Close up of temperature guagesDrivetrain in and tested!Battery boxesCoupler made and fittedMotor as bought Drivetrain finished!Dashboard instrumentationCentre box finishedRear box finished
OwnerPaul Newman
LocationGrimsby, England United Kingdom map
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Vehicle1994 Skoda Favorit GLXie Flairline (originally!)
A mid nineties Czech built 5 door hatchback, with engineering input from VW group who at the time owned around 70% of the company. Very similar in size and overall design to a Mk2 VW Golf/Rabbit
MotorPrestolite MNA 4001 Series Wound DC
A late 70's English built Prestolite. 9.25" diameter, 14.5" long exc. shafts, 65 bar commutator. Turned out to be really nice under all the grime after a light re-build!
DrivetrainFront wheel drive 5 speed manual transmission
ControllerOpen ReVolt Open Revolt Kit
500A 144v Open Revolt kit.
Batteries10 Leoch LPC12-100 100Ah (10Hr) AGM, 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, AGM
Current configuration is 10, 100Ah AGM batteries. The car has been built to accommodate 180Ah/200Ah 144v nominal Lifepo4 pack and will be upgraded to this at the end of the current packs life.
System Voltage120 Volts
ChargerElcon TCCH-120-15 2.5KW HF/PFC
2.5KW Charger configured for AGM pack. Has Canbus option so hopefully I can re-program the voltage and current output for Lifepo4 when I upgrade the battery.
Heater1500 watt 120v hairdryer body modified and installed in the heater duct in place of the original matrix, this is activated by a microswitch when the heating lever is moved to hot and blower is also on.
DC/DC ConverterVicor Self Built
Self built DC/DC using Vicor modules. 95V to 200v input range. 14.2v 450 watt output.
InstrumentationStandard ICE Rev counter driven from a sensor on the tail shaft of motor. Battery voltage, 12v system voltage, battery & motor current via meters (using a switch to toggle between pack current and motor current via secondary shunt). Motor and controller temperature via meters. AH counter. All instruments are digital LCD backlit. Additional Warning lights show: Amber-drive system active warning, Red-precharge, Red battery symbol after programmed No. of AH's used.
Top Speed70 MPH (112 KPH)
AccelerationUnknown, haven't measured it yet.
Range25 Miles (40 Kilometers)
Safe range of 20 miles at steady ordinary non motorway driving, not over discharging the batteries. Should be able to do over 25 miles or so if I want to take the batteries really low.
Watt Hours/Mile240 Wh/Mile
Estimate, I need to actually check this.
EV Miles
Start:19,600 Miles (31,536 Kilometers)
Current:19,615 Miles (31,560 Kilometers)
Total:15 Miles (24 Kilometers)
Seating Capacity5 adults, although I will only be using it with 2 now.
Curb Weight2,500 Pounds (1,136 Kilograms)
Again I need to actually check this, but this will be ball park.
TiresStandard tyres on 13" light alloy rims. Over inflated a little to 42psi to allow for extra weight and improved efficiency.
Conversion TimeApprox 300 hours to date.
Additional FeaturesI chose this particular car as I like the slightly different (to west european) east european styling of the time. The build quality is also very good due to the VW input. It's also light weight and economical to start with on ICE, so gives good EV range. It also has light, non power steering.
So far, due to lack of funds, I've concentrated on prepping the donor body, including cutting out for, fabricating and fitting the Battery boxes under the rear seat and in the luggage area. Also altered the dash to include the new instrumentation and manual safety cut off. Made and fitted the heating solution.

Real work will start in earnest once I've saved enough to buy the motor, controller and other gear. I would be very pleased to hear from any EV'ers, especially locally to myself to share ideas and help :)

27th May 2011 Update.

Well I've got the motor sorted, so next is mounting it :)

13th July, mounting plate & coupler have been completed and tested on a spare gearbox with complete success! :)

29th August, The petrol drivetrain and all ICE related components have been removed, electric drivetrain finished & installed. Tested it today on 12v only at 5mph for 260 metres!! :) Huge EV grin!!

December 24th 2012 Update.

MOT passed today, tested to 50mph over 6 miles on used 72v leisure batteries, all seems pretty smooth.

March 25th 2013 Update. The car is now finished, DC/DC installed, New AGM 120v pack, 2.5Kw Charger. So far have driven only 15 miles, very smooth indeed, will report back on all stats. after another 50 miles or more once I've tested everything out and know the accurate numbers.

Still have balance regulators to install very soon for the AGM's

code by jerry