openinverter forum

How did you get to USD$20k ? I haven't set a budget yet. My first calculation of the parts I need is less than 20k. at the moment i'm still collecting information and looking for the right car.

How do you get less? Figure two Leaf motor/inverters will be $5k. Leaf Batteries $5-10k; Tesla batteries $10-15k. Then you need a BMS ($1000), charger ($500-1500), VCU ($500 * 2), high gauge cables, contactors, cooling stuff, metal...The highest cost is fabrication labor, unless you're doing it yourself.

The path I would go would be to fit a single Tesla motor in the rear if possible, or use a Leaf motor and TorqueBox up front, coupled to the driveshaft...or adapt to the manual transmission, if the 2:1 TorqueBox doesn't give you good gearing.

Adequate acceleration is the least of your concerns, in my opinion...

I think I can get the motors with inverters cheaper. I will look around.
What does the abbreviation VCU mean?
What do you think, which battery size is good for me?

It all depends on your range. VCU controls the inverter.

For your first conversion, the goal is to finish. I would do the simplest conversion you can do that will result in a useful car when you're done.

I mean what do the letters VCU stand for.

Vehicle Control Unit

Thanks, but with a little thought I should have figured it out myself.

I made an offer to a seller for an EM57 motor, inverter and electronics. Let's see what he says about it.

Now I'm looking at the battery. Which cheap OEM battery can you recommend?

Some use the BMW i3 charging unit. Does it have an advantage over the leaf unit?


Merry Christmas

easyandi wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 9:26 am
Now I'm looking at the battery. Which cheap OEM battery can you recommend?

Merry Christmas

I dont think there is such a thing as cheap battery .
Do you need a definite battery or something quick to test your system? In latter case i suggest VW Golf GTE or BMW hybrid battery about 9kwh worth. Its a good pack for testing your concept and it includes contactors, fuse, bms and current sensor.

When you are satisfied with the mechanics of your EV you go for true battery search.

That's a good idea. As a newbie I didn't think of it.
It's good if I get information from the experts here.

Maybe you can answer my question about the charger?

easyandi wrote: ↑Sat Dec 25, 2021 11:36 am
Maybe you can answer my question about the charger?

What was the question again?
I suggest you go explore this site and wiki. Then see what is available.
In my case i could get Outlander charger/DCDC combo the cheapest, but it wouldnt work above 400Vdc.
Volt gen2 was a simple charger to start, but it is difficult to control DC voltage.
Volt gen1 was good but difficult to get by.
Tesla chargers are not available here.
Smart 22kw charger i desire, but is unobtanium...
I found 3x Eltek chargers are the best overall for me with CAN control and 420Vdc operation. They can be expensive though...

yes, i will keep looking at the wiki. So far I haven't been able to read everything.
I noticed that some guys use the bmw i3 charger. I would be interested what advantage has the i3 Charger over the Leaf charger.

Ok, I've read a lot over the past few days and looked around the market for the necessary parts.

I haven't been able to answer one question. I did not find a post in which two Leaf motors were installed. I would be interested in trying that out and testing it in real life.
Is it better to use two separate batteries in this case? So one battery for driving the front axle and one battery for driving the rear axle. What do you all mean?

This leads to the question, can I charge two batteries at the same time with an OEM charger? Would you recommend the charger of a Leaf?

I spoke to a seller and will probably buy a 110 kW motor with inverter and electronics in the next few days.

Splitting the batteries only makes things more complicated (see your question about charging) and I don't see any advantage.