The electric car that we will use for this discussion is shown here:
A typical electric car, this one has some particularly snazzy decals.This vehicle is owned by Jon Mauney.
This electric vehicle began its life as a normal, gasoline-powered 1994 Geo Prism. Here are the modifications that turned it into an electric car:
- The gasoline engine, along with the muffler, catalytic converter, tailpipe and gas tank, were all removed.
- The clutch assembly was removed. The existing manual transmission was left in place, and it was pinned in second gear.
- A new AC electric motor was bolted to the transmission with an adapter plate.
- An electric controller was added to control the AC motor.
The 50-kW controller takes in 300 volts DC and produces240 volts AC, three-phase. The box that says "U.S. Electricar"
is the controller.
A battery tray was installed in the floor of the car. Fifty 12-volt lead-acid batteries were placed in the battery tray (two sets of 25 to create 300 volts DC). Electric motors were added to power things that used to get their power from the engine: the water pump, power steering pump, air conditioner. A vacuum pump was added for the power brakes (which used engine vacuum when the car had an engine).
The vacuum pump is left of center.The shifter for the manual transmission was replaced with a switch, disguised as an automatic transmission shifter, to control forward and reverse.
An automatic transmission shifter is used to select forwardand reverse. It contains a small switch, which sends a signal to
the controller.
A small electric water heater was added to provide heat.
The water heater.
The 120/240-volt charging system.
The Magna-Charge inductive paddle charging system.The gas gauge was replaced with a volt meter.
The "gas gauge" in an electric car is either a simple voltmeter or a more sophisticated computer that tracks the
flow of amps to and from the battery pack.
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