Hi I have just joined and am planning to convert a Daihatsu Sirion this summer. If I set out my ideas then hopefully some experienced people could pick some holes / affirm what I am planning.
Why a Sirion? I need a 4 door with reasonable rear leg room and highish rear seat to accomodate 2 elderly parents who are forever needing trips to the local doctors, supermarket etc. The Sirion is relatively light (890kg in ICE form) and has a very tall / deep fuel tank under the back seat that should be able to take the height of 4x Trojan 150a/hr lead acid batteries with the other 4 up front in the engine bay. I want to import a HPEVS AC35 motor and Curtis controller from the US as they seem much cheaper over there and run it at 96v. I want to use lead acid to keep the cost down and have read that the basic ones that need maintenance provide a better output to lower charge levels than the maintenance free ones. I would cut a service hatch in under the back seat. A Daihatsu Charade would be even lighter (760kg) but I'm not sure the architecture is suitable for rear batteries as they are so rare I have not been able to inspect one yet. Hopefully the Sirion in this configuration might achieve 50-60 MPH and a 30-40 mile range. Comments please!
Daihatsu Sirion conversion
Re: Daihatsu Sirion conversion
Why a conversion?
You can pick up a Nissan leaf from about £6k now which seems to tick all of your boxes. A proper conversion will cost at least double that....
You can pick up a Nissan leaf from about £6k now which seems to tick all of your boxes. A proper conversion will cost at least double that....
Posts by Mike Schooling
Director and tech lead at indra.co.uk
Mazda RX8, Soliton Jr, 24KWH Sinopoly LiFePO4, Kostov 11alpha
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/sh ... 61556.html
Director and tech lead at indra.co.uk
Mazda RX8, Soliton Jr, 24KWH Sinopoly LiFePO4, Kostov 11alpha
http://www.diyelectriccar.com/forums/sh ... 61556.html
Re: Daihatsu Sirion conversion
You are right. I had no idea second hand electrics had become so affordable. I talked to someone recently who had bought a secondhand Leaf for £14k and presumed they were all about that price. Leafs seem to start at £8K with Ions at £5-6k and Zoes staring at £7k. I will be looking to find one soon as they will be so much better than a conversion. On conversion cost however I reckoned I could do it for £8k as follows: donor vehicle 2k, US imported motor and controller kit 3k, lead acid battery pack and charger 2k, engineering costs (welding, motor mounting etc) 1k. Irrelevant now if I can get a purpose built vehicle for the same price. Even with a depleted battery pack a second hander should provide better performance.
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