| Owner | Travis Gintz | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Location | Beaverton, Oregon US map | ||||||
| Web/Email | WebPage | ||||||
| Vehicle | 1986 Honda VFR700F Bought for $400 from a guy in Florida, shipped to Oregon. Aside from having engine problems, it was in great shape. | ||||||
| Motor | Leeson AC-15 3-Phase AC Got rid of the series wound motor and upgraded to an AC-15 3-phase AC motor from HPEVS (High Performance Golf Cars). | ||||||
| Drivetrain | the original 4:1 was too low, bought a 60 tooth sprocketspecialists sprocket and used a 12 front for a 5:1. The acceleration is MUCH better. | ||||||
| Controller | Curtis 1238-7501 Curtis 1238-7501 AC Controller. 96V 550A. | ||||||
| Batteries | 192 Headway 38120S, 3.20 Volt, Lithium-Ion Currently upgrading to a Headway pack. I want to do 32s6p for ~96V. Should end up close to 6.1kwh of capacity. | ||||||
| System Voltage | 96 Volts | ||||||
| Charger | Delta-Q Technologies 912-9600 96V charger with programming cable. Setting up an algorithm with Delta-Q to charge my 96V pack. | ||||||
| Heater | none | ||||||
| DC/DC Converter | Vicor VI-251-CU 100-200VDC input, 12V output, 200W (16A@12V). | ||||||
| Instrumentation | TBA. | ||||||
| Top Speed | 63 MPH (101 KPH) Target of 80+mph with new batteries and AC motor/controller. Has reached 60mph with 72V and 4:1 gearing using the original series wound motor. | ||||||
| Acceleration | VERY fun! the 4:1 ratio wasn't enough, and the 60/12 (5:1) is perfect. | ||||||
| Range | 50 Miles (80 Kilometers) New Headway pack should get me 50-60miles per charge. | ||||||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 105 Wh/Mile This is an estimate.... Calculations and estimates of original power useage was close to 100wh/mi. | ||||||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | 2 adults, but its just for one person commuting. | ||||||
| Curb Weight | 400 Pounds (181 Kilograms) Bike weighs about 150 totally stripped naked before conversion. Fiberglass fairings are being used to lighten things up. Electric Motor is 45lbs. Headway batteries weigh 130lbs plus hardware and battery frame. Charger is ~10lbs. Controller is ~10lbs. I think I can get it under 400lbs. | ||||||
| Tires | Brand new. | ||||||
| Conversion Time | This bike has about 100 hours into it. | ||||||
| Conversion Cost | close to $7500 all together. Cost was spread out over 2 years. | ||||||
| 11-17-09: Decided to purchase an AC motor/controller. Ordered Elithion BMS for the Headways. Only the bike remains from V1.0. Sold my DeltaQ 96V basic charger, will purchase a 96V deluxe model. 10-22-09: Some more progress on the new batteries: WebPage 10-5-09: Version 2.0 Begins ....again So, its been a REALLY long time since I've posted pictures of my project.... WebPage 8-27-09: Its been a busy year! I imported 1/2 ton of Headway Lithium batteries from china for a group buy and then got hired by EVComponents.com to do technical sales. I'm currently trying to get the rest of the parts I need to get my bike running. Right now I've got to get the battery pack together. Then I need to wire in the controller and BMS. Waiting on controller/BMS from Synkromotive. Fiberglass gas tank is on its way. Need to rebuild the front forks and get the 12V system completed and build an aux pack/DC-DC converter combo. 8-4-08: Installed the new 60 tooth rear sprocket with the 11 tooth front. Accleration quite good. The battery sag is limiting the power right now, so I'm looking at replacing the batteries (these were used and free). Local guy has some Panasonic 28Ah batteries for cheap, so I might get a pack to do 120V. These should fit in the battery tray with minimal modifications. 7-18-08: Here's a video that my friend Jim and I shot earlier this week. We have all the fairings on it, and pretty much have the motor mount and battery pack design nailed. We'll be cleaning up the wiring, making some small changes to the mounts, and upgrading the rear sprocket to a 60tooth (ordered 7-18-08). Right now, I'm working on the custom charging system that will be installed as well as the 12V aux system for lighting. Real nice shot at the beginning and end of Jim hitting 50mph. WebPage 7-5-08: I got the bike put together with fairings and went to the OEVA EV Awareness Day. WebPage 6-20-08: Its been a fun week!Posted 6 new videos. WebPage 6-17-08: So, she's actually running now. Accel is slow, because I chose a 13 tooth front, stock rear... to start. I'll be changing to 11tooth tonight to see how it helps. We might go larger sprocket to help even more. It JUST got running, and there's lots of work to be done (and it looks like Frankenstein without the fairings). WebPage 5-23-08: Finished the battery tray/pack. Just need to put some finishing touches on it and move the lower tray further back (kinda hits the fairing). Its not important right now, just details. Going to start wiring up the pack next week. 400A controller is waiting for me at Synkromotive. Using a relay charger for now that we use to balance the pack, quick and easy. Going to use the magura for now, but going back to stock hardware with a fabricated design later. WebPage 5-16-08: More pics of the beefed up motor mount as well as the mocked up battery trays. We can fit all 12 batteries in, very low to the ground and still fit the fairings on the bike. WebPage 5-9-08: Beefed up the motor mount a little bit, cleaned up the mount and started planning ideas for the battery cages/boxes. Helped with some connector/ layout/ functionality ideas for the charging system. Prototype boards should go out this week or early next week. Once we get them, we'll populate the boards, install and test with the 12 SLA's that I've got. 5-3-08: Finished the motor mount, attached the sprocket and chain and tested out the motor with a 12V 18Ah battery. FINALLY got the tire spinning under power from the series wound DC motor!!! Also got both bikes titled in my name. WebPage for a video and some pictures. 4-2-08: Got together with another EV'r (and VFR owner) that I met and worked out the motor mount design. Going to start cutting/welding this week. Fabricating everything out of aluminum. Got an idea of battery orientation. It was tricky fitting 12 18Ah batteries in, but they fit easier than larger SLA's due to their size. Also, going to put a standard motorcycle battery in the stock location for auxiliary to act as a buffer for when the lights go on. 6A DC-DC converter will be connected to the aux. Preliminary Design for battery balancing is finished, time to implement. Designing the BMS control aspect is next step. Bike is going to be 144V system with current limiting/voltage limiting in the controller. 3-20-08: Bought parts for the charger prototype. Received sprockets, chain and break from Surpluscenter.com. Got ring terminals for 4Ga battery cable and 2Ga motor/controller cable. Getting some cable from work that is super flexible. Mocked up some motor mounts with cardboard, fabrication begins soon. 3-2-08: Swapped the frame and ready to get some motor mounts fabricated. Currently trying to figure out what gear ratio to go with. I might use stock for now, with chain from SurplusCenter as well as a sprocket from them. I can always change it around later, but buying a new rear sprocket might be more expensive. Got a GE 48V 300A controller and will be testing the mechanical. Also got a contactor. 1-22-08: Updated the website. Got the blog set up correctly and redirect works now. The gallery shows on the blog now. Synkromotive moved. Got the new frame and title. Working on the battery balancing with Synkromotive. Controller is close to the next revision. Still need to figure out charging for the batteries. 12-20-2007: Updated my Blog. Working on integrating Coppermine and Wordpress. Not too great with web programming, so It'l be slow. Linked to pictures of the PDA program on my blog. Tested the second motor and it works fine. Paid for my frame, awaiting its arrival. Going to start the swap now, so I can use the non-titled frame for fabricating a motor mount/battery cage. Easier to do off the bike. Also bought a rear shock for the first VFR so we can get 2 going at around the same time (minus batteries). Found info on Oregon's tax credit for EV's. They said there's no reason that I shouldn't be able to apply for it, I just need receipts for everything. Up to $750 for a homebuilt. 12-7-2007: Ordered a K99-4007 motor from Surplus Center Its electrically is the same thing as a k91-4003 motor, with a difference being: A) Lack of side mounting plate and B) the shaft is different. I called Jim Husted and he said to get 2, and press new shafts into them to make them equivalent to the K91. Datasheet available upon request, just email me. 12-1-07: Got the Pocket PC program working with the controller. It displays some of the debugging and fault information we need, as well as the current, voltage etc. MAJOR milestone for my project. Just need to get a decent looking dash running with some decent contrast for use outside. the PDA I'm using is very viewable. The com port is isolated, so its not going to fry my PDA. Got a charger board from Synkromotive and am populating with components this week. Should have a working balancing charger soon. Also bought 18 30A relays for the charge system. Going to try and put everything in a box. I'd like to use my smart charger I bought, but it faults when I disconnect and go to another battery. Might call the manufacturer and see if there are some options. Made a mockup of the motor Jim Husted is rebuilding for me. The cardboard model is 7" and 13" long and comparable in size. It fits inside the chassis no problem. His motor has a mounting plate on it for side mount. Also, I've got 28" from the gas tank to the bottom of the fairing, so I might be able to fit all 12 batteries vertically this way. There's plenty of room. I might borrow a welder and tack weld a frame together. 11-26-07: Bike has no original ICE parts on it. Installed a Magura Twist Grip throttle. Put panels back on. Going to start sizing different motors on the frame (cardboard mock-ups). Buying a frame to replace the lost title frame and will use that to create 2 sets of battery cages and motor mounts. Going to get the gas tank into Jim to cut with a torch. Should be ordering motor fairly soon. Looking at Advanced DC motors above 72V. Since I'm using 144V at 18Ah (80A continuous, 200A max for 5 seconds) its high voltage, low current... but a fair amount of available kWh. | |||||||
1986 Honda VFR700F
“eVFR”
Last Updated 11-17-2009
Copyright © 1997-2009 by Mike Chancey