| Owner | Phil S | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Owner's Other EV | 1994 Electric Cushman ZEV | ||
| Location | Berkeley, California US map | ||
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| Vehicle | 1989 GMC Conceptor Electric G-Van *** I'm Considering selling this, contact me with offer *** Interesting History! Apparently there were about 500 of these vans made on an assembly line in Ontario, Canada in a partnership with GM. They left GM's line as full-size 1 Ton vans, but bare and with no engine. The term used is "glider", they were equipped with special EV wiring, instrumentation, etc. The Engine type in the GM VIN code is "X" which means no engine. They were then completed by Conceptor which, at that time, seems to have been a division of Vehma International of America, Inc., in turn, an engineering division of leading automotive component supplier Magna International. The van was actually re-engineered by Vehma and GM to be an EV as drawings I have seem to indicate. Apparently they were then sent to SCE (Southern California Edison) who seems to have installed the battery pack. There are 3 manufacturers listed on the B-pillar! I found an interesting article here: WebPage | ||
| Motor | Nelco N200ML012 Separately Excited DC Monster 385lb Sepex motor (with interpoles) and both internal and external forced air cooling. I've never seen the motor get warm enough for the external fan to kick on. Power rated at 60HP (45kw) and 238 ft. lbs. (Nm) torque continuous. Peak power unknown, but I'm sure quite massive. | ||
| Drivetrain | The rear axle is "flipped" so the drive spline faces aft and where the fuel tank normally would live, there is a stubby little drive shaft that feeds into a custom-built transfer case. The electric motor is mounted longitudinally on the passenger side and connected into the transfer case. The whole assembly is mounted on rubber mounts to a subframe that bolts up into the van. The drive ratio of the transfer case is 1.85:1 and the axle is 4.875:1. In the transfer case, They have an electronic speed pick up and a parking pawl lock system just like an automatic. It's nicely built, but can "whine" a lot during regen. (much like the way a standard transmission does in reverse) | ||
| Controller | Chloride Mark 5-A High Frequency PWM based on a single massive 500A Darlington power block and a smaller (300A) one for Regen. There is also a smaller 4-quadrant PWM drive circuit for the SepEx field. Two 600 amp contactors break both positive AND negative pack voltage. All control circuits are optically isolated from everything else. Completing the unit is a 40A @ 14v DC-DC converter. Built on a massive cast heat-sink with a fiberglass top cover and mounted where the internal combustion engine would normally live. (ironic eh?) Weighs in at 99lbs! | ||
| Batteries | 34 Saft STM-5-200, 6.00 Volt, Nickel-Cadmium, Flooded No longer in production, Originally made for PSA (Peugeot/Citroen). 40kwh pack capacity. The blocks are arranged in a custom-made stainless-steel carrier that hangs from the frame underneath the van. This makes for good handling with it's low center of gravity and stiff springs. There are no EV components inside the van, so the full space is usable. The battery tray also has 2 fans and ducting to cool the batteries when used in very hot climates, here in San Francisco the fans have never once came on though! | ||
| System Voltage | 204 Volts | ||
| Charger | LeMarche A70B Offboard (and VERY heavy) charger made out of a huge transformer and some big diodes and SCRs. Controlled by Motorola MCU. Originally designed for Lead-Acid, but now runs a dual-stage charging algorithm designed by Saft. Can put out 50A @ 280v. | ||
| Heater | 5kw (17,000btu/h) Diesel-fired heater with coolant reservoir feeding GM standard heater-core. Works well! Also has stock GM air conditioning driven by 4 hp permanent magnet motor. | ||
| DC/DC Converter | 14v @ 40a MOSFET based, built into the Chloride controller. When A/C is engaged an auxiliary 75a alternator is also spun up with the compressor to assist with the high load. | ||
| Instrumentation | Cluster made by Delco for the Electric van has electronic speedo/odometer, SOC charge gauge (not the best), Heater fuel level and temp, 12v aux voltage, and misc warning lights. SCE added an original Cruising Equipment KWH+ meter, and I've added blue LED Volt and Amp meters. (see pictures) | ||
| Top Speed | 60 MPH (96 KPH) Van has enough power to keep accelerating well past 60, but at around 55 the motor is doing 6000 RPM which is what the manufacturer spec is. The controller cuts power to the motor at 60mph/6000rpm. | ||
| Acceleration | Astonishingly good considering the van supposedly weighs around 7000 lbs! | ||
| Range | 80 Miles (128 Kilometers) This is the calculated range. The battery pack seems to have all of it's capacity, which is amazing considering they are almost 20 years old! The most I've done so far is 56 miles, but it still had charge left! | ||
| Watt Hours/Mile | 500 Wh/Mile The pack is a little over 40kwh capacity. While you can run the Ni-Cd's down to totally zero, (in fact they LIKE it) I would imagine the van gets pretty slow near the end. | ||
| EV Miles |
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| Seating Capacity | 5 adults and still has spacious cargo capacity. All batteries are under the van body, so full interior space is usable. | ||
| Curb Weight | 6,000 Pounds (2,727 Kilograms) I know the Ni-cd pack and it's all stainless-steel carrier weigh in at 2100lbs, but I'm unsure what the whole van weighs. One of these days I will get it weighed. | ||
| Tires | 8.75R16.5 Light Truck @80PSI | ||
| Conversion Time | Factory Conversion. I've put several thousand miles on it since I became the new owner. It has amazingly low miles! | ||
| Conversion Cost | Supposedly these sold for about $100,000 back in 1990. They were targeted to fleet users. | ||
| Additional Features | Custom Electronic anti-theft/immobilization system. Power steering and brakes are stock GM "hydramatic" system like used on Diesels except driven by separate electric motor. | ||
| Pretty amazing vehicle for it's time. Heavy; yes, but pretty capable and drives almost like it's original internal combustion cousin, at least up to about 45 mph. Good for city driving on secondary streets with it's powerful regenerative braking system. Very little actual use of the service brakes are needed. To understand why these vans came into existence, (and then disappeared) I highly recommend you rent a copy of the documentary "Who Killed The Electric Car" at your local video store. WebPage | |||
1989 GMC Electric G-Van
“White Whine”
Last Updated 09-05-2008
Copyright © 1997-2008 by Mike Chancey