Close up of temperature guages230 Volt, 16 Amp charging socketBattery boxesHeating solutionDashboard 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
MotorAdvanced DC ADC FB1-4001A Series Wound DC
This is the type of motor I need, I may well go with a nice used forklift motor of 8" to 10" diameter
DrivetrainFront wheel drive 5 speed manual transmission
ControllerCurtis 1231C-8601
Or possibly 500A Open Revolt kit, or Chennic, yet to decide.
Batteries12 Elecsol EL135F , 12.00 Volt, Lead-Acid, AGM
Brand new range of Carbon Fibre VRLA Batteries with 7 year warranty, and no DOD limit!
System Voltage144 Volts
Charger Not yet known
Not yet known, may well be Zivan NG3/NG5 or Chennic
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 nice display of 12, 10 led bargraph battery monitors as per James May's design in the centre console to monitor condition of each Battery for balance and sag under realtime use:)
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.
Range40 Miles (64 Kilometers)
Unknown, but based on weight and cell type I'm hoping for a range of approx. 40 miles of mixed town and highway driving to 80% DOD.
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 2500 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 70 hours to date, mainly cleaning up the donor to as new condition, then body modifications to accommodate the battery packs, instrumentation & heating.
Conversion CostDonor cost £225
Parts & materials to date approx. £800
Am expecting to spend an additional £3500-£4000 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 at present 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 :)

code by jerry