# My EV - Motor to power accessories



## Mr. Sharkey (Jul 26, 2007)

It's not what you asked, but why in the world are you even considering building an EV with an automatic transmission? I wouldn't say it's ~never~ been done, but I doubt that it's been done sucessfully.

Usually, EV conversions dump all of the powered accessories and run full manual systems for good reason, power accessories eat power that is better used elsewhere in the car, add unnecessary weight, -and, more importantly- add considerably to the cost and complexity of the project.

But, knowing that, if you must have those features, you're out in less charted waters of EV conversion, and will be able to tell the rest of us what works and what doesn't as a result of your experiences. One way or the other, it moves the knowledge base forward for EV'ers as a whole.


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## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

The automatic transmission is electronically controlled, and I am a computer engineering major so some modification isn't out of the question, but it can be locked into 2nd gear, and that will give me a top speed of 50MPH, and all I am looking for is 40-45 tops. I will idle the motor at around 800 RPM by using my own custom throttle with and idle control circuit. (I will only lose about 1 mile of range compared to a manual tranny)

There is one person on EV Album that has a Toyota Echo with automatic tranny and that came out pretty well. Yeah, I am devling into the uncharted spaces of EVs, so I can't wait until the Spring comes and I can take the plunge into building this thing. I am going to try a 1/2 HP motor for the accessories and see what happens.


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## Mr. Sharkey (Jul 26, 2007)

Sounds like you know what you are getting into, so I'll lay off the sermons. If you are going to have an accessories motor to run the rest of the power systems, you might want to consider adding an additional hydraulic pump that can keep the fluid pressurized in the AT, that way there would be no/less lag in acceleration from a stop without idling the motor. The clutch bands could be kept engaged when the motor is off and car is standing still.

I have doubts about the torque converter in that arrangement, I don't think it would be very effective until motor speed reached 500-750 RPM. For that matter, I don't see why you would even have to have a torque converter, electric motors don't need to have the torque band adjusted upwards like an ICE does. Use a lockout converter, or eliminate it entirely. Of course, the TC is part of the fluid flow in an AT, so you'd either have to make some kind of dummy fitting at the input shaft end to keep the fluid circulation path, or modify the internal fluid plumbing to re-route the flow. This would have the added advantage of lowering rotational mass, which you don't need with an electric motor, either.


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## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

I had not even thought of the torque converter. (I knew there was a reason I had to idle the motor...) The current torque conveter can be electronically locked into place, and I believe I can rig up something to activate the locking soleniods with the push of a button. The Honda Service Manual for this car is amazing, full of tech specs and wiring diagrams.


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## CPLTECH (Sep 14, 2007)

*Re: My EV*

Some Thoughts…
A google of this motor says it is a 6HP continuous, not a 12. There is a reason Honda did not put a garden tractor engine in this vehicle. Am I missing something? I applaud you for your desire, but why not go with a tried & tested format first. Note the upgrades current EV owners want for their "next project"… Learn from these folks.

From my brief EV experience & yrs of industrial electrical experiences, I feel you are way under sizing the motor & batteries required. Altho my S10 is 4100#, on the local X-way, on a long, gradual grade, it is doing its max speed of 45-50MPH, I figure the ADC 9” 26HP is developing 30-37HP.


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## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

The 6HP rating is the motor at 36 volts, and the 12HP is at 72 volts. I am still looking into the motors thing, but the limited space in the engine compartment and my tiny budget it is making finding a decent motor slightly challenging. EV of America qouted a A00-4009 at 12HP for my conversion, so as I of right now I am going with it. A quick calcuation shows that the way I drive the civic now only uses 27HP tops, and then turns down to 10HP or so.

Edit/Update: The ADC L91-4003 looks promising at 84volts, and has a auxilariy shaft to power the accessories. The extra cost of that motor is actually less than the accessory setup I was thinking of. Has anyone had any experience using auxilary shafts on motors for anything like this?


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## Nick Smith (Oct 26, 2007)

When I first looked into my conversion (which hasn't got past the contactor box yet) I queried the AC guy who repaired my car. His thought was that the AC compressor would need upto 2hp! Considering the weight of the auxilliary motor required to run that I have decided to go with a tail shaft driven unit. I will probably add the power steering pump to it as well. My thoughts were to adapt the existing crank pulley to fit or manufacture a new custom one. The belts are standard sections and you can buy pilot bored blanks off the shelf ready to bore and keyway - or even use a taper lock bushing.

If you go to www.electricecho.com you will find that shaun williams has a nice bracket setup to mount all his accessories too - he never did actually hook up the AC though (unless he has done it recently). As far as power drain goes - I would only need to run the AC for maybe 5 min to pull down the heat and then just keeping the fan on should be enough to keep the car cool. Also I don't want to tear it all out and then lament the fact that it is gone when it gets a bit humid!


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## RC000E (Nov 25, 2007)

I just have to add, that I don't understand the use of the auto tranny. The OBD2 Honda's use fuzzy logic for tranny control and the TCU is internal in the cars flash memory ecu. Your not only going to have to maintain unnecessary weight and components, but your adding the profound weight penalty of the auto tranny versus a manual. Not to mention your going to be unable to keep the system out of limp mode, making the tranny more inefficient.

My daily gig for the past 8 years has been modifying and building Honda's for road racing, drag, and just high powered street cars. I've done many auto to manual conversions in your year car, and it's really quite simple.

You can use a 5spd out of any 92-00 Civic, same goes with the shift linkage. You'll need to make a larger hole to accomodate the shifter, use a jumper to disable the parking switch, then just get a pedal assembly, clutch master cyl., and the lines.

The hole is already in your firewall for the clutch master cyl, and the clutch pedal assembly. You don't even need to get a 5spd brake pedal/gas pedal assembly if you dont want...you can just cut the brake pedal, or just get a 5spd brake pedal because they bolt right into the auto's assembly.

Get rid of the auto...you can drop major weight, get rid of the ecu entirely, along with the associated wiring harness. It's all plus's and it's too easy not to do.


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## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

I thought about changing to a manual, but I don't have the mulah for the parts. I only paid $600 for this car, and all I need is 2nd gear, so I will be forcing it into limp mode anyways for now. And I can't really ditch the ECU because its linked to the SRS sytem and other goodies.

But if someone were to give me a manual tranny and linkage/pedal system life would be peachy....


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## RC000E (Nov 25, 2007)

The SRS system is in no way co-dependent with the ecu. The ecu could be entirely eliminated. There is an independent SRS control unit, that is powered seperately and has it's own diagnostic control system. I convert these cars to OBD1 all the time, and SRS still maintains full function.

You could easily sell the auto tranny and buy most of what you need for the manual. If you have the budget to do all this, then you should certainly be able to swing converting it. You'd have money from the ecu, tranny, shift linkage, etc.


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## TheSGC (Nov 15, 2007)

So now I am back to finding a different motor. I only have 19 inches from my transmission to the wheel housing of the car, and I think the adapter plate configuration will be about 3 inches, so that leaves with with only 16 inches for the whole main drive motor, including the shaft. So the L91-4003 that I thought would solve the accessory motor problem won't fit.

So now I am back to motor research.


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