openinverter forum

EdAtki wrote: ↑Sat Jul 12, 2025 8:55 pm Hello everyone, this is my first time posting on the forum

An EV conversion is a project I've been wanting to tackle for years now but never managed to get out of the planning phase, however I recently stumbled across a deal too good to turn down. I acquired an 80kW Nissan Leaf motor, inverter and PDM for just £150. Purchasing those first components has really given me the motivation to get started on this for real.

I also have a lead on a 50kWh battery pack from a Peugeot E-208 for a very good price. I believe this is a 108S pack though so I could do with some advice on whether the leaf power train can handle the higher voltage or if I'd have to run fewer modules bringing me down to about 44kWh. I'd ideally like to achieve 100 miles range which I think is feasible, I'm basing that on a 40kWh leaf and hoping that having a bit more battery but being a bit heavier and less efficient will balance out to be make it roughly equivalent. These battery modules each have a built in satellite BMS based on a MAX17823 and I'd build my own master BMS module based on the fine work that's already been done by folks on this forum.

The leaf PDM I may or may not end up using as its quite bulky and the charging is a very slow 3.3kW.

I'd go with a zombieverter to tie things together and be the main brains of the car.

The trickiest part of this whole process has been deciding the car to install it all in. I didn't get the reduction gearbox with my leaf stack so I will have to bolt the motor to the original gearbox of the car so I need something manual and preferably rear wheel drive as I wouldn't be confident the leaf motor would fit on a front wheel drive gearbox. I am currently leaning heavily towards a BMW E91, these are quite commonly being advertised for cheap with failed timing chains or seized engines.

I wouldn't be the first to convert a E91, I know its already been done by someone on this forum, so that's quite reassuring that it can be done and that a lot of the CAN bus trickery has already been figured out.

The E91 already has significant room under the boot floor but even better than that the spare wheel well is a separate bolted in panel that could be replaced, so plenty of room to fit batteries and no need to cut or drill holes in the chassis. Also the engine bay is pretty large and the leaf motor should take up relatively little space so plenty room for components and potentially more batteries up front too.

Later models already have electric power steering which saves me some work.

The 80kW power train might sound underpowered for a car of this size but it actually has similar torque figures to the original engines, so running it through the original manual gearbox I'm hoping for similar performance and if it does prove to not be enough I can always upgrade to the 110kW or 160kW inverters or install the open inverter logic board for ~130kW.

I'll be posting updates as the project progresses.

Bigpie wrote: ↑Sun Jul 13, 2025 7:11 am I love my E91, but be aware of high insurance costs. There's only Adrian flux that I could find to insure.and it's over a grand. No points, no accidents, 20 years no claims.

Alibro wrote: ↑Sun Jul 13, 2025 7:57 am I used a Gen1 Leaf motor and Inverter in my Freelander build and it works great great but for a BMW I would go for a Lexus transmission. The motor and inverter takes up a ton of space under the bonnet which leaves a lot less room for batteries.

Alibro wrote: ↑Sun Jul 13, 2025 7:57 am As for choosing the car make sure it's a car you like and want to drive. You'll spend a lot of time, money and effort on it so you want to be proud to show it off when it's done.

Bigpie wrote: ↑Sun Jul 13, 2025 1:04 pm BMW are more expensive to insure. My converted 2003 beetle was 400.

EdAtki wrote: ↑Mon Jul 14, 2025 8:11 pm In the meantime I've been trying to get an idea of the performance difference between the leaf motor and a GS450h transmission, trying to convince myself that I'm making the right decision.

Screenshot From 2025-07-14 20-44-03.png

I would be amazed if these numbers turn out accurate given all the assumptions and guesswork that went into it but even so it gives me some confidence that the leaf motor will still have plenty of power. Based on this I'll definitely want to upgrade to a 160kW inverter or install the replacement logic board for ~140kW but I think I'll get the car running on the 80kW one first before I splash out.

My whole spreadsheet is here btw if anyone wants to critique it haha: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... TvPRqJKADw