LiFeBATT Promotional Vehicle - MEV R2

[qdos]

Well done Kelvin for getting to Stoneleigh. Didnt get chance to say Hi but I think the layout was good, we were attacking petrol haeds from all directions with yourselves, Jimini and us and the BVS gathering elsewere. I suppose you saw the Toniq R. A nice modern take on a 7 and I believe the panels will fit your chassis. Good luck with the project, dont look at my car as competition, the competition is any petrol kit car. Let me know if you need any help. Cant see Ian giving batteries away but they are amazing and he will give you a good price. Regards Stuart
P.S great mag too, you have been busy!

LOL of course we see your car as competition but only on the track Stuart it would be great to have some fun. That's what they are about isn't it and that's the point which Chris missed

Yes I managed to get away a few times from our stand and did see you but strangely enough you were always busy I doubt though that you were discussing why you didn't build a van!

Had a chat with Ian too. Yes the Toniq was gorgeous We spent the whole weekend in November at Exeter right opposite it drooling over it and personally that's how I'd like our machine to look something like too but the Seven is established and indeed we got a number of people talking with us about supplying some components for their Sevens

Needless to say I've been megga busy lately and have been intending to speak to you at some stage about shed loads of things. I agree it's the petrol variants we want to compete against and we're more than happy to help anyone out there who's trying to go the electric route so yep we're very much on the same team Stuart!

[ChopperMan]

Hi All,

Sorry it's been a while, but I have finally got around to putting the build story on our website http://www.lifebatt.co.uk/r2/index.html

I'll be happy to answer any questions here.

Cheers,

Ian

P.S. I will add more photos as soon as I find them!

[qdos]

Doh now what am I going to do for an article in Plugged In!!!

[ChopperMan]

Stuart's been playing with my toy

http://www.megavideo.com/?v=IBXYV3U2

[qdos]

Well I think we can safely say he enjoyed that !

The track he's using is the one that he was offering for the Northern Electrathon in case anyone is wondering, with the MEV workshops in the background

[MalcolmB]

That's a proper EV grin!

What's the projected weight of the car Ian? Did you consider doing away with the gearbox and using a single ratio straight to the diff? I'd imagine with such a lightweight vehicle you could still get better starting torque than the petrol version and get a decent top speed.

[qdos]

The R2 is based on Mondeo running gear and consequently the donor parts are from a Front wheel drive car so it's more easy to retain the Mondeo gearbox/diff unit. But I'm sure they could do away with it, though that adds to the cost potentially too. Mondeos are real cheap and you can find them easily in most scrap yards

[ChopperMan]

Sorry but it's actually based around a Focus donor, we only used the Mondeo gearbox because the Focus gearbox is know as a weak link in the ICE drive train.

We did consider a transfer box onto a diff, but it all started getting a bit complicated. We can slip the motor and gearbox out pretty quick, so different combinations are a possibility in future. I already have an AC motor supplier asking if we can test their system! Where were they three months ago!

Torque is huge, Stuart got up to 50mph on the short straight and the throttle ramp was turned right down with peak amps limited to only 340, it's a 750A controller so we have a long way to go yet! Apparently it just kept pulling and pulling all the way. I suspect we may forego the actuator to change to forth if the top speed goes over 90mph in third before we hit the 5,000rpm motor limit.

The calculator says all up weight is about 628kg, (400kg chassis, 70kg motor, 20kg gearbox, 15kg controller, contactor and cables and 123kg for the battery pack) but I will put it on a weigh bridge at some point and find out for sure.

[qdos]

Excellent stuff Ian good to hear it's looking promising we're a bit behind you at the moment but we'll be joining you on the road and track eventually and then we can really have some EV Grins !