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Electric M37

John Mc

John Mc

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Johnbyrdgates said:
This’ll just be a ‘get it out of the barn so I can work on another vehicle’ cruise. So maybe 40 feet. I still need to hook up my Volvo electric power steering pump to the truck, so I’ll be cranking hard on the Saginaw steering gearbox.
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You have much more restraint than I do. I don't think I could resist driving it around the block, or at least around the yard.
 
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Johnbyrdgates

Johnbyrdgates

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Rockport/MA
The truck is running fine for my purposes, though you wouldn’t want to take it on the freeway. I thought the additional horsepower might allow for more performance at higher speeds, but the controllers get warm and put the truck in Econo mode. Some of the hills around here are pretty steep and the truck struggles up the steepest ones at about 15 mph.
On my regular runs to the town transfer station (the primary use for the truck), the truck performs flawlessly. Acceleration is much improved over the old 230 6cylinder. In the 0-35mph range, the thing is marvelous! Silently (except for drivetrain noise) zooming off from my driveway, not needing a warm up period, no more gasoline or oil changes, no flushing of the cooling system, and I can fill it up at home anytime I need to!
If (and I just might if the stock market revives) I were just starting this project today, there are much better systems available to chose from. It’s incredible how quickly the EV market has changed in 2 ½ years. I would raise the voltage from my 144V to something like 400V in order to get into the better controller selection available. I would look at motors in the 200-300kW range to get more hill climbing capability and higher top speed. I would still try to keep the original drive train, but need another transmission to replace my “rebuilt” unit that jumps annoyingly out of 2nd gear.
 
G

G8trwood

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Thanks for the updates! I was curious if those motors would be enough. The landscape is changing drastically, I have been considering a similar endeavor, but man the motor controllers get expensive quick for the EV packages.

Appreciate you posting the progress and hour thought process.
 
John Mc

John Mc

Well-known member
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Location
Monkton, VT
Johnbyrdgates said:
The truck is running fine for my purposes, though you wouldn’t want to take it on the freeway. I thought the additional horsepower might allow for more performance at higher speeds, but the controllers get warm and put the truck in Econo mode. Some of the hills around here are pretty steep and the truck struggles up the steepest ones at about 15 mph.
On my regular runs to the town transfer station (the primary use for the truck), the truck performs flawlessly. Acceleration is much improved over the old 230 6cylinder. In the 0-35mph range, the thing is marvelous! Silently (except for drivetrain noise) zooming off from my driveway, not needing a warm up period, no more gasoline or oil changes, no flushing of the cooling system, and I can fill it up at home anytime I need to!
If (and I just might if the stock market revives) I were just starting this project today, there are much better systems available to chose from. It’s incredible how quickly the EV market has changed in 2 ½ years. I would raise the voltage from my 144V to something like 400V in order to get into the better controller selection available. I would look at motors in the 200-300kW range to get more hill climbing capability and higher top speed. I would still try to keep the original drive train, but need another transmission to replace my “rebuilt” unit that jumps annoyingly out of 2nd gear.
Click to expand...
I'm surprised the motor you have is not working better for you. The stock engine is admittedly underpowered at 80 HP, but unless I'm looking at the wrong model, isn't the electric motor you selected more than double that? (Plus, in a lot of applications you can get by with a smaller electric motor than the gas engine it is replacing.) You are talking about going to around 4 times the HP of what was initially in an M37. I'm having trouble understanding why double the HP is not enough. I'll admit I'm not electric vehicle guru, but this is surprising to me
 
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Johnbyrdgates

Johnbyrdgates

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Me too. I figured I’d have enough power to push the truck faster down the road than stock and that the running gear would be the limiting factor. It might be the case yet. One of my controllers seems to not be working, so I’ve been running on half the system’s power. I’m not sure how to diagnose the problem but will contact Curtis(the controller manufacturer) and see.
 
Johnbyrdgates

Johnbyrdgates

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Rockport/MA
Valley Rock and John Mc:
I do use reverse (and the other gears). I left the drivetrain original except for removing the clutch. My secondary controller is not working at all, and the motor that it control isn’t being told to go, so I’ve been running the truck on half its potential. While this is fine for my meager requirements (about as good as it was on gas), it’s not how I plan to leave it. There are very few people out there that have wired up this configuration and I’ve had a hard time getting useful advice. I have checked my wiring and believe it to be correct. There are no user serviceable parts for a user of my humble skill level and the manufacturer is in California.
I would not discourage others from converting their truck, but I think things have progressed in the EV community since I started this project and there are more refined options out there perhaps.
In the meantime, I’m enjoying the truck!
John
 
John Mc

John Mc

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Seems as though you'd be able to snag an electrical engineering student from one of the colleges or universities in your area and get some advice?
 
Travlr

Travlr

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Middle a Utah
Johnbyrdgates said:
There are very few people out there that have wired up this configuration and I’ve had a hard time getting useful advice. I have checked my wiring and believe it to be correct. There are no user serviceable parts for a user of my humble skill level and the manufacturer is in California.
I would not discourage others from converting their truck, but I think things have progressed in the EV community since I started this project and there are more refined options out there perhaps.
In the meantime, I’m enjoying the truck!
John
Click to expand...
I think anyone that reads this thread has got to be rooting for you. I'd sure like to see it doing the hills and freeway. Any updates? Are you getting any feedback from those that make the parts? How many of us need to call them?
 
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