# Looking to convert my '86 Nissan 300zx to electric



## S.lucero (Apr 17, 2012)

Hi all,
I'm looking to convert my first car (a 1986 Nissan 300zx 2+2) to a fully electric vehicle. 

I have a fair amount of pleasant memories tied to the car (and more money than she's worth invested  ) so I'm looking for a way to justify keeping her around... 

My other 2 rigs consist of is a big lifted jeep, and a commuter car that my wife and I commute together in every day. We (my wife and I) thought it might be good to look into an electric car to save on monthly expenses. 

I have quite a bit of cash set aside - and I'd really like to turn my old car into something I can drive just about every day, and be proud of! Hence, the electric car idea. 

Alright, so...

My skill level - professionally, I'm a mechanical engineer, with a great deal of experience in mechanical design, and fabrication! I also happen to manage a prototyping and design lab for a major university, and could potentially utilize the CNC equipment I have at work (so long as I have my own tooling, etc). 

In a nutshell, I won't have many issues with fabbing up or designing custom parts.

My target range: 60+ miles (pretty much rules out lead acid bats, right?)
Target Top speed: 70mph+ (we drive relatively fast in CA... I dont want to be a road hazard)
0-60 time: ideally, under 6 seconds (I'd love to have something very quick), no more than 8 seconds

Budget: I want this done right. Battery tech is getting better all the time, so I'd be looking to hold onto this car for a long time (it's already 25 Years old!), and upgrade (only) the batteries down the road; I want to get the rest of the system (motor and controller) rock solid. 

Part of this post is to assess how much this might run... My philosophy is that I have no issue with dumping a lot of money into a new drivetrain for this car, as it will be essentially a new car in the end. 

So, how much are we talking here? I can do the install on my garage, on my own time... I can do all the fabrication (welding and machining). 

Thanks for your help!
Steven


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## Yabert (Feb 7, 2010)

S.lucero said:


> My target range: 60+ miles (pretty much rules out lead acid bats, right?


Right! And lithium will be the major cost of this conversion.

Let say a consumation of 350 wh/mile (because you seem don't drive gently!).

350wh/mile x 60 miles = 21000 wh = 21 Kwh / 0.8 (80% discharge) = 26.25 Kwh of energy storage.
That represent roughly 10K$ of cells.

But because you need good performances, you probably need a 300v system able to output 1000A.
So, 96 cells 100Ah (96 x 3.2v x 100Ah = 30.7 Kwh (11.5K$)) can probably do the job...

A bit like this: http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59664
http://www.emotorwerks.com/cgi-bin/kits.pl


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## somanywelps (Jan 25, 2012)

Yabert said:


> 350wh/mile x 60 miles = 21000 wh = 21 Kwh / 0.8 (80% discharge) = 26.25 Kwh of energy storage.


You derped that: it's 21 TIMES .8, not divided by it.

Edit: I read it as 21000 wh of cells.

To be clear, he's suggesting 26.25kwh of *cells* with 21kwh of *usable* energy storage (80% DOD).


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## rwaudio (May 22, 2008)

somanywelps said:


> You derped that: it's 21 TIMES .8, not divided by it.


Actually he didn't..... look again.


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## drgrieve (Apr 14, 2011)

Another way to look at it is the turbo version makes around 150kw. As rough guide if peak battery power is close to ICE peak power then you should perform better than stock.

So for Calb 100ah cells with 25% voltages sag at 8C. 150 / 8 * 1.25 = 24 kw.

So that would mean around 75 100ah batteries = 75 * $120 = $9000.

A good match for the pack and power would be a warp 9 and a Soliton 1 which is around $5000. These should last a life time.


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## SCEV (Apr 10, 2012)

Yabert said:


> But because you need good performances, you probably need a 300v system able to output 1000A.


Wouldnt anything over the rated voltage of the motor (keeping voltage sag in mind) not be needed. So assuming a 25% voltage sag...170V / .75 = 227V. What benefit would you get from 300V?

I'm new to the EV game, so I could be completely wrong. PLEASE correct me if I am, I'm planning to start my 1st conversion shortly as well.


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## somanywelps (Jan 25, 2012)

SCEV said:


> Wouldnt anything over the rated voltage of the motor (keeping voltage sag in mind) not be needed. So assuming a 25% voltage sag...170V / .75 = 227V. What benefit would you get from 300V?
> 
> I'm new to the EV game, so I could be completely wrong. PLEASE correct me if I am, I'm planning to start my 1st conversion shortly as well.


Aside from voltage sag, you can reduce current load on the batteries with higher voltage. Controllers can also do this: While feeding the motor [email protected], they draw [email protected] from the batteries (ignoring sag).


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## bluefxstc (Dec 29, 2007)

Steven

I converted an 86 300 and love it. The car is relatively easy to convert. It has a fair amount of room and good aerodynamics. I have no problem getting to 80 mph and yesterday was at 46 miles and the batteries, according to the Xantrex, were 50% discharged. That is probably half freeway and half city. I figure if I needed to I could do 60 miles pretty easy. My commute is only about 22 mi round trip so I normally only charge every other day depending on side trips. Acceleration is pretty good but I am running a clutchless system so my shifting is slow which slows acceleration. That being said I don’t have any problem keeping up with traffic which is all I need. 

Is yours a turbo? If so it will be easier because you already have an eclectic vacuum pump. If not it isn’t a big deal, just go to a junk yard and pick up the vacuum pump and accumulator from a 300zx turbo. It will bolt right in and that will take care of the power brakes and vent controls. 

If I did it again I wouldn’t change much. I originally started out with a Curtis controller which has a 144 V limit. Everything was designed around 144 V. Now that I have a Soliton 1 I would add some batteries to get more range, but since I don’t need the range and the rest of my systems are set around 144 V, I am not going to change anything. Adding another 10-15 batteries would be relatively easy though and would bring the usable range safely up to 75-100mi.

Let me know if you have any questions. The Z is a great car. Nice level of comfort, cool factor and performance. 

Bluefxstc
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/garage/cars/242


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi S.lucero

As you have university connections you could try and get a modern AC motor from AC Propulsion
http://www.acpropulsion.com/products-drivesystem.html

I don't think they sell to the public but they make awesome systems


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