| Owner | Dennis | ||||||
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| Location | Greensboro, North Carolina US map | ||||||
| Web/Email | | ||||||
| Vehicle | 1996 Ford Probe SE I'm an NCIS fan, and the above nickname fits on so many levels! ;-) I bought the car on 6/10/08, and I'm having a ball watching the progress -- even if it's way slower than I'd like. | ||||||
| Motor | Hitachi Model MT4100-11B Series Wound DC 11-inch from a Nissan forklift -- 10kw at 48 volts... | ||||||
| Drivetrain | The greasy 2.0L four-banger that it came with has finally been removed!! I received my 11-inch Hitachi motor on 7- 22-08, and will now be working on having the mounting pieces fabricated to mate it up with the stock 5-speed transaxle -- minus the clutch. | ||||||
| Controller | Belktronix 144V Haven't totally settled on this yet, but it looks promising, and it's pretty likely this is what I'll get. If anyone has any stories -- good or bad - - PLEASE share them at the e-mail address above... | ||||||
| Batteries | 18, 8.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, Flooded I'm pleased to be able to return to my original idea of more batteries for more range now that Belktronix has unveiled a system for them. I am trying to strike a useful balance between weight/spaces considerations and range, and I'm currently thinking 8-volt batteries should be a good compromise. I know they won't yield as much range as 6-volt batts, but they should be quite a bit better than the 12-volt AGMs I had been planning on... There's a possibility that I might reduce to 120V with 15 batteries, for space/weight considerations. We'll see what develops! | ||||||
| System Voltage | 144 Volts | ||||||
| Charger | Belktronix I like the simplicity of a fully integrated system. | ||||||
| Heater | Planning ceramic. | ||||||
| DC/DC Converter | Belktronix | ||||||
| Top Speed | We'll see!! With the 11-inch motor and 144 Volts, speed and acceleration should be pretty impressive. I know the 500-amp limit on the Belktronix controller will limit acceleration some, but speed really isn't my objective. I'm striving for a range a bit in excess of my 21-mile commute (each way -- but I can charge while at work). I care about this baseline of range more than I care about speed. We'll see what evolves... | ||||||
| Range | Now with the fresh ability to use 8- volt batteries (probably US 8VGC's), I'm hoping to see a range of at least 40 -- maybe 50. I HAVE to have a USEFUL range of at least 22 miles to cover my commute. I'm pretty sure the 12 AGM 12-volts would have covered that with ease. But now that I can use regular floodies (which means I can use MORE batteries with 6- or 8-volt batts), I expect I'll do a lot better than my minimum requirement. That means I should be able to run an errand or two on the way to work! ;-) | ||||||
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| Seating Capacity | 4 1/2 Currently has seat belts for four, but we have three kids, so I'll add a lap- belt for the middle rear position. Our youngest is small enough to fit there comfortably, and the seat-design is safe for doing this... The whole family riding in this car will happen VERY seldom, but it will be nice to be legal in those rare instances when we want to all go to Burger King or something... | ||||||
| Curb Weight | 2,894 Pounds (1,315 Kilograms) (According to Wikipedia stats.) This, of course, is pre-conversion weight. | ||||||
| Tires | Stock | ||||||
| Conversion Time | As of 7-22-08, I have the ICE completely out, along with all of its "stuff". I have also acquired the motor. Additionally, I think I have settled on the controller/charger/converter system. Unless I discover something discouraging about Belktronix in the meantime, I will probably order that within a month or so. 9-11-08 -- I've been stuck for a couple of months waiting for more funding... I've been expecting a check to arrive for many weeks now which keeps getting delayed for one reason or another. I am now promised it should arrive within a couple of weeks, so perhaps I can order the Belktronix system then, if that promise is finally kept... I can't wait to get moving forward again -- waiting is really frustrating! I did manage to get new gauges in today. I guess one little ant-sized step forward is better than nothing, eh? ;-) | ||||||
| Conversion Cost | Cost of car: $450. 11-inch Hitachi motor: $500. Ammeter (with shunt) and Voltmeter: $85. The cost is being whittled away just a little here and there by what I'm getting for some of the ICE-related parts I'm peddling on eBay. So far (9- 11-08), I've recovered about $150 from these sales. Therefore, my cost to date is about $885. I expect the total cost to come in somewhere around $4,000. I'm patient enough to wait/search for bargains... |
1996 Ford Probe
“Probie”
(under construction)
Last Updated 12-06-2008
Copyright © 1997-2009 by Mike Chancey