VW Bug Electric Conversion Project
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- Опубліковано 27 лют 2020
- I converted a VW Bug into an Electric Car! Here's my first test-drive and a brief summary. I'll be putting together more videos about the process, so stay tuned.
www.drzzs.com
drzzs.com/BugController EV Bug Motor Controller
(www.ebay.com/itm/300A-200V-72...)
drzzs.com/96vTo12v EV Bug DC-DC Converter
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I cannot believe our two conversion projects use the exact same motor, controller, pedal, and battery pack specs. This is uncanny. It's like finding out you have a long-lost twin. Congrats on your build!
really?!?! how's yours going? I've had trouble getting the motor controller to output enough current to get the car going more than about 25mph. If you've got the same one I'd love to hear how it's going.
This is trippy. I bought a 69 beetle here in Australia about 4 years ago same color. For 300 without a engine with same idea. But project has been forgotten for bit. But decided I will sus out if any new builders with forklift motors and here you are.
even 3 years old it is a great story fun to watch and a car maybe build here, not far away in Lower Saxony
The biggest advantage is that you took care for the body and did not instantly cut out parts cause you have a genuine, while others simply cut away everything.
Thanks! It's a fun challenge and someday it will be at its full glory!
Here, here! Probst
This is awesome! looks like all your hard work paid off in a big way. Looking forward to seeing the rest of the project!
Thanks! I'm excited to keep going too.
Wow! That was surprisingly affordable for a project. Great work! Also the views you guys have are incredible! What a gorgeous location for a city.
I love how honest and fluid the video feel, definitely gonna try to build my vw bug after I finish my automotive degree
Hey Doc. Love seeing this. It's a great alternative to the HA stuff. Love what you've done.
For basic entertainment Android Auto would work, but using a Pi would allow you to even run a basic Home Assistant install in it and have a lot more stuff.
Been waiting for a while to see this, awesome job! Cant wait to see more and learn why you done some of the things you done.
If you want to go bare metal, you can have all the panels you can take off dipped in stripper. A powder coating place here in Kentucky has a huge tank. They could probably dip the whole car.
Thanks for sharing! Look forward to the opportunity to learn from your wins and failures.
Great to see this exciting project progressing. I've a 1962 Landrover that's been sat in a field for 10 years waiting for some love and attention.... maybe, just maybe....!
Awesome! Been following the process for a while now, nice to see it out on the road. Congrats!
Thanks! It's a pretty cool accomplishment.
I've been interested in e-cars for 30 years! I built one around a Fiat 128 back in the '80s. I used a military aircraft starting motor and lead-acid batteries. It was moderately successful! I gave up on DIY eventually.. I now have two Chevy Volts. I'm in Utah County... Old bugs are a very good platform for a DIY project.
That is pretty cool. I have the very same thought in the back of my mind, but will probably never do it. Btw, awesome place you live in, majestic mountains in the background.
Very coool. So great to hear the kids laughing and participating. Blessed.. ;)
They were pretty happy about it :)
I would love to see the finished look of the VW. I’m a big fan, you are the man!
Awesome project 😁👍🏼 looking forward to see the upcoming process, greetings from Germany 🇩🇪
Thanks!
Nice! Fun project kudos for going full diy and finding your our components and suchZ
Great ingenuity and a great job ! Well done !
Nice job! Looks like a lot of fun.
Great job man! I'll have to come check it out sometime.
Fantastic!! Hope to see the next material and future tasmotize
Looking great - well done on getting it moving - harder than most people would understand
that's for dang sure!
Absolutely enjoyed this video, I love also your area such breath taking sights..
It's okay to admit you wish your dad was more like this guy when you were a kid. It's okay.
battery tech at the time wouldn't allow it with any amount of practicality. Pops just restored vw's instead, warrantied street or strip engines too- out of a glorified shed with shoddy roof and gravel floor. Now days he gets to pick and choose what he wants to build and turns most work away. but golf carts are cool.
Congrats Doc !
I'm jealous. Such a fun project.
Nice work Dr Zzs. I'm building an electric Jeep Liberty myself. Fun stuff!
well done bro
Hey Amigo! Thanks!
Cool !! I used to put a sandbag in the front of my '68 bug to keep it down :)
I'm thinking I'll move the battery up there until I get a second battery pack.
Me too but it was a 62 Corvair..
@@slidewazethe old engine fell out? Ba ha ha. Just kidding
It looks like you have a motor from a Hyster E50XM2. That motor is an SEM (seperately excited motor) or shunt wound motor not a series wound motor. That's why the original motor had only 8-10 gauge field cables and 2/0 armature cables. You might try to get the traction controller from the forklift that you took the motor out of. I believe it is a 600 amp controller.
.
That’s awesome I am doing up a 2004 Saturn I will be starting on in the spring. I have a lot to learn yet.
This is so great! Well done, I'm looking forward to your build videos because I'm busy restoring an early Beetle gearbox with the intention of fitting a forklift motor. I've designed the adaptor plate and battery boxes for Nissan Leaf modules and my gearbox is almost together. I'd like to see how you manufactured your coupler because getting that wrong at 3000 rpm could be explosive :-)
Dr Zzz great job. This is an awesome project.
thank you!
Good job 👍 I saw that Nissan Leaf in the background 😎
cwl vid literally gave more help than anyone within the first 2 minutes of play thanks
Awesome! So looking forward to your build series. (Tried building an ev in 79~80 so I can totally relate) Sub'd.
Thanks man! It's been a lot of fun. I'll do a few more for use.
That is amazing!!! Very impressive!!!
Love it. Love how there seems to be more freedoms in your country to do a project like that and be allowed to drive it on the road.
He's not allowed to drive that on the road. There's no country that will let you. It needs certificates n shit.
As long as he gets the safety required items (headlights tail lights and turn signals) working and pays taxes. He can run it in most USA states.
Ironically this LiFePO4 chemistry is what Tesla Shanghai is moving too. Just wildly more advance packaging. Man seems like now is a good time to do Convertion Builds as the knowlege base and parts are available. I started looking into BEV builds in the early 2000s when stuff like Inverter Motor Controllers were hard to obtain. Glorious hard work project car you have there, it will feal sweeter that you built it your self.
I'm actually in the middle of converting a motorcycle to electric and I chose LiFePO4 cells largely because of the stability of the chemistry and the superior longevity. Was able to source some 38120 hp cells new. Should be a fun build.
Awesome. congratulations! Should use an ESP(or similar) with current clamp to monitor current real time on a dial in the dash!
Damn Z, that is cool stuff. My first car back in 1976 was a 61 beetle! Would love to have an electric beetle.
I had one in HS too. They are fun. Making it Electric takes out most of the hassle. I was constantly fixing mine so I could get to school the next day.
Whoo-hoooo! Way to go Doc and congrats for getting it going. Looks like a fun ride. :-)
It is fun!
@@DrZzs Lol, good stuff.
This is the best project. Love it. Inspired by it. Hey instead of raising those seats up, what do you think of cutting the roof down? (i.e. chop top)
It'd be interesting to see how much you can computerize this thing.
Cool Build.
Love it! Cant wait for more!
Love All your Videos- From the RGB leds, Home Assistant- Raspberry Pi - Etc....Im Also a Destiny 2 Guardian, Master Mechanic by trade, New to home Automation-- Thank you for Sharing and Teaching- Im A few years behind you but on my way- Keep up the good work-
Awesome video. Be nice if you answered or took care of the slow speed with the higher voltage. Perhaps I’ll see the answer in another of your videos. Well done on the project 👍
You were so excited... i kept thinking the popo was going to pull you over any minute.
So did my wife ;)
great progress, enjoy :)
Thanks!
Fantastic I’ve been thinking about doing this project for years but been afraid to attempt it.
Thanks! I'll sure pass on everything I've learned so far. It's been a lot of fun.
DrZzs I’ve also been tempted to build an electric motorbike or snowmobile as a stepping stone to a car.
Very Cool, Good for you Doc! I heard Telsa was switching to Li Phospate batteries too. Hopefully, the price will come down for you to get another one.
been waiting for this vid Doc 👍👍
Awesome, very cool. Keep in mind if you are using the type 1 trans they are very weak
just got done watching, awesome content dude. can't wait to see what you do I think many people are gonna like this. good theory about using Android or pi to read or show the info. I wonder how developed something like that would be seems quite niche.
Hey Doc, if you are thinking of putting a carputer in there, you should have a look at crankshaft. it’s an open source project that has android auto, Bluetooth, touch controls and some other features. It looks like a cool project!
Good to see a economic conversion. I have also been trying to economize. I'd say your dc motor is much faster than my modest ac motor. :)
I was thinking about using 4 golfcart motors.one for each wheel. Technically I think I have it figured out except for how it works.when u corner, some should slow down, ect the 4wd part. Great work u did here u allmost done with the hard part. The rest is elbow grease work.
Love it!! Wondering how it’s going since the update. :-)
Nice exiting video
Been watching your home automation stuff forever man, keep those up, but this finally got me to subscribe. Awesome stuff!
Thanks!
That's good to hear. I'll keep doing Home Automation and LED stuff too.
Congratulations. Take a current reading from the motor as well as the battery, you will find at low speeds the motor current is much higher than the battery current. For more rpm, increase battery voltage.
Freaking cool project!! Still very strange to are your whole body instead of a floating head😂
Can't wait for all that footage you've not posted yet about getting it to this point :)
Awesome project, Doc! Does this setup includes some sort of ECU? A fault tolerant CAN bus perhaps? This gonna be an adventure for you, and for us the viewers too!
Sounds like you know more about it than I do. The motor controller has the ability to communicate some info through rs-232, but when I tried connecting to it all I got was gibberish.
@@DrZzs I'm used to fiddle with my car setup to use basic stuff like engine fault diagnostic , etc. Fossil fuel engines are mostly (60%) using the CAN bus protocol and the LIN protocol in slower devices like in door nodes, {switches, window motors etc). The funny thing is i saw a CAN protocol integration initiative for HA too on their forums. Welcome home, Doc! 😁 For Rs232, you meant the 485 Modbus variant?if so then Rs485 is using differential signals for the physical layer, it must be converted to rs232.
My first thought: Could you flip the rear axle transmission and point the engine towards the front of the car? If yes, that might have given you more room for the engine and better weight distribution with the engine more towards the middle of the car. Really radical would be 'Could you point the engine upward?"
Entertaining. Im sure that powerplant is not the last that bug will see.
Very cool project ;)
Man, I'm so happy that UA-cam decided to recommend this video to me. I'm really interested in the whole process of making an electric car. I mostly try to find electric motorcycles but you video was great too. I can't wait for the "prequels" :D
Great work keep it up
do you have a parts list and build cost (time and $).
I'm curious about the efficiency and top speed of the forklift motor and how it works with the gearing. Other conversions I've seen talk about leaving it in one gear for anything other than mixes of steep hill starts and freeway runs.
Very cool project, I look forward to seeing how you progress with it. I was quite surprised to hear that you bought the motor controller from Hungary.. Is it a special designed circuit or simply just the price was unbeatable? 🙂
Thanks
There's a guy on eBay that makes these motor controllers. He's got a lot of different current/voltage ratings too. Just so happens he's from Hungary. So far it works really well.
Your controller needs a real good finned heatsink with a good fan to keep it cool. You need a controller with a minimum of 600 amps peak and better if you can have more since you are running a low voltage system. 96 volts is minimal voltage for a street vehicle. Mine started out as a 72 volt then up to 96 then up to 120 and then up to 156. I started with a 64 Ghia then upgraded and now I currently have a 62 Bug. I ran it with an 11” Kostov Motor and now Im going to put in an AC 35 with the 650 amp controller and run this at 120 volts. Best to invest in a proper motor adapter. I currently have one from EV West and Im utilizing their 200mm Porsche Flywheel and Interference fit coupler. Currently no motor resides in my beastie. Just getting things ready. I do use LiFePO4 cells. Going to try Nissan Leaf Modules.
Am I watching some car rebuild show on Discovery Channel? This was awesome. 🎉
Ha! I love those shows!
Nice one Doc. :)
The speed limitations of your bug would have very little to do with the weight of the vehicle. The fork truck that the motor came out of weights way more than the bug, f memory serves,,, electric fork truck motors are designed more for torque than for rapid RPMs. That being said, a higher rate of speed would require different gear ratios. VERY NICE JOB !!!
thanks
When I had the car off the ground we ran the motor and got the wheels spinning at 80 mph, so I know it's capable of the speed. The change was asking the motor to push the car requires more current than the battery can provide. The motor can handle 500 amps (at least that's what the fuses in the forklift were rated at), but the battery can only output 100 amps continuously.
I'll get it going faster ;)
@@DrZzs Hi Dr. ! I just purchased the same controller brand but I chose the 500Amp model. My 2 cents after 8yrs working with conversions: LiFePO4 cells can provide 2C continuous, in some cases 5C or 8C peak! So if your cells are 100Ah, you should easily get 200Amps continuous, and theoretically up to 800Amp for 5 seconds (with a 1000Amp controller). I have used LiFePO4 100Ah too, the peak amperage I got was 360amps for some seconds, using a 500Amp Controller. So I believe the problem is your controller's model OR configuration. Have you checked there is no current limit? Your controller is rated for 300A for 5 seconds, 200A cont... There is also a chance you have bad batteries or brand, some chinese brands build bad cells, with wrong specs and materials. What brand and model are you using? Have you MEASURED if your pack really provides you 80AH or 90AH? Don't try to get the full 100Ah as you may lower your battery life. I've used CALB, they are good, I get 90% AH easily. I changed cells in my VW Bug last year and I get 120Mile range and a top speed of 85MPH using DC 9" motor and a 500A controller, 96Volt pack 300Ah. I get 300Amps peak from the battery pack, due to the BMS AMP limit, and I'm very happy with the car. I'm making a new VW Bug conversion with 156V nominal, a classic 1957 beetle, I hope to finish it in a month or so. Best regards.
The steel will rust under the clear coat. We call it 'spider legs'. (I build unusual tandem bikes). I would suggest silver paint, maybe chrome like metalic, for more durability and less paint prep.
Congratulations! Are you going to have heat or A/C? Interested to see how you develop the controls. It's so flat in your subdivision, then BAM! there's a mountain in someone's backyard. No foothills per se like what we have here in the southeast. Do you ever climb up to the top of them? How high are they?
No AC or Heat. Just windows down or wear a coat :)
I've climbed several of the big mountains you can see in the video. The tallest are just over 11,000ft tall. The elevation at our house is about 4000ft. I haven't tried driving on a hill yet. I think right now it would probably slow down quite a bit.
Love to see amitures take on a challenge and win. It means the corperares don't have all the answers.
Carbon fibre fenders and led lights
Now You Just Need An Old Fiberglass Wide Eyed, 7 pc Baja Kit + Nerf Side Bars! I Used To Build Them Back In The 1970's! LOL G@@D Job! Thanks
i'd love to see a tachometer that shows the wattage on this thing with a fuel tank meter that shows the Watt-hours left in the battery pack. Also i suggest making or getting a single speed transmission because thats how electrics work.
Well Done
Good job, sir! I would have made a temporary mount for those switches to have them near the steering wheel to make them more accessible for test drives. But I would have had to make it as far as you have with the conversion before thinking about that.
Thanks friend :) Everyone was there to see the test drive so I had to through a couple things together last minute. I'll mount those switches and the pedal soon.
that combo, assuming the controller is capable of 500 amps , should be capable of 48000 watts, more HP than the car had , and about double the torque. premade battery packs often have a bms limiting the output wayy too low for the application , hence people end up making their own,.
Glad you learned something but if I get an electric car the Nissan leaf is practically being given away because range issue. Bad range they are getting 50 miles range. Good video.
Subbed!!!
A second battery pack could go in the front to balance the weight a little as well.
I'm counting on that!
Nice!
Thanks for sharing! I was thinking of doing something similar, but was considering using a pre-made kit to convert a bug. The bigger problem for me I think is going to be height. I am 6'2" and concerned that I might not fit behind the wheel. Looking forward to seeing the progress; best of luck on next steps!!
I'd like to try the kit. I just can't justify the $$$ they want for it. I bet if you got some different seats, like I have, and mounted them a little further from the pedals you could fit in it.
interesting project :)
electric motors have a very wide range of high torque-speed characteristics and with proper control your shouldn't need to change gears, and a fixed gearbox with proper ratio woud work
about the low speed, maybe you are not limited by current but by the voltage.
Great Stuff..So did you manage to get the speed up?
Yeah I wonder 2
Great project. Why do you think it is so slow?
Whats the legal side of things in the USA about driving it on the road in it's current state. In the UK it's illegal to drive on the road without an MOT, Road Tax, insurance. To get an MOT you need to number plates, we have so many hoops to jump through.
oh it's not road legal right now. I stayed close to the house and was banking on being able to "wow" the police out of giving me a ticket if they saw me. Next step is head lights & break lights, then registration with the Dept of Transportation. Hopefully they won't need me to bring it to them to inspect :)
In the US you just need insurance and a title. Some states you only need a bill of sale to register an older car for legal road use.
where are u located? thats some mountains i'd like to hike.
Aye, im also a utah guy looking to do an electric conversion in my beetle, any tips?
Cool but for real control, monitoring and of course safety along with a way less complicated way to go without a bunch of switches a new better speed controller will definitely be necessary. That way you can safely suck down the battery, know exactly how much power it can handle and add safety shutdowns for over heating, over current and so on.
Were did you find your motor? Were you planning on going to 18650 batteries? Assumed from the trash fire pic.
I’m thinking uncle fester in a dracbug….but you are way cool man
I think you'll find that a forklift weighs a heck of a lot more than a factory vw bug.
DAS BUG Well done.