Charger Purchase

I have been putting off my electric vehicle charger purchase because there has been a few recent products introduced and I was waiting for the smoke to settle a bit before committing to one. When I was doing my initial planning I was going to purchase the Zivan NG3. This has been a long time favorite for custom conversions and, from what I hear, has a good track record of reliability. This charger is configured once at the factory for either 120 or 240 Volt AC input. The problem with this one time configuration is that it isn't very flexible. You either get fast home charging at 240 V or you have slow home charging but have the ability for 'in the field' opporutnity charge on a more common 120 V outlet. Another alternative is to purchase two of these chargers, one at each voltage level, and you have the best of both worlds, but this approach is cost prohibitive.

In my search for something better they guys at Pioneer Conversions told me about the Elcon PFC 3000W charger. It is still relatively new product release so real world reviews or even product information is hard to come by. I do know that it comes from China and the Pioneer guys gave me the product info PDF. Some other locations I found information on this charger are here and here. The great thing about this charger is the ability to accept 120 and 240 V input from a single unit. It seemed to be available from several resellers as Pioneer Conversions, KTA Services, Electro Automotives, and Electric Conversions could all get them for me for around $1,000. I was just about to pull the trigger on this charger when I heard about yet another one.

The Pioneer guys, who happen to be located rather close to NetGain Motors Inc., informed me that NetGain is getting into the charger market. The unit specs are as follows:

• 3kW AC draw
• ~92% efficiency
• 156/144V nominal output (lower voltages also possible)
• Various amp-hour settings
• AGM/Flooded algorithms
• Pulse charging during final stage
• Temperature compensation with included external temperature sensor
• Output isolated from AC mains
• Sealed enclosure - heatsink design without fans
• Greater than 0.98 power factor (current and voltage between 1 and 2 degrees out of phase)
• 90-260VAC input without any modifications to the charger
• Automatic reduction of power draw on 120VAC input to 1500W (12.5A), and full draw with higher AC voltages
• Input frequencies of 45-65Hz
• Weight of about 14lbs
• Short circuit protection
• Reverse polarity protection
• Automatic restart when below about 12.5V or after 30 days
• Dimensions (L x W x H): 13.85 x 6.9 x 5.5 inches, 352 x 175 x 139 mm

Aside from it being a little larger than Elcon's, the specs seem very similar. I liked the idea that it was made in USA (presumably) and supports dual voltage. I don't, however, like the idea of being the guinea pig for this new charger.

Well, which did I choose?

I went with the NetGain charger. Only time will tell if this was a wise decision. In the end I didn't feel like the Elcon charger had a better track record than the NetGain one at this point. I have also already heard a few people complaining about Elcon's lack of support for their charger. NetGain has a good reputation for their motors they sell so I am also hoping the same level of qualty has gone into their charger. The order went out to Pioneer Conversion for the unit so I hope it arrives next week sometime.

Battery Box Update

I have been working hard on the metal welding and forming needed to complete the battery boxes. It is going a lot slower than I anticipated. I removed the two existing frame supports running directly under the bed and I am in the process of adding new supports that will provide for more battery room.
Under the truck bed before starting battery boxes. Note the two, looks like three, supports running directly under the bed. Those are the ones I removed and replaced with new supports.
Here is the oxy acetylene torch and cylinders I used for heating the metal to make my bends.
I created this low budget metal forming jig out of some cinder blocks.
Rear most battery box lateral supports (note stock supports have been cut out)
Middle battery boxes supportsOne of the middle battery boxes complete.Welding for both middle battery boxes is complete.

Fox 2 News Story Broadcast

The interview for Fox 2 aired today on the 9 pm news. It was exciting to see 30 seconds of my 15 minutes of fame. Overall I am happy with the piece. My wife sent a text message to my family and friends before it aired so some of them watched it as well. They jokingly said I should start a fan club.

You can watch it yourself off their site here. Ron did a great job talking about his truck.

A step in the wrong direction

When installing the new electric motor in the truck I made a mistake. I forgot to place the small foam piece that sits between the transmission, shifter, and the vehicle's interior. The mistake wasn't noticed until after the entire drive line was assembled. It probably isn't a critical component but I would imagine at a minimum it helps cut down on road noise.

Tonight I decided to rectify my blunder and disassemble the drive shaft and transmission mount so I could insert the missing foam part. All-in-all a fairly simple procedure but I would rather be making progress on something else rather than backtracking. Oh well.

Fox 2 Interviews Me

Paul Schankman and a vidiographer from our local Saint Louis Fox 2 station came to my home and interviewed me today about my EV conversion project. Ron Erb, fellow member of Gateway EV, was the one that actually setup the interview and will be in the final piece with me. Ron has his own custom Ford Ranger EV already completed so he thought it would be good if Paul could see a finished conversion and one in progress.

It was fun talking with him about my project and it will be cool to be on the news. I am not getting my hopes up too much though because Ron is much better at EV promotion so he will probably have most of the spot. I laid down a horindess weld bead on camera for them so I should at least have that. They will probably get calls at the station commenting about how I shouldn't be trusted with a welder.

Electric Motor is in

I spent the weekend mounting the Canadian EV adapter plate and adapter coupling to the electric motor and my transmission. It took me several attempts to get it together exactly right. My first few attempts I couldn't get the transmission shaft and the adapter coupling to mate properly. After a few hours of frustration I took a brake and searched the internet for ideas.

It ends up that I should have been using a clutch alignment tool to make sure the clutch plate was centered properly to accepts the flywheel and transmission shaft. I went to my local auto supply store (O'Reilly) and picked up the tool, it was cheap to purchase because it is just a small plastic thing but they just let me borrow one from a clutch kit they had (thanks guys!). With proper tools in hand I was able to finally get all the pieces together, although it still took a bit of work.

I then put the transmission and motor combination into the vehicle with my engine hoist. I also purchased the Canadian EV mounting kit to bolt directly into my existing frame's engine mount holes. The tricky part about this is that the holes the kit uses are actually the holes for the larger V6 ICE and not my inline 4. Chevy has all mounting holes for all engines already drilled in the frame but not all are threaded. So I had to use the kit's bolts, which are self tapping, to thread the mounting holes. You just place them in the hole and start to screw them in. The tapered end of the bolts digs into the frame and automatically thread the holes. This was not incredibly difficult to do but there was no documentation with my kit so had to figure it out on my own.
Closeup of the mounting brackets and the self tapping screws going into the frame.
Here is the top view of the engine mounted. whoopee!

Electric Motor is here!

I purchased the Advanced DC FB-4001A 144V motor off of ebay. The seller was actually the very reputable EV parts retailer Cloud Electric and I ended up getting it several hundred dollars off what they were listing it at on their site, so I was happy.

The motor is so heavy, ~ 160 lbs, that it had to be shipped freight. This means it comes on a pallet and either I have to pay extra for a lift gate truck to deliver or I have to pick it up myself from the UPS freight center in Saint Louis. I opted to save about $60 and just go pick it up myself. The freight center was an experience in itself but once I figured out where I needed to go they quickly loaded up my new motor onto the back of a f-150 I was borrowing from my father.

Once at home I couldn't wait to open it up to check it out. My model has a dual shaft so the drive shaft sticks out on both ends. Some other EV converters have used the other end to power accessories like power steering, alternator for 12V system, climate control, etc. I don't see how practical that is considering it spins at the motor's RPMs and only when the vehicle is moving. In the end I will probably not use both ends of the motor but at least I have the option.

My camera broke while the family and I were in Florida so sorry no pics. I hope to have a new one soon.