What I've Got

One of the motivating factors for doing the electric conversion is that I already have a collection of EV parts that I can use for this project: a motor, controller, charger, DC/DC converter, and a bunch of battery interconnects and 2/0 welding cable to tie it all together. The motor is an 8-inch-diameter 100-pound beast. It is a series-wound DC motor made by Advanced DC and given model number XP-1263A. It is an experimental higher-voltage rewind of their workhorse 2003-06-4001A 8-inch motor, and to the best of my knowledge is no longer in production. The "A" indicates that it incorporates a tail shaft. The controller is the Curtis PMC 1231C-8601 "Whiner" (so called because it cuts back the switching frequency at low power to a very audible 1.5kHz). It will do 500 amps from a 96V to 144V (nominal) battery pack. The charger is a Zivan NG3 configured to charge a 144V pack of Optima Yellow-Top batteries from a 120V outlet. The DC/DC converter was designed for use in RVs to step down mains power to the 12V required by the battery-powered devices. It appears to be no longer available. If memory serves, it is a 30-amp unit that runs happily off a 144V battery pack. The interconnects are designed for creating series packs of batteries with standard SAE (automotive) posts. They work quite well and look very professional, although all that lead makes things a bit heavier than they need to be.