[Dayne] sent in this sweet EV Jeep Cherokee conversion. It was built a while ago, but I couldn’t resist posting it, I dig jeeps. Post conversion it’s still got 4WD. The AX-15 isn’t that great of a transmission, but he re-used the original clutch to avoid shredding it. (I don’t need this sort of encouragement)
Great idea! a lot of effort put in, but when this guy runs out of battery in the middle of nowhere, he is well and truly stuffed.
Hope he has a normal car! :P
Posted at 3:27 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by Matt Harlum
So essentially he made his SUV run on coal instead of gasoline.
Great job!
(It is a nice hack though. Technically impressive, dipite being stupid in every other way)
Posted at 4:02 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by ivan256
Well, in my case having 25 mile range would save me some good money on gas… I only drive roundtrip 14miles to work everday. 7 to work, 7 home. That’d be completely doable in this type of vehicle. It’s a pretty intruiging thought, really. I’m impressed with the DIY style of the project, very cool.
Regarding comment No 2:
The difference is that even if Coal is used to generate the electricity, the coal plant runs at an efficiency that you’re gasoline engine can only dream off.
Additionally, the power on the grid can be converted to alternative sources. (California generates about 10% from renewable sources, plus another 15 from Hydro electric, and they are hoping to hit 20% renewable by 2010 and 33% by 2020).
Lastly, he pays 4 cent per mile now, versus 13 cent per mile before. So I fail to see how its “stupid in every way”.
Posted at 5:11 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by SnowBlind
I wish the prices for batteries and controllers wasn’t so high. Ive attended a few seminars and local EV group meetings, and it pretty much boils down to: you have to have a two car garage for long enough to do the work (which means home ownership or renting a house) gobs of money for the controller, batteries, and motor-assuming you have the hardware to fabricate your own mounts and battery boxes-or even more cash to get these made. Not counting the original car, you’re looking at thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of time, which pays for lots of gasoline(or easily buys a motorcycle that gets 40-50mpg)
If you really want to get serious building an electric car and have the resources, check out a company called ac propulsion. They make an integrated ac motor control solution that includes regenerative braking and charging, and some efficient motors of 200-300 horespower equivalent. of course that’ll cost ya quite a premium too.
Posted at 5:32 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by Phugedaboudet
holy shit, that guy is only paying less than 1/3 what I do ~>:-(
In any case, you are going to have to drive an awful lot to pay for all of the gear/time spent on the jeep…
I wonder if it any better for off roading with the motor that gives full torque even at low rpm’s…
Posted at 6:21 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by ...
I’m suprised these vehicles don’t need more substantial methods of heat disipation, like those baffles on heatsinks or somthing of that nature. You’d think motors like that would generate some serious heat, not that theres alot of really sensitive stuff under the hood.
Posted at 7:14 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by wolf
@8: I make it about 140,000 miles to recoup the estimated $10,000 cost of the conversion :( I think he mentions the off-roading potential, the problem is running electric motors at low speeds can cause overheating problems unless they are properly cooled, which his wasn’t to keep cost down.
@7: THere’s a page of specs on the site, I think the torque was 250lb/ft, if that means anything to you.
I want one.. gas in Britain was £1.00 a litre (something like $7.20 a gallon) a couple of months ago but electricity costs about the same, now that’d save me some money :)
Posted at 7:19 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by pkm
We actually did this exact same thing at the place I work. Except we used a motor intended for rock querys that was water proof, and liquid cooled for obvious application concerns on vehicles intended for use.
We even had a system based off of 42 0.55V solar cells that actually provided power for the motor, and deep cycle recharge via a controller array.
I’ve seen 300HP electric motor’s for $500 US on the Net. If you could make a practical means of protecting the unit from projectiles, and the element’s you’d have something good.
BTW…What’s with all the ad’s on this site now day’s? It’s kind of starting to look like free ipod site’s which is kinda demeaning to the community.
Posted at 8:19 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by Timmy
Well done. I am an electric vehicle enthusiast. I will build my own one day. I compliment your effort, you are an inspiration in alternative energy.
Posted at 12:50 am on Sep 29th, 2006 by moddy
All-electric really is a viable option. Zytek currently has a prototype car, an all electric car based on the Lotus Elise platform. 120 mile range, and only 1 hour to 95% charge. Not only that, but 0-90 times of about 10 seconds.
It really is feasible, the oil companies don’t like it though.
That’s a pretty cool project, something I’d have a lot of fun with. If only batteries weren’t so expensive.
Posted at 2:44 am on Sep 29th, 2006 by newperfection
It’s a nicely written up project but I have to say that it was hardly an ideal candidate to make an optimal EV car from (large, heavy, aerodynamically challenged, lots of ‘power’ accessories e.g. power steering).
With a lighter, more basic donor I’d expect a better range from the batteries (and probably better performance if there is less momentum)
Posted at 3:03 am on Sep 29th, 2006 by Sheldon
Let’s see thing thing doing some off-roading if you preserved the 4WD.
I thought so.
Posted at 8:34 am on Sep 29th, 2006 by strider_mt2k
Dude, that kid lives across from me in the dorms! He’s fscking awesome!
Posted at 1:09 pm on Sep 29th, 2006 by Adam
I can’t wait to come down Christmas Break and see it for myself :D
Great Job on making it to HackaDay, Nick!
Posted at 1:32 am on Sep 30th, 2006 by Gigawatts
If he wanted to he could place a small gas generator into his engine compartment and start it up when he’s running low on battery power. Then he could power the car with a gas generator when he’s out of juice, also he could attach a solar panel to the roof of the car to charge the batteries while parked / at work etc.. I plan to do this to my Wrangler when the engine on it finally kicks the bucket.
Wow, I wish my pig of a TJ would get that type of mileage.
Posted at 5:14 pm on Oct 24th, 2006 by Jeep Reviews
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And he can go 25 miles at highway speeds between recharging! 40 miles if he drives slow!
Posted at 3:15 pm on Sep 28th, 2006 by Brent