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
LocationWootton, England United Kingdom map
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Vehicle1995 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
Going with 500A 144v Open Revolt kit.
Batteries46 Thunder Sky LifeYpo4 100Ah or 160Ah, 3.20 Volt, Lithium Iron Phosphate
Finally decided I'm saving up and going with LifeYpo4, to much time and effort to compromise with a heavy limited range lead sled!
System Voltage147 Volts
Charger Not yet known
Not yet known, may well be Zivan NG3 or NG5
Heater1500 watt 120v hairdryer body modified and installed in the heater duct in place of the original matrix, this will be activated by a microswitch when the heating lever is moved to hot and blower is also on.
DC/DC Converter Not yet known
Not yet known
InstrumentationStandard ICE Rev counter to be coupled up to the 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.
All instruments are digital LCD backlit. Additional Warning lights will show: Amber-drive system active warning, Red-precharge, Red-motor overtemp. warning. Also a display of 23, 10 led bargraph battery monitors calibrated for Lifepo4, 1 for each bank of 2 cells to monitor the voltage of the cells for balance and warn when any cells approach minimum safe voltage.
Top Speed80 MPH (128 KPH)
80+ Estimate, have no idea as yet
AccelerationUnknown, expect to be in the range of 13 to 16 seconds 0 to 60mph.
Range60 Miles (96 Kilometers)
Unknown, but based on weight and depending on cell Ah size I'm hoping for a safe range of 60-100 miles of normal mixed driving, more if I'm very careful!
Watt Hours/Mile240 Wh/Mile
Again only an estimate based on the weight of the vehicle chosen
EV Miles
Start:19,600 Miles (31,536 Kilometers)
Current:19,600 Miles (31,536 Kilometers)
Total:0 Miles (0 Kilometers)
Seating Capacity5 adults.
Curb Weight1,970 Pounds (895 Kilograms)
Standard ICE kerb weight, expect finished EV kerb weight to be in the region of 2200 Lbs
TiresStandard tyres on 13" light alloy rims. Will over inflate a little to 40psi to allow for extra weight and improve efficiency.
Conversion TimeApprox 200 hours to date.
Conversion CostTotal cost to date approx. £1750
I'm expecting to spend an additional £6000 on parts & batteries
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 I'm hoping for a 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!!

code by jerry