitting in the garage to do that change over when it might be on the Zombieverter!

Thanks, That's very interesting. I'm half way through reading your project. Excellent work.
I will certainly take on board your suggestions. That's whats great about this forum.
I'll finish reading your project and more on the Tesla rear motor. The only thing is that its not open source. I was hoping to do something more tried and tested. However, I'm open to try anything if I can be convinced.
So with the centre mounted tesla, I would have 4x4 but loose the centre diff lock and low range? Its a T1 so wont be doing any rock crawling anyway.
Was it just space that moved you away from the AWD tesla on each axle. Space in the middle would be ideal for batteries.

[nkiernan]

So with the centre mounted tesla, I would have 4x4 but loose the centre diff lock and low range? Its a T1 so wont be doing any rock crawling anyway.
Was it just space that moved you away from the AWD tesla on each axle. Space in the middle would be ideal for batteries.

The likes of Fellten do the gear ratio changes and anti slip diff for the TM3 unit to make it useful for driving front and rear diffs. Looks like good results even for moderate off-road use looking at some defender conversions and videos. I went GS450H because it was the most accessible for me when I started and I thought the most straightforward. The volume of the lexus motors, transfer case, and drive shaft/coupling between them compared to something like the TM3 unit is significant, so space underneath for batteries is a big consequence especially when the engine bay becomes pretty useless for batteries also in my case. The Van could be more forgiving though. And the TM3 is not yet good to go. If I had chosen a transfer case with off-the-shelf conversion/adaptor kits, that would have been a big help from the start too!

[Jacobsmess]

The likes of Fellten do the gear ratio changes and anti slip diff for the TM3 unit to make it useful for driving front and rear diffs. Looks like good results even for moderate off-road use looking at some defender conversions and videos. I went GS450H because it was the most accessible for me when I started and I thought the most straightforward. The volume of the lexus motors, transfer case, and drive shaft/coupling between them compared to something like the TM3 unit is significant, so space underneath for batteries is a big consequence especially when the engine bay becomes pretty useless for batteries also in my case. The Van could be more forgiving though. And the TM3 is not yet good to go. If I had chosen a transfer case with off-the-shelf conversion/adaptor kits, that would have been a big help from the start too!

Having gone through a lot of this myself (although with a 2wd rwd vehicle) I was very close to going with a custom De Dion axle and Tesla drive unit because of the weight and space savings alongside efficiency (even more important when driving a 2.5T brick!). Unfortunately in these Mercedes T1 vans there is little to no engine bay space so everything needs to fit beneath the van or in the engine doghouse.

For simplicity and to actually get myself moving I'm going with a Lexus GS450H transmission. I'm going to also bench test it and see if I can easily hack the CVT capability, which if so, I will deal to the GS300H transmission with a phase 2 approach of building a De Dion axle once I'm no longer rolling coal....

[21j]

The likes of Fellten do the gear ratio changes and anti slip diff for the TM3 unit to make it useful for driving front and rear diffs. Looks like good results even for moderate off-road use looking at some defender conversions and videos. I went GS450H because it was the most accessible for me when I started and I thought the most straightforward. The volume of the lexus motors, transfer case, and drive shaft/coupling between them compared to something like the TM3 unit is significant, so space underneath for batteries is a big consequence especially when the engine bay becomes pretty useless for batteries also in my case. The Van could be more forgiving though. And the TM3 is not yet good to go. If I had chosen a transfer case with off-the-shelf conversion/adaptor kits, that would have been a big help from the start too!

Fellten certainly have some nice stuff there alright.
I see exactly what you are saying about the TM3 but I don't think I want to get too complicated with the TM3 as its not there yet.
I will leave that to the experts here. I think I will be only capable of doing what has been done already. Well at least in the electronics breakthrough side of things.
I'll give the 4x4 conversion a go.
Thanks

[21j]

Having gone through a lot of this myself (although with a 2wd rwd vehicle) I was very close to going with a custom De Dion axle and Tesla drive unit because of the weight and space savings alongside efficiency (even more important when driving a 2.5T brick!). Unfortunately in these Mercedes T1 vans there is little to no engine bay space so everything needs to fit beneath the van or in the engine doghouse.

For simplicity and to actually get myself moving I'm going with a Lexus GS450H transmission. I'm going to also bench test it and see if I can easily hack the CVT capability, which if so, I will deal to the GS300H transmission with a phase 2 approach of building a De Dion axle once I'm no longer rolling coal....

Yes, I am also looking for a simple as possible approach.
Will you not have room under the bonnet for the inverter/converter etc?

Have you any thoughts on range with the T1, and what size battery you need to achieve it?

[Jacobsmess]

Yes, I am also looking for a simple as possible approach.
Will you not have room under the bonnet for the inverter/converter etc?

Have you any thoughts on range with the T1, and what size battery you need to achieve it?

My calcs are based on a conservative estimation of 1.5miles/kWh but both the Maxus Edeliver 9 and Ford Etransit achieve closer to 2miles/kWh so I feel like this gives me a bit of hope. I'm looking at 90kWh using a iPace pack or two smaller packs in parallel with battery boxes divided up either side of the prop in the centre each housing 16 modules or so. With a possible 3rd battery pack at the rear behind the axle.

The bonnet/dog housing can house inverters and chargers but unlikely to get any amount of battery storage as far as I see.

The nice thing about converting a 2wd van is the amount of space underneath and mounting options that are already there as well as the weight capacity. My van empty is around 2300kg, and has a GVW of 3500kg so plenty for everything I need and with the massive heavy NA engine removed should buy me quite a bit of extra weight capacity.

[21j]

So with 90kW you'll get approximately 110miles from the usable battery charge.
Thats not bad. And as you say its conservative at 1.5 miles/kwh.
Yes the 2wd is good. The transfer box for the 4x4 takes away the space.
I'll look at battery options.