No pistons, no fuel, no worries! Toyota Sera EV Conversion begins…

[SimiA]

I have just read this whole thread.. omg alot of time and effort must have gone into this!
ill be looking out for it.. i read somewhere in here you are in midland? im just up in swan view.. so if i see you round expect a wave haha!
well done and good luck for the w/e

[thechuckster]

have you thought about getting your car into something like New Scientist or similar academic journal? http://www.newscientist.com/article/...commuting.html

[SimiA]

Did you end up testing it out?
How did it go?

[VA61DETT]

Update
Monday, 2 November 2009

She runs!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp3mTNzVyWM

Only had a couple of small hiccups, I found that my old 5M TPS was not returning to the ‘idle’ position reliably, the resistance was not dropping below the 150R level so the controller would not start.
I ended up rigging a 5K pot for test, (now on the hunt for a new TPS *hint*hint*).
Once I got it to spin up the bloody power steering pump proceeded to leak fluid from the top banjo fitting.
Under closer inspection I found the fitting was warped and ended up filing it down to get a good seal (after several attempts & much leaked fluid)..bloody thing.
There is a bit of a concerning vibration from the motor, possibly the flywheel may be out of balance, this will require further inspection…later…

All in all, everything worked & nothing was ruined, now to get the dash back in!

-A

[RA35GT]

Nice work dood!

but, skid vids seem to be missing

[Hydra]

Cool! Dare I ask how much this has cost you to date?

[TTCorona]

I have read about doing thing before, it looks like a really interesting project! Great Work!

I'm with Hydra, any ideas on roughly how much its cost you?

[Hydra]

I secretly want to do this with an old corolla - oh wait, it's no longer a secret!

[thechuckster]

fantastic news! just needs some garage skid pics?

re: power steer pump - get some new copper washers to go either side of the banjo fitting?


query: how substantial is the end-play control on the motor drive-shaft? is the motor output designed for a direct coupling (like yours) or an offset pulley arrangement?

[VA61DETT]

Cheers PPL

Conversion cost is getting close to 20K (over half is in the batteries alone!)

-thechuckster
What do you mean by 'end play control' ?
The motor just runs 2 big roller bearing races as far as I can see, there is no thrust bearing assy of any kind. They have been extensively used on many electric vehicle conversions in clutch, direct drive, series (custom shafts) & parallel (S/C belt drive) set-ups.

The bloody pump was actually a problem with the banjo fitting itself, swapped in 2 sets of washers, still pissed fluid everywhere, 'tis all good now.

-A

[thechuckster]

'end play control' - as is something acting as a thrust washer as usually found midway along a crankshaft.

I was just thinking about it as i thought the motor came with a keyway at the drive end (to suit locking a pulley onto the shaft) rather than a drive plate/flange that you'd attach a flexible coupling or flywheel to.

but as you say the motor is designed for this job.



btw: skid pics still not loading?

[brett_celicacoupe]

any updates?

it must have been driven by now?

[VA61DETT]

No not yet, still working on it!!!

[rsdeo]

Really nice.

[040501912]

wow! this is 1 hectic work! i cant wait to see the final product mate.

thumbs up for you and your idea!