# Planning 2013 Hyundai Elantra sedan conversion



## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

Boydrone said:


> 2. My car is a daily car, so I'd love to get something around 250-300 kms/charge, best case, +/- 10%
> 3. Performance? Not sure how to answer this since all I think of EVs are energy savings. Although coming from an engineering background and knowing a thing or two about vehicle performance, if you're asking, I was 200+ ft.lbs torque  haha
> 4. Budget? Say 7500k CAD?


The combination of these suggests that a viable option might be to simply buy a used production EV, which in Canada is most likely to be a Nissan Leaf. Even if you are interested in building something, trying out a fully-developed vehicle might give you baseline to better understand what you want.

AutoTrader Canada - Nissan Leaf in Ontario
Building your own will not likely be any cheaper than a used Leaf, unless you use all salvaged components.

If you don't have an alternate vehicle, so you need to have this car as a daily driver, you'll need to get an additional car anyway, since a conversion will take a significant amount of time.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

Boydrone said:


> 7. How do you decide/determine where the battery pack should be installed?


The primary consideration:
Where is there a large enough space (not just volume, but a shape that can fit the chosen cells)?

A secondary consideration that is so far down the list that most builders seem to almost entirely disregard it:
Where would the extra mass be best located for balance and dynamics?


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

Boydrone said:


> 8. Can the stock transmission be used from an ICE conversion?


Yes, and it often is. It provides the gear reduction needed, and in the case of front-wheel-drive cars such as the Elantra it also includes the needed differential. The multiple gear ratios help by keeping the motor at a more desireable speed, although the right motor doesn't need this, and production EVs generally use only a single-speed transmission.

Automatic transmissions are more difficult to work with and less efficient; most people use manual transmissions.

Adapters can be custom-made, and are available ready-made from some suppliers, such as CanEV. There is unlikely to be a ready-made adapter for a Hyundai, which is a reason to buy a car to convert for which you can get the parts... and then sell off the original car.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

Boydrone said:


> 9. What are the options behind installing an EV kit on the rear wheels on a fwd car to have the best of both worlds of AWD is turned on? I know, I'm making this too complicated...


If you mean electric on the rear and keeping the gas engine on the front... that works, it is becoming a common AWD hybrid design, and yes it is too complicated to be practical as a DIY conversion. 

Whether as a hybrid or as an all-electric conversion, starting with a front wheel drive car to make an AWD is unnecessarily difficult, since the rear suspension and hubs will not likely accommodate being driven. Just start with one of the many AWD cars.

Also, the "kits" which are available are generally nothing more than a motor, controller, and maybe transmission adapter and/or battery; they don't handle the substantial issues of mounting hardware and integration with the base vehicle. This is not a read-the-instructions and bolt-it-in exercise!


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi
Modifying a car to "save money" is not really feasible
If you want an EV to drive the best way these days is a second hand production EV

The roll your own option is only viable if you want something that is uniquely yours - like any other modified car!

Details
250 - 300 Km range is difficult - 100 km is relatively easy but it gets more and more difficult the further you want to go
$7,500CAD - not really - if you need 250 km then double that


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## Boydrone (Oct 14, 2017)

Duncan said:


> Hi
> Modifying a car to "save money" is not really feasible
> If you want an EV to drive the best way these days is a second hand production EV
> 
> ...


I see! Ok, well, this was the feedback I was looking for to see what is/isn't realistic to expect in a mod like this. I'm totally into modifying cars, and at one point, I was contemplating swapping my car out for a higher performance vehicle, but then thought that it would be more economical to ride out this car for a bit longer. SOOO.... the plan now is (after 6 years of ownership), to drive this beast for another 3-4 years, and convert it to an EV if its viable.

the 250-300 kms is a huge stretch goal. I wouldn't use the vehicle for more than 100 kms a day anyway, so its promising that you'd mentioned that 100 kms is viable. I currently drive <50 kms a day to and from work, and we have 240V chargers at work as well, so I'm not too concerned about the range. 150kms wouldnt be nice as a backup just in case I need to see a friend that lives far or something, but its not necessary.

so lets say I edit my OP to ~100-125 kms for range. let's re-evaluate. Whats the deal with the alternate voltage requirements?


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## Boydrone (Oct 14, 2017)

Duncan said:


> Hi
> Modifying a car to "save money" is not really feasible


Forgot to mention, the goal would be to prolong its life and be more economical. If/when the time comes for this car to begin falling apart through the drivetrain, I wouldn't mind being prepared with a plan.


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Re - voltage requirements

Couple of things - too low is bad - less than about 140 v is not going to cut it for a road car

The production EV's are all 300 - 400 v

Basically higher the better - BUT
You are limited by what your controller can handle - there is a lot of stuff available at the 150v range


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