# Honda Insight EV with Hub Motors



## dinther (Oct 25, 2007)

Hello forum,

Next week I will pickup a used Honda Insight with a dud NiMH pack. It goes cheap and I think they are awesome cars.

There is a chance that the CVT is shot as well which of course will affect the price to the point that it can become a great donor car for a full EV conversion.

The regular conversion is difficult because the car has a CVT instead of a manual transmission so instead I am now thinking about ripping out the entire drive system and sell the motor.

Instead I want to install two 5KW DC Hub motors. This company seems to sell exactly the kind of parts I think I need. Their DC controller provides driving backward as well as differential so all drive needs are covered. I don't know yet how Re-Gen can be achieved so I asked them about the availability of AC hub motors. Are there any AC car hub motor suppliers?

I need the car to drive at least at 90 km/h (56 miles/hour) and it needs to be able to go up hills as well.

At this point I am open to any advice you can give me regarding this car.

Thanks.


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## mattW (Sep 14, 2007)

Just a few things you might want to take into consideration, the miniumum order seems to be 100 motors and they are exaggerating the power output (10kW) since at the highest voltage and current you will only get 9.6kW electrical, lets say its 88% efficient it will be 8.5kW... not a major difference but its a bit of a flag when the numbers don't add up. Otherwise they look reasonable. You will needs wheels that are at least 1.76m circumference to get to 90km/h at 850rpm or a 22 inch tire... 

If you can get it happening then good on you, but make sure you check out their claims and do your homework.

Good Luck
Matt


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## dinther (Oct 25, 2007)

Thanks Matt,

In the mean time I read that it is not a good idea to only power 2 wheels with great big motors. This increases the unsprung weight of the wheel and can give a rough ride.

Instead the use of 4 smaller motors is recommended. So the power rating won't be an issue but the weight per wheel still might be.

There are various Chinese electric car manufacturers like this one that offer electric cars. I have no idea how they are powered but it is a tell tale sign that most of them run at a max speed of 60 km/h

Maybe hub motors are not yet ready for EV cars. Also I am trying to find out if DC hub motors can do Re-Gen.

Most of you are probably way further down the track and have become more realistic on what can be achieved. I certainly will do my homework but there is so much to learn.


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## Jeremy (Jul 12, 2008)

One way around both the unsprung weight issue and the potential problems in getting the brakes to fit would be as discussed on another thread here, fitting the hub motors inboard and using them to drive the normal drive shafts. This should be a fairly straightforward engineering job, compared with fitting the motors in the wheels.

Jeremy


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## 1clue (Jul 21, 2008)

Warning: This is a n00b post with a related question that may help, but mostly for my own info. I did not know that hub motors were out there.

So the question: What about running the hub motor at the end of a small axle, either a straight axle ala old VW bug, or a CV joint? Wouldn't this remove the unsprung weight problem? If there is not enough room, you could maybe belt drive from above or front or rear.

Thanks.


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## TX_Dj (Jul 25, 2008)

Well, there are ways to prevent the motors from being unsprung weight- for instance, why not gut the CVT, IMS, and engine out of the engine bay and swap in a manual transmission from a wrecked Insight and build an adapter plate for that setup?


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