# The "FestEVa" project.



## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Hello! I've decided to share my project on this forum; mainly to get feedback from crew members as this is my first EV conversion.

*[The patient]
*A ford Festiva in all it's glory! It was donated to me, in pretty bad shape but the shell was solid enough (and light!) to consider swapping the polluting carburated 1.3L into a more environment friendly vehicle! 










After making it road worthy ($600 later) and passing the safety after 3 tries, I was ready to remove the engine. Fun times!

*[The Conversion parts]*
Saw an ad on craigslist of a EV kit for sale, a WARP motor, contactor, kelly controller, Adapter and coupler from a honda prelude, 400A fuse, PB6 pot throttle, yadda yadda for $1500, all new. Went to see it (6h return road trip) to find it was not a WARP but impulse motor. Snagged it anyways.

Local EV guru had some 6V golf cart batteries for sale, purchased 12 batteries for dirt cheap. 

Another EV enthusiast had a Curtis 1221B for sale which I also purchased.

Then out of the blue a neighbor offered me another load of parts from a failed conversion including a Paktrakr system - score!

So far I gathered:

- Curtis 1221B 400A controller
- 72V worth of 6V lead batteries. Thinking of going 96V shortly
- Netgain Impulse motor
- Adapter from a Prelude modified for the festiva tranny
- PB6 throttle pot, 400Amp fuse, Breaker
- Paktrakr 600 system

*[Adapter design]
*I started with a honda prelude adapter and decided to modify it for the festiva. Used a auto-center punch to find the "new bolt holes" for the adapter.










Had to create a notch for the drive shaft:









Tranny bolts up and is centered.









*
[Coupler design (in progress)]
*I have decided to remove the crankshaft of the ICE, cut the end off and drill to 1"1/8 to fit the impulse motor. Purchase a drill press and started to drill from 1/16" to 1"1/8 (in progress). Yes I realize this is probably not going to work (needs to be very precise). So far so good though.










*[Battery box design]
*With some inspiration of this board and evalbum, I decided to use angle irons to create 4 different battery box.

Box 1: Designed to be installed where the gas tank was. 5 Batteries total will fit this space.


















Work still in progress to create enclosure. Debating between sheet metal and plastic (polypropylene).

Box 2: Designed to go at the right side of the spare tire well (I'm keeping the spare).
















Work still in progress, obviously.


I appreciate any thoughts and constructive criticism


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Also working on the heater, 1500W ceramic that is going into the stock heater box.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Got much done since last post (gosh this is a tough crowd!)

More pics............ 






























Got more work done on the battery racks. Man, this is really the boring part of the project. Weld, grind, drill, paint, repeat ... ugh!!




















Hey don't be shy to comment. I realize it's not the most elegant project on here but I do appreciate any help.


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## tomofreno (Mar 3, 2009)

mk4gti said:


> Got much done since last post (gosh this is a tough crowd!) More pics............Hey don't be shy to comment. I realize it's not the most elegant project on here but I do appreciate any help.


 How do you plan to make a water tight seal between the battery boxes and the car body? The impulse looks like a nice fit, and good price on the parts! You will likely want higher voltage - depending on how zippy you want it. Another consideration is the ceramic heater must have a resistance that will work with the pack voltage to give the rated power output. My first one only put out around 1kW because I couldn't get enough current through it. I know kta-ev sells ones for different pack V's.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

tomofreno said:


> How do you plan to make a water tight seal between the battery boxes and the car body?



Thanks for the comments. 
Was thinking of corrugated plastic, is that any good for battery boxes?

As far as pack voltage, I don't think this light car can take much more lead at 6v. How bad of a range reduction can I expect if I go with 8v floodies (96v) or 12v at 144v? Lithium is my goal, just want to 'prove' the concept before throwing $5k at a $500 car.


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## dladd (Jun 1, 2011)

how did your motor coupling work out, did you end up using the drilled out crankshaft? Have you spun it up on 12v?


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

dladd said:


> how did your motor coupling work out, did you end up using the drilled out crankshaft? Have you spun it up on 12v?


The drilled out crankshaft turned out to be a complete failure. Although the keyway hole is perfectly centered using a digital caliper there was a significant wobble. To anyone going this route, it would be a better idea to find a lathe or a machine shop. I tried 3 machine shops locally and they all declined the job; so I gave it a shot.

I used the coupler that came with the motor. The coupler was for a honda prelude flywheel (8 holes). I filled the festiva flywheel bolt holes with mig spit and redrilled to match the honda pattern. The result was good, no wobble!


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## Salty9 (Jul 13, 2009)

Way to go. The project seems like series of WOOT moments. (There is a lot of definitions for WOOT. I meant Wonderful loot)


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Salty9 said:


> Way to go. The project seems like series of WOOT moments. (There is a lot of definitions for WOOT. I meant Wonderful loot)


Indeed. The best moment so far was installing the motor (took 45 minutes!) and seeing the wheels turn when 12v was applied (car was jacked up)


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

More progress on the battery racks. Mocking up the front rack. Tight fit!



















Started mocking up the component box and controller mount




























Thoughts, comments?


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## powerhouse (Apr 1, 2011)

Dang, awesome work!!
You're moving right along


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Well I've made enough progress to start "testing the concept". Next step is wiring up the high voltage portion... Any last minute advice before I zap myself


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Great fortune! The HV side is hooked up without sparks or any 9-1-1 calls !

Jacked up the front, turned on the breaker and turned the key on, mashed the pedal and yes!!! Wheels are spinning. The tires are supposed to turn counter clockwise, right?

Got a half grin already. Need to get it plated next before the maiden voyage.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Wow! tough crowd. I guess non-lithium projects are frowned upon these days. 

Drove it up and down the driveway... Pretty smooth


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## Batterypoweredtoad (Feb 5, 2008)

mk4gti said:


> The tires are supposed to turn counter clockwise, right?


Depends on which side of the car you are standing on!  

Keep the updates coming. I am watching.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Batterypoweredtoad said:


> Depends on which side of the car you are standing on!


LOL I realise that now. .. was caught in the moment I suppose. having 5 reverse gear must su*k !


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Wired up the amp meter and volt meter today. Also installed the paktraker. What a cool gadget !

pics soon.


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## Mark C (Jun 25, 2010)

I've been following along, and appreciate your efforts. I know the mantra is "lead is dead," but I haven't built a lead or lithium EV yet, so I am humbled by all who have a functioning EV. 

If the goal is a fairly short range commuter in an area where traffic is fairly civilized, a lead conversion may work just fine for you. It hasn't been all that long ago when most conversions were FLA batteries and people showed them off proudly.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Thanks Mark.

So I've made it 6x around the block (total 6 km) with a big grin  Power wise it's not too bad. I think for around town it will be fine for now.

The bad news is my used batteries are toast. I think my current range is around 10km. Paktrackr is pretty good at identifying the failing batteries, so I will try to swap the weak ones with spares I have.

It's such a cool project !


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

So although everything seems to work "as planned", I'm kinda disappointed with lead and thinking of jumping to lifepo4 cells. Can I get some help choosing the right pack ?

My target range is 35 miles (no highway). 
I have:
Impulse 9 motor
Curtis 1221b 400A controller
Albright SW200 contactor

Would 38x 100ah cells be enough considering it's cold here (need heat)


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## lazzer408 (May 18, 2008)

mk4gti said:


> The bad news is my used batteries are toast.


http://www.golflink.com/how_6557_repair-golf-cart-batteries.html


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Thanks lazzer, will try that.



mk4gti said:


> So although everything seems to work "as planned", I'm kinda disappointed with lead and thinking of jumping to lifepo4 cells. Can I get some help choosing the right pack ?
> 
> My target range is 35 miles (no highway).
> I have:
> ...


Still looking for advice.
On another note, I replaced a failing battery with one I had as a spare (thanks paktrakr!) and got 12 miles on a charge (stop & go).


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## drgrieve (Apr 14, 2011)

Can you measure your current wh/mile? This would make the calculation fairly simple.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

240 Wh / mile (per average)

So if I understand the math correctly:

240Wh *35 miles / .8 (safety) = 10.5kw hour pack required.

Sooo considering Lipo is 3.2v and I'd like 120v pack (38 cells):

10.5kwh / 120v = 87.5 ah ??

How can I factor in the loss for running the car in the cold plus using the heater ?


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## Tatsushige (Mar 24, 2011)

WOW ... Fantastic Project ... In Australia the car was a Mazda 121. Great car for the city ...


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## drgrieve (Apr 14, 2011)

mk4gti said:


> 240 Wh / mile (per average)
> 
> So if I understand the math correctly:
> 
> ...


Are you driving 35 miles every day? For a every day figure size the pack so that you are @60% DOD. The 80% is meant to be maximum range. (Although if you bottom balance you can go to 100% in emergencies).

So 240 * 35 / .6 = 14 kWh.

Why the 120 volts?

But yes 14000 / 120 = 120ah. Calb cells come in 100 or 130. Using the 100ah would bump the voltage up to 140.

Running in cold can be mitigated by insulating the battery box and running a low wattage heater while charging. There are a few threads on this on the site.

Sizing for heater is fairly easy. Choose the heater size (not sure maybe 1kw to 2kw - have a look at other threads) then multiply this by your expected run time in hours (how long to drive the 35 miles) then divide by 0.6. 

At a guess add 2 or 3 kwh to your pack. So instead of 14 go to 16.

16000 / 120 = 133. A calb 130ah can be got for around $160. So that would be around 6k.


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## dladd (Jun 1, 2011)

mk4gti said:


> 240 Wh / mile (per average)
> 
> So if I understand the math correctly:
> 
> ...


I've observed up to a 30% loss in available energy in the winter, due to voltage sag and heater usage (which on my car is 18a at 150v whenever the heater is running). Looks like a 120v / 100Ah pack might be perfect for you. I'd think your stats should be very comparable to dtbaker's, his car is similar sized (and I think even uses the same controller?), and that's the pack he's running.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

dladd said:


> I've observed up to a 30% loss in available energy in the winter, due to voltage sag and heater usage (which on my car is 18a at 150v whenever the heater is running). Looks like a 120v / 100Ah pack might be perfect for you. I'd think your stats should be very comparable to dtbaker's, his car is similar sized (and I think even uses the same controller?), and that's the pack he's running.


Thanks for your post. I agree 100Ah would be sweet ($5K ish) considering they would fit in my battery box without major hacking.

Funny you mention dtbaker's conversion; I learned much from his blog. Major respect !

He doesn't get near the bitter cold of Canadian winters so 100Ah might be a tad small for my needs.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Back from another 10 mile run (groceries). Car handled like a champ in the snow we are getting today. My heater is not hooked up yet so it was cold-ish inside the cabin.

I'm hoping the range will increase more as the weather warms up.

Can someone help me out with some lithium lingo ? What does bottom balancing mean ? Is it having an alarm when the lowest cell reaches X voltage ?
What about top balancing? Is it a signal sent to the charger to stop charging when the first cell reaches X voltage? What is the meaning of "C"

I know, newbie LOL


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## Ziggythewiz (May 16, 2010)

If you watch any EVTV you will learn all about bottom balancing. Jack Rickard has put together an 85 part series on the finer arts of bottom balancing, you should be able to watch it all in a week or two.../jk

Balancing is matching the voltage of all the cells so they run out or fill at the same time. Because lithium runs at 3.2 for most of a cycle, you can only do it when nearly empty, or nearly full, hence bottom or top balancing.

Basically bottom balancing makes it safer to go to a lower discharge level, while top makes it safer to charge to a higher level, any more details than that and we risk bloodshed...I've likely gone too far already.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

*new pictures*

New pictures of the project... Feel free to comment.












































chargers

















Also testing a proximity sensor for the stock festiva RPM display. Looks promising.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Installed the proximity sensor on the motor and wired it up nicely. RPM was "jumpy" at first so I moved the sensor closer to the two "set screws" I used as "ferrous". The sensor I used was a PNP Normally open LJ18A3-5-Z/BY. $8 on ebay.*
*


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Ordered and received 130AH cells from Calib USA. Keegan is really a good guy to deal with! I am in the process of "middle balancing" them.

Ordered the mini BMS through CleanPowerAuto and received it within a week. 

Waiting on an Elcon 2500W charger from EV assemble. 

This weekend I started "taking the lead out", sad after all that effort!

Hoping that after all that I can have a good, green, commuter car !

Stay tuned.


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## Mark C (Jun 25, 2010)

Thanks for the update. It's always great to share in the joy of making progress. 

I like the box you made to contain shunts and breakers and such under the hood.


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## mk4gti (May 6, 2011)

Thought I'd update the project. Added 10 more lithium cells this summer for a total of 49 cells (156v system)

I am driving the car every day now. 3500 EV miles so far!

A couple of pics of the current setup.


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## samwichse (Jan 28, 2012)

I like that you left the unleaded fuel only tag on there


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