Jump to content

johnev's Blog

  • entry
    1
  • comments
    5
  • views
    2,076

Sport E Sprinting - Full body workout and a dash to the finish


johnev

1,565 views

The Sport E rebuild has continued but not quite as I intended. The Sport Turbo body that I wanted to use didn't work with the 17" rear wheels also the bonnet, once fitted, didn't quite reach the scuttle.

5932e0dfaf748_BlogBody.thumb.png.1c12e70f7f2fd33aab01c6df27e554b5.png

It also needed new rear lighting so in the end I opted to repair the old classic tub and replaced the smashed rear arches, nose and bonnet with less smashed parts which I then repaired and painted.  

IMG_3079.thumb.JPG.d434d595bb062caa08b3a27074aad9a1.JPG

What a difference a huge amount of effort and expense makes to the look of a car! That's supposed to be irony - basically I'm glad to see the back of fiberglass and paint! It's Kawasaki green BTW. In this pic.the wheels are odd.The rears are 15" with T1Rs and the front 17" R1Rs. Initially I'll use the 15" T1Rs all round to calm the car down and make it more predictable first time out. With the 15" rears and no gearbox, the top speed should be limited by motor rpm to around 100mph - enough for now.

IMG_3205.thumb.JPG.803115b73fe6013c4947971cd61f010a.JPG

So anyway I'm on the home straight now. I'll cover the electrical side of the rebuild in another blog. A couple of interesting points though. First I did keep the Sport Turbo scuttle and dash. This was mainly because being so tall (6'2"), I kept hitting my knees on the underside of the old dash panel. The new dash is quite a bit roomier as can be seen in the picture. I only had the main dash moulding - the instrument cluster and hood were missing but this didn't prove to be an issue. I needed to mount the Race Tech dash etc so I built a new dash face panel from ally and covered it with fake carbon. It turned out better than I had expected. For racing there will be an emergency kill switch in the bottom circular hole.

IMG_3328.thumb.JPG.419aad90d740f39b1aa8b2f55e343623.JPG

I've replaced the 12V battery with a smaller one, take a look at the following photo. This shows the battery progression from the original lead acid to the latest lithium battery. According to the specs the small battery is good for a starting current of 150A - only 2.5Ahr though. This was £125 on eBay. It weighs 500g. Ideal for the electric car since it only needs to power the 12V system at 2.5 amps for 5-10 seconds while the main high voltage battery switches itself on. However it should power the car for about an hour without the main battery. I'll also fit an Anderson connector for a 12V charger so it doesn't go flat while I'm messing around with the main battery off and the computer plugged in.

IMG_3203.thumb.JPG.77bf6e7990c8279497ec66374452b2ca.JPG

I'm now well into the wiring. This is more familiar territory for me so the end is in sight......hopefully.

  • Like 1

5 Comments


Recommended Comments

I wonder if we'll ever see a Leaf/Zoe etc SDV...

Link to comment

It should be possible to take the battery and motor/controller assembly out of a Leaf and build a kit car around it. In fact you might argue that the health of the kit car industry depends on it - in the long term anyway.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Onliest Smeg David

Posted

Looking great John.

Good to see your getting nearer to the finish line.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman

Posted

2 hours ago, johnev said:

It should be possible to take the battery and motor/controller assembly out of a Leaf and build a kit car around it. In fact you might argue that the health of the kit car industry depends on it - in the long term anyway.

Yeah, an awful lot of what-if's and "this needs to happen's" are required for it to work, but a part of me is actually quite excited for one possible future of the kit industry.

in time, there will be ever more electric vehicle donors about, that for reasons unique to mainstream electric cars,  become uneconomic to keep going.

However, when you don't care about destroying trim, or even bodyshells to get at the batteries and controllers and motors, that becomes a very different economic argument.

Of course, the batteries, at that point, may we'll be the prime reason for scrapping, as they get close to, or hit, their design lives. But one would hope, that by that stage in the electric cars life cycle, Independant companies would have sprung up offering more economic routes to changing the batteries, whether that's some kind of recycling scheme, or whatever.

Cheap(er), lighter batteries would be the game changer for the whole thing. Let's face it, we already drive cars for fun with an average 120/140 mile range!

Link to comment

I guess the main obstacle to kit electric cars is domain knowledge and the dreaded IVA.

It's not clear to what extent the battery safety regulation (Reg 100) is to be enforced but using a battery from an approved car (Leaf etc) could make the IVA less onerous.

I expect niche electronics companies will develop ECUs that could control the battery and drive train systems in second use applications - just as aftermarket EFI systems are available for engines - and honestly, electric cars are no more complicated - just different. I know of companies that have the knowledge to do this now.

Battery 'end of life' means 70-80% capacity left - still very usable in a light weight kit car and motors/controllers/chargers will perform as new after 10 years. 

Link to comment
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Please review our Terms of Use, Guidelines and Privacy Policy. We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.