EV

• My EV-plans
• Donor car
• Motor and controller
• Charger and batteries
• Auxiliary power
• Instrumentation
• Power steering and brakes
• Heating

• Schematics
• Parts list
• Regulations
• Notes
• Links

Donor car

Right now I'm mainly considering Chevrolet S-10 or Opel Calibra (but am looking for other options as well). Both are fairly cheap cars with different pros and cons. My heart says Chevrolet since I like big cars (and I've never really liked Opel anyway) but my brain says Opel due to the aero dynamics and thus lower battery cost. One problem is the weight of led batteries in the Opel.

Not sure if I should go for one with air condition or not. A-c is nice in the summer and the batteries will be at full capacity then, maybe it's worth it. It will increase the price for the donor car though.

To estimate range, I got this formula

range = mpg * battery weight / conversion factor

Conversion factor is 420 for carburated cars and 450 for fuel injection. For a Chevrolet Blazer with ~16 mpg and 400 kg led (880 lbs) gives 31 miles, which is about 50 km. An Opel Calibra with ~34 mpg and 200 kg led (440 lbs) gives roughly the same. Hmm. It's hard to get far on led.