# What's this AC motor Good for?



## major (Apr 4, 2008)

EVictor said:


> What's this Leeson 7.5 hp 1740 rpm 3 phase motor, 230-460 volts, 1 3/8" shaft good for? Strong enuff for a car or just a go kart?


Not enough for a car and too much for a cart. Anyway, you got a controller and 300 volt battery for it?

major


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## EVictor (May 15, 2009)

Thanks for your quick reply.

No, i have nothing as yet. My priorty is to get my hands on cheap motor first. I will later look for donor and accesssories. I'm pretty patient, so i might be a while before I get a good catch.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

if budget is your primary goal, figure out what type of vehicle (car or go-kart) and look for a motor appropriately sized.

Look out for forklift motors... they're DC motors and cheaper to get running.

AC Inverters (and a stack of 300V worth of batteries) isn't cheap.


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## davidru (Apr 12, 2009)

Not to dispute the wisdom of far smarter and more senior members of this forum , but I think this motor might be about the right size for a light on road ev. Take a look at this thread in the evdl http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/evdl-ac-motor-we-need-30104.html Industrial motors are rated very conservatively, and are rated for continuous power. For an ev, we need lots of torque for starting from rest, but don't need 100hp continuous.

One of the replies near the end has a link to Otmar's site with pics of the GM EV-1 induction motor. Note the size of the rotor, it's pretty close to your 10hp industrial motor. The key is the way the windings are configured. Most 4 pole industrial motors have 2-4 windings on each phase in series, you just have to cut some wires and parallel them (ok, maybe not quite that easy). No, I haven't tried this, so yeah, call me names, I'm used to it.

The problem isn't the motor, it's getting an appropriate inverter (controller) to drive an induction motor. There are several folks in this and other forums working very hard on building induction motor controllers (samborambo, etischer, and technologic come to mind), so there may yet be hope.


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## frodus (Apr 12, 2008)

davidru said:


> The problem isn't the motor, it's getting an appropriate inverter (controller) to drive an induction motor. There are several folks in this and other forums working very hard on building induction motor controllers (samborambo, etischer, and technologic come to mind), so there may yet be hope.


Bingo, IF an inverter exists that takes DC and converts to 3-phase, and can be tuned to this motor.... the next obstacle is cost.

There's hope, and things are gaining momentum though.


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## major (Apr 4, 2008)

davidru said:


> but I think this motor might be about the right size for a light on road ev.


Yeah, david,

What you say is possible, but I don't think it is what the original poster had in mind.

Regards,

major


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## EVictor (May 15, 2009)

Thanks to all that reply.

I've read that you want to get the heavier motor by Hi Torqe.

what should I be looking for?

HP?
Voltage?
RPM?

Also I saw a Bug for sale that has only 6 six batteries, is that minimum it'll take?

Since this will be my first project, I don't want to spend to much. Another word, i just want to build a DX(base) version not the LX or EX yet.

Maybe I should just try a go kart first before I go to a car.


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## EVictor (May 15, 2009)

*Ebay*

Is this doable?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BOMB...s?hash=item3ca1f1169a&_trksid=p4506.m20.l1116


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