openinverter forum

Posted: **Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:42 pm**

Hi everyone.
I'm a newbie to ev conversions but own to 2 oem ev's. I have an old Lotus Elite (type 75) that's been lying as a project in my garage for donkeys years. It has no engine or g'box anymore and would be hard(& expensive) to find a 2.2lt "912" eng n box, so I've decided to go the EV route using the GS450h transmission, which seems to fit in the chassis. My best buddy is also on board with the project, he's really good on electrics and has a workshop for his Eclat too.

One question.
I have the 450h g'box but no inverter yet. I came across a gs300h inverter (G9200-30132), will that work?

Posted: **Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:49 pm**

GreenElite wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:42 pm Hi everyone.
I'm a newbie to ev conversions but own to 2 oem ev's. I have an old Lotus Elite (type 75) that's been lying as a project in my garage for donkeys years. It has no engine or g'box anymore and would be hard(& expensive) to find a 2.2lt "912" eng n box, so I've decided to go the EV route using the GS450h transmission, which seems to fit in the chassis. My best buddy is also on board with the project, he's really good on electrics and has a workshop for his Eclat too.

One question.
I have the 450h g'box but no inverter yet. I came across a gs300h inverter (G9200-30132), will that work?

Posted: **Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:05 pm**

No the 300h inverter (probably...it might but it might not) wouldn't work because it's a different gearbox/motor.
You'll need the gs450h inverter, oil pump, oil pump ECU, plus one of Damian's evbmw zombieverters to get it going. One important thing is you'll need shielded cable for the wires between the ECU and inverter plus resolver wires will also need to be shielded outherwise you'll get communications issues.

Posted: **Sat Mar 04, 2023 10:13 am**

Thanks for that, yeah that's what I was thinking. They look identical on alll sides, based off ebay photos, but as far as I know the 300h's have less motor power, so internals may not be as able to handle the extra.
I have the 450h g'box, oil pump & controller. So need yo source the inverter and then get Damiens Zombieverter.
The trans looks like it willl sit right back in the chassis trans tunnel, leaving good space under bonnet for batteries etc. There's also useful space where the petrol tank used to be for more batteries to balance the weight out properly.

Posted: **Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:26 am**

rstevens81 wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 11:05 pmNo the 300h inverter (probably...it might but it might not) wouldn't work because it's a different gearbox/motor.

Why wouldn't it?

Motors are agnostic to their inverters, long as you give the inverter the correct settings.

You can power a GS540H with a Prius Gen 3 inverter if you want. The 300H should be just fine, albeit at a lower power.

Posted: **Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:35 am**

MattsAwesomeStuff wrote: ↑Mon Mar 06, 2023 12:26 am Motors are agnostic to their inverters, long as you give the inverter the correct settings.

If you're programming the inverter yourself, that's true, but the preference is generally to run inverters with their factory firmware, which as I understand it, is preconfigured for a specific motor. The GS450H motor with the GS450H inverter certainly doesn't require any configuration / programming / tuning, it "just works".

Posted: **Tue Mar 07, 2023 7:42 am**

Thanks everyone.
I'm considering changing from the 450h g'box to the 300h box and matching inverter as this will fit better into the trans tunnel and free up space (and weight) for a better battery installation in the engine bay.
Question: are these 2 the same combined MG1 + MG2 power output?

Posted: **Tue Mar 07, 2023 7:56 am**

Is300h is still a bit of an unknown as no one has used one yet, it is assumed to be very similar the the 450 unit, it has a lower finial drive ratio 3.33 Vs the gs450s 1.9 (hi gear) there is a thread in the Toyota section where it has been torn down....since you have most of the bits I would not change yet. Just keep looking for an inverter.

Posted: **Wed Mar 08, 2023 7:18 pm**

Yeah, gearing would be a problem alright. I'd need a tall diff ratio, there is 2.88:1 available that would solve the issue, but more work and cost.
I'd still go the 300h route if I can get the power output confirmed as it will be a better finished package at the end of the day. As long as it can provide better power than the original 2.2lts 160bhp I'd be happy.
Can anyone even say if MG1 and MG2 "look" visually the same as ghe 450h items?

Posted: **Wed Mar 22, 2023 6:27 pm**

hi there, think I remember you from either backroads or octane. and your friend with the black eclat. Im in kildare also and havent gotten very far with my gs450h e39 project. are you planning on soldering zombieverter yourself or buying prebuilt?

Posted: **Thu Mar 23, 2023 10:40 am**

GreenElite wrote: ↑Wed Mar 08, 2023 7:18 pm Yeah, gearing would be a problem alright. I'd need a tall diff ratio, there is 2.88:1 available that would solve the issue, but more work and cost.
I'd still go the 300h route if I can get the power output confirmed as it will be a better finished package at the end of the day. As long as it can provide better power than the original 2.2lts 160bhp I'd be happy.
Can anyone even say if MG1 and MG2 "look" visually the same as ghe 450h items?

assuming a 205 60 14 tyre:
And transmission ration of 3.33:1
'Google' says there are two diff ratios for the Type 75? 4.1:1 & 3.7:1?

#edited to correct 3.7 calc.#

The 3.7 diff would get you 70mph at around 12250 motor rpm
The 4.1 diff would get you 70mph at around 13550 motor rpm

From here: viewtopic.php?t=949 it suggests max motor rpm is 14,000rpm.
So that would get you around 72mph with the 4.1 diff and 80mph with the 3.7 diff.
A 2.88 diff would get you 103mph at 14000 rpm.

Posted: **Tue Apr 11, 2023 12:25 pm**

Thanks SuperV8,
Yeah I think you are correct.
I have looked at the option of changing the diff ration to 3.07:1 but these are expensive and seem to be very rare!! So, considering that there isn't much gain length wise between the 450h & 300H and the fact that I cannot find any confirmation of the power output of the 300h, I'm back looking at the 450h as the preferred option for now!!

My apologies for the delay replying to your post but I managed to lock myself out of my login!!

I'm still working on the chassis and suspension at the minute so when that's all back together I can start offering up the transmissions to see how they fit.

Posted: **Sun May 07, 2023 4:47 pm**

Hi all.
Bit of an update as there's been some good progress this weekend.
First the missing suspension parts finally arrived (got stuck in customs!!! ). So we got the chassis rebuilt and back on its own 4 wheels, first time in 15yrs!!!!
Secondly, early Sat morning I spotted a 2014 Kia Soul EV being sold for breaking due to a complete gearbox collapse. Rang the guy and went to view it, bagged a good deal on it ! I hope to get a lot of useful bits from this as well as the 30kw battery (27kw usable) which seems to be in good condition.

Posted: **Mon May 22, 2023 4:20 pm**

Great work. hope I'll see this soon!
Just a comment on top speed - are those figures in 1st or 2nd gear? Ive a 2.64 myself so probably be ok on top speed!

Posted: **Mon May 22, 2023 9:50 pm**

Those speeds are based on the gs300h trans. The 450h has a Hi gear that means top speed is no issue, even with my wheel size and diff ratio.

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2023 6:34 am**

Even with the gs450H I'd struggle to hit motorway speeds unless I could achieve max rpm at 400v which is unlikely. But that's because I've got a very tall diff ratio of 4.63. it would be great to have some data on the max rpm people are achieving at ev voltages of around 400v.

Posted: **Tue May 23, 2023 7:52 pm**

Gear_Ratio.ods: Gear ratio speed calculator; (12.87 KiB) Downloaded 62 times

Someone else on here shared this calculator with me previously, it should help sort out your speed / gearing situation.

Posted: **Wed May 24, 2023 6:48 am**

GreenElite wrote: ↑Tue May 23, 2023 7:52 pm Gear_Ratio.ods
Someone else on here shared this calculator with me previously, it should help sort out your speed / gearing situation.

Thanks, I've used online speed calculators before and understand how they work it's more a diff of 4.73 makes these gearboxes unusable unless you can reach their max rpm, which isn't certain at lower voltages as of yet.

Posted: **Sun Jun 04, 2023 2:43 am**

Jacobsmess wrote: ↑Wed May 24, 2023 6:48 am Thanks, I've used online speed calculators before and understand how they work it's more a diff of 4.73 makes these gearboxes unusable unless you can reach their max rpm, which isn't certain at lower voltages as of yet.

would lowering the diff ratio not be the best option for you then?

Posted: **Sun Jun 04, 2023 6:51 am**

I've explored it but the lowest ratio they did for my particular van is 4.1 which doesn't buy you much too speed. They do do a 3.7 for the early sprinter that would fit as I understand but I need to confirm that and also it's very rare and as far as the speed, I would still need to be able to achieve 11500 from the gs300H to get a suitable top speed hence my obsession with possible rpm.

But I shouldn't take up other people's project threads with these Q's anymore, thanks you

Posted: **Sun Jul 23, 2023 7:51 pm**

Another milestone reached today with the help and major input from my buddy Michael.
The gearbox mounts were fabricated along with the Lotus/lexus propshaft. We got the gearbox fully mounted and driveline is now complete. The chassis is now a full rolling chassis ready to start refitting the body.

The other major step will be stripping the battery, BMS, OBC, and anything else I'll need from the Kia Soul EV. But this is something that I'm not good with.
How or what will I need to do to get these bits communicating with the Zombieverter VCU? Do I need to capture any Can logs from the kia before I strip it????
I need help with this part!!

Posted: **Sun Jul 30, 2023 6:56 am**

Howdy, afraid I dont have the answers there re Kia stuff.
But if it was me.. obc presume that is the charger
what interactions would the bms have with zombieverter? I'd say probably nothing major outside of power up / power down routines?

Posted: **Sun Jul 30, 2023 7:49 pm**

Can anyone tell me if GS450H inverter part G9200-30080 ( MY2013 onwards) is good with older gs450h transmission ?
The wiki lists G9200-30090 which is for current cars (2013 onwards) and also a G9200-30180 which maybe a typo as I haven't found any with that number!

Posted: **Tue Aug 01, 2023 7:06 pm**

Hi folks. I've figured out that the later inverters have a different body, so some electrical connections such as the mg1 & 2 cable connectors are different and don't fit old trans to newer inverter.
But as I have sourced an suitable age inverter (9200-30051), at a great price, its no longer a problem for me.
I have the Zombieverter on order along with the enclosure etc. So all the bigger hardware items are now sorted, I hope!!!

Posted: **Fri Oct 06, 2023 7:20 pm**

Hi all.
I'm questioning if the Kia Soul EV I bought as a donor is the wrong choice!! Would a Nissan Leaf be a simpler, better (as in comms already diagnosed and set in the Zombieverter) whereas the Kia seems to be an unknown or at best a "work in progress".
This is my first ev project and the comms side of things is my weakest strength!!!.
Any advise welcomed.

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