Now that summer is well over, its time to work on the electric Datsun again. 3 main features missing from the truck: Brake time. The original truck had engine, which produced vacuum. That vacuum was used for powering things like the brake booster. Being there’s no longer an engine, and thus no vacuum, we need to add brake assist back into the truck some how. Two options: Option 1. Vacuum pumps are a fairly straightforward, and bit clunky as you are just “adding on” noisy parts. Vacuum pumps from diesel vehicle works well, you just need 12v and a way… Read more: Electric brake assist for the (electric) Datsun 720

I came across a clean Datsun 720 pickup for sale, with a blown motor! No rust, and 5spd manual transmission, it’s the perfect candidate for an EV conversion! The only problem is that it’s located in a remote part of Vancouver island, and the shop is full. so what should I do? Convert it on the side of the road! Ingredients: Tear down: Time to ditch this blown motor! Tip: make friends with the tow truck driver, he might lend you his engine crane for the night! After about an hour of pulling all the axillary parts out of the… Read more: ELECTRIC DATSUN 720 PICKUP

Putting a Nissan leaf motor into a VW cabriolet it fits so good! Hardware Using the leaf gearbox, and our leaf drive shaft stubs, the stock VW axles bolt right up! Just so happens that the full leaf stack! (gearbox, motor, inverter, PDM (power distribution module)) fits under the hood! The leaf battery tray, and fuse box fit nicely in the original VW 12v battery location as well. A Honda accelerator position sensor is mounted on the side of the leaf stack, with the original VW throttle cable attached. Controlling the leaf stack The leaf Motor and PDM are controlled… Read more: ELEKTRO-GOLF: VW Cabriolet EV conversion

I get a lot of questions about they brat, here’s a spec list: dry weight: -2500lbs motor: -nissan leaf em57 + inverter (stock 80kw, pushed to 140kw) controller: –openinverter replacement brain board drive train: -clutchless, directly mounted to the original 4wd 4spd manual.–torq locker in the rear diff. battery: -4x tesla model 3 short modules(from a 55kwh stander range pack)-96s, 50kwh 400v-range: 240km (conservative hwy-ish driving) charging: -tesla model S 10kw charger with daimen’s replacement board-tesla model S DCDC converter for 12v system-Chademo DC fast charging suspension: rear: -stock torsion bar-12in bilstein shocks-2×2 extended trailing arms-xt6 hubs for 5×100 conversion.… Read more: electric brat specs

in part one we covered the mechanical connection of a motor shaft to a gearbox’s inputs haft, enabling the transfer for torque. Here in part 2 we cover the actual matting of a electric motor to a gearbox. Every vehicle manufacture uses they’re own bellhousing bolt pattern, with different backspacing, locating features, and orientations. In order to mate two different bellhousing(motor side and gearbox side), we have to define the correct backspacing(for shaft clearance), locating features(dowel pins, hub centric, tapperd bolts, etc) and the bolt pattern. Often times bolt patterns collide with one another. One solution is to design in… Read more: How to mate a electric motor to a manual transmission: The adapter plate

The Nissan leaf electric motor (em61 and em57) are great motors for EV conversions. They are easy to obtain, relatively inexpensive, and powerful! The only catch is how do you swap one into a different vehicle? Part 1: The motor coupler The Nissan leaf motor has a splined output shaft. The splines are designed to transfer torque from the rotor, to the leaf’s gearbox. But how do we connect the leaf motor to a different gearbox? With a motor coupler! I sell blank Nissan leaf couplers with the right spline geometry to ensure there’s a reliable, direct connection between the… Read more: How to mate a Nissan leaf electric motor to a manual transmission: The Motor coupler