# Tesla Parts



## DrJeff (Apr 24, 2015)

I'm in the process of doing something similar for my project (search for TesLorean) moving Tesla tech into a DeLorean. I'm going as slow and methodically as I can and I'm still running into bumps. This is a very unique and complex project.

A couple of distinct challenges for a Tesla transplant ...

- Drive units : Controlling the units is a challenge (locked control codes), but there are solutions developing. Two methods are coming up... CAN control (search for WK057 Jason Hughes or EVTV Jack Rickard) and replacing the control electronics in the Drive Unit (search for UMC 2.0 Michal Elias) or (Edison Motors). Lots of research needed to decide what will work for you. Note: You may need to buy the drive unit with the controls as a package.

- Batteries : the Tesla batteries are ~1200lbs to get 400v. The challenge is fitting (dimensionally and weight) the battery modules into another car that wasn't designed for it (unless you're building a kit car you can modify substantially). Some have reconfigured the Tesla batteries (Edison motors) to get to 400v using 1/2 the module count (thus 600lbs), others use batteries from a Chevy Volt, and I'm using A123 batteries from a 2014 Chevy Spark. While these don't give as large a range as the full Tesla pack, they do provide 400v in a smaller/lighter package (still heavy, but within the range of a replaced engine and transmission).

- Drive Unit / Subframe : One approach is to transplant the whole drive unit subframe & wheels suspension into the target vehicle. This requires the ability to substantially modify the targets car's frame/structure, etc. Another alternative is to just transplant the drive unit, make new mounts and then 'interface' the Tesla drive unit to the subframe/wheels in the existing car. This is also not trivial and you can run into problems with axle shafts and trying to interface between the Tesla drive unit differential and the existing wheel/hubs.

- Batteries BMS : Looks like EVTV Jack Rickard is making progress on figuring out the Tesla BMS. There are 'aftermarket' solutions available (the best ones are not cheap). I've read some reports of being able to reuse BMS modules from a Chevy Volt. Suffice to say lots of research needed to establish how to manage the charge and balancing on Tesla (or any other) modules.

- Drive Units : The 90D has two drive units (front and rear wheels), using them both will depend on the target car - using both essentially means being able to design the car around them. For my TesLorean project, I'm just using a rear drive unit from a 70D, to replace the rear motor transmission. While this won't be anywhere near as powerful as a Tesla, it will be 2.5 times more powerful than the stock DeLorean. I personally think that staying within the limits of what the car was originally designed for is important - otherwise you'll really need to consider upgrading a large segment of the car's original design (e.g. suspension, brakes, steering) to accommodate the power.

- Other Tesla parts : I have collected a large number of Tesla parts and I'm 50/50 for getting them to work. Many of the Tesla parts are CAN driven or rather highly integrated with other Tesla components. Once you take them out of the CAN/Data environment they want to live in, they don't operate. For example, I was unable to 'wake up' the steering column. It is likely waiting for a CAN wakeup code, or potentially waiting to see constant CAN traffic from another module before it does anything. I recently had to buy an earlier version of a Tesla AC compressor which would be PWM controlled, as the compressor I had was CAN controlled. Without a lot of research (CAN mining) on a working Model S of exactly the same version, you might find you can control/wake up the units. One approach might be to move every Tesla control module (of which there are many) into the target car - theoretically possible but still very challenging (some attempts reported to try to transplant a whole Nissan Leaf into another car - very challenging).

Best of luck.

Jeff


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## itchyback (May 28, 2014)

+1 for what DrJEff said (well written!)

How much is a whole car in your neck of the woods?

Whole car or parts depends on your cash flow and cost and your willingness to stuff around with selling the remainder of the car. Getting the whole car might be cool to swap over all the good bits but then i think unless you can program CAN your stuck with your own unique problems making the system work outside of the tesla. I understand its possible to get the motor running with the throttle and the drive unit only. UMC and EVTV are both options available to run it but are very new so may need some tweaking. I've heard that the EVTV only provides 80% power for example, but this is only from one source. For me, i know nothing about CAN, i have a steep enough learning curve and since these options are almost plug and play, its hard to pass up. cost wise it was better for me to just buy the bits i needed.

I intend to fit the motor only as the car i have already has a rear subframe which i can modify and i think red tape means i cant go altering the chassis too much from original to fit the whole Tesla subframe. 

I read one person has hacked the Tesla bms in the last month (on hackaday), i would expect something for market in the next 1-2 years maybe? plenty of time for me and although I know BMS is desirable, a 90kw pack would get you pretty much anywhere without having to worry about range. 

I have seen some people hack the screens from a tesla, that is sexy, i'd love to have that in my ride but dont know how far from market that stuff is. i'll suffice with the UMC or EVTV units driving my analogue speedos.


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## johnzone (Oct 13, 2017)

I am looking for Tesla parts, but for truck!
Tesla Electric Truck

Anyone knows where to find it?


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

johnzone said:


> I am looking for Tesla parts, but for truck!
> Tesla Electric Truck
> 
> Anyone knows where to find it?


In Elon Musk's dreams, perhaps? You know that this is a proposed future product, not something which actually exists in production, right?


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## johnzone (Oct 13, 2017)

brian_ said:


> In Elon Musk's dreams, perhaps? You know that this is a proposed future product, not something which actually exists in production, right?


My bad then. I will wait until it gets out. It is an awesome idea IMO.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

Telsa Motors will probably build their truck, if they can convince someone to subsidize it (the Musk Model of business). The current schedule for the next publicity event for the truck is for 2017 November 16. In the meantime (and probably even then), there will be no solid information about it. 

For specific information about an actual truck - still in prototype form - from a serious automotive manufacturer which actually builds world-class heavy trucks, have a look at Mercedes: Electric truck for the city. They already have a smaller battery-electric commercial truck in production: Fuso eCanter.

We don't know anything about the Tesla Motors proposal, but it probably won't use any current production Telsa parts.


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