Choosing a Donor vehicle.

When choosing a donor vehicle it is important to consider the condition of the components as well as the weight of the vehicle. You will be scrapping the gasoline engine from the vehicle, so a donor with a blown engine might be a better buy, unless you could resell the original engine. Also realize there may be some engine components that may come in handy later on, for instance, if the vehicle has power steering or power brakes, you may need the power steering pump or a vacuum pump to help operate them when the gasoline engine is gone. Also, a manual transmission is a good choice. Shown is the Transmission from the Ranger truck which is my donor.

Choosing a Controller

Choosing a controller can be a very tricky part of the project. I recommend trying to obtain the original controller from the donating vehicle (fork lift, etc) if available at a reasonable price because it will give you options later and you know it is sized for the motor. My intention is to use the controller and contact circuits initially to get my project moving. This box of components pictured came from the same forklift as the motors. It is good to do your research though. There are options. I have also acquired a control originally used for golf carts that may also be an option, but this can limit the voltage and thus the speed of the vehicle. It can also greatly affect the distance the vehicle can travel on a charge based on the efficiency of the controller. I will update this more later.

Choosing a motor.

One of the early decisions is what type of motor to use in your vehicle. The best choice will be determined by the size of your vehicle, the weight of your vehicle, the weight of the batteries as well as the voltage and controller you will use. I recommend starting some general research to get a feel for the overall project before committing very much money to any one component. I ended up getting 2 motors from one fork lift. One was the drive motor which was gear driving the differential that directly drove the axle and wheels of the forklift. It is the larger motor in the foreground of the picture. The other motor in the background is smaller and drove the hydraulic pump that operated the lift mechanism.

This is a learning blog about Electric Vehicles.

I am in the process of building an electric vehicle. I will be exploring possibilities and learning and sharing along the way. I have already acquired a donor truck and several components, including batteries (I couldn't find a drop cord long enough). There are a lot of choices along the way, and I have chosen to save money at every turn, because many of these components can be expensive. I have chosen to try to find used components and re-purpose them to be part of an electric vehicle.

My blogs will step through the process I have completed so far, then will slow down as I proceed and hopefully complete a workable vehicle. I hope to have one that will get me to work and back, a 36 mile round trip. I am also working on some solar options, as I would eventually like to build a charging station at my home. Feel free to make comments and ask questions and make use of any links I have to resources and other blogs.

Happy motoring!