# Autozam AZ1 EV Project



## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Sam
Have you thought about getting a motor and reduction gear from an EV?

A Leaf motor/gearbox would fit in there - its about 100Hp - continuous - so you can probably coax twice that for a short period

Or even a Tesla unit for the totally insane


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## mistasam (Oct 19, 2014)

Definitely an option. At one point I considered a UQM + eGearDrive from EVTV, but it's heavy, and for some reason I feel like I need more power than that. A Tesla drivetrain would be awesome, but fitting it in my tiny car might be an issue.


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## ken wont (Jul 6, 2016)

It sounds like a lot of fun!

But,....before you go much farther, you need to start thinking about batteries.
200 horsepower requires a battery that can put out over 150 Thousand Watts!
You want the battery as low as possible and close to the center of the car as possible.


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## mistasam (Oct 19, 2014)

Ken -- good point. I have a decent amount of room where the original fuel tank is:










Super low and central. There's a little room up front, but not much. I'd need something with small with a high discharge rating, and just enough to get me the voltage needed for one of these motors (it seems like I'll need 400v).

Range isn't as important as power, since the car will mostly be used for autocross (a few minutes worth of racing) and commuting (I live only a few miles from work).

Any suggestions for batteries?


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## Max11 (Oct 20, 2016)

how did you make the 3d model? I suppose you used a 3d scanner? or how?

interesting project tho!


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## Duncan (Dec 8, 2008)

Hi Sam
Batteries
The best value for batteries today would be from an actual EV - you can buy new batteries but they are expensive and honestly not nearly as good
So Volt, Leaf or Tesla
Here in NZ you are going to have difficulty getting anybody to ship to you 

I got a Volt battery pack from California - the local Hot Rod company shipped it to me in their container along with all sorts of Hot Rod goodies - they have also shipped another Volt pack to a guy in Rolleston and they deliver most of their stuff to the North Island so they should be able to ship to near you

I am incredibly impressed by my Volt pack - it is very well engineered

http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/showthread.php/2012-chevy-volt-battery-93101.html


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## mistasam (Oct 19, 2014)

Max11, I used a Sense 3D scanner to get the rough dimensions and downloaded an EMRAX motor model from their site. Still not sure whether I'll go direct drive or not.

Duncan, awesome! Good to hear.. and yea I've heard amazing things about the Volt packs. Even racers that use Tesla drivetrains go for Volt batteries. They have a crazy high discharge, right? Once I settle on a motor I'll see how much space I have for batteries.


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## Otto90 (Jun 29, 2017)

mistasam said:


> Max11, I used a Sense 3D scanner to get the rough dimensions and downloaded an EMRAX motor model from their site. Still not sure whether I'll go direct drive or not.


I was told Sense is not the best choice, not accurate enough. Specialist told me, that Artec Spider is the right choice, but the price..


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## Otto90 (Jun 29, 2017)

I heard that Sense scanner gives poor quality is it true? Actually, i'm choosing a scanner for myself.


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## Archon (Jan 24, 2018)

Mistasam, any updates? I love the AZ-1, and I think this is an exciting project!


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## mistasam (Oct 19, 2014)

Archon said:


> Mistasam, any updates? I love the AZ-1, and I think this is an exciting project!


Hey Archon, I'd totally forgotten about this thread! I still want to convert the car but work/life/etc has delayed the project. After putting the AZ1 on a dyno and finding out it only makes 53hp and something like 49ft/lbs of torque, my best bet is to use a complete Zero motorcycle setup. Light-weight components, bluetooth w/ phone app to adjust regen and power, and the battery is almost exactly the same size as my stock fuel tank!

It'll still be a while until I can start the project, but it should be a lot of fun.


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

mistasam said:


> ... After putting the AZ1 on a dyno and finding out it only makes 53hp and something like 49ft/lbs of torque, my best bet is to use a complete Zero motorcycle setup. Light-weight components, bluetooth w/ phone app to adjust regen and power, and the battery is almost exactly the same size as my stock fuel tank!


It's not surprising that any Kei car has similar power to a motorcycle, but the vehicle is much heavier than a motorcycle, so the demands on the powertrain are different. Can the Zero's hardware withstand the higher sustained power output needed to propel the heavier (and higher rolling drag) car?


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## mistasam (Oct 19, 2014)

brian_ said:


> It's not surprising that any Kei car has similar power to a motorcycle, but the vehicle is much heavier than a motorcycle, so the demands on the powertrain are different. Can the Zero's hardware withstand the higher sustained power output needed to propel the heavier (and higher rolling drag) car?


Yep, the Zero motors are crazy strong so it should be fine.. they have the same power as an AC50, but at a fraction of the weight. Zero batteries also discharge at something like 10C so I'll have plenty of juice, and everything is air-cooled, so even less weight than before.

Now add a 2nd Zero motor and we're in business


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## brian_ (Feb 7, 2017)

mistasam said:


> Yep, the Zero motors are crazy strong so it should be fine.. they have the same power as an AC50, but at a fraction of the weight. Zero batteries also discharge at something like 10C so I'll have plenty of juice, and everything is air-cooled, so even less weight than before.


That all sounds like short-term burst power. Can the Zero hardware sustain this without heat problems?



mistasam said:


> Now add a 2nd Zero motor and we're in business


Effectively doubling the motor size makes sense to me. Are you thinking of a motor per wheel for rear-wheel-drive, or a motor per axle and AWD?


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## mistasam (Oct 19, 2014)

Yeah it would start heating up if it was just one motor, but 2 should spread the load a bit. Really it's going to be a short-range commuter and autocrosser, so it won't be doing sustained high speeds much. In fact it would never go over 60mph, even on the highway, because New Zealand cops are no joke 

I think the easiest/fastest way to get the car converted is to keep the gearbox and mount the motors to that. Torque vectoring and/or adding more axles in the front is way over my head, as cool as a direct-drive AWD Autozam would be.


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