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Motor
The drive motor in my Civic is an Advanced DC brand, series wound DC motor. This is an 8" model, number 203-11-4001, also known as an XP-1263. I purchased mine used, but never installed, through an ad on the EV Tradin' Post. These motors are available through a number of EV parts suppliers. Check EV Parts Suppliers section on the weblinks page for more info. |
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Controller
The controller is a device best thought of as a giant light dimmer, that controls the flow of electricity from the batteries into the motor. Mine is an Auburn Kodiak WC-600. This is a water cooled unit, though mine is currently installed air cooled only. This was also purchased used through an ad on the EV Tradin' Post. These controllers are available through a number of EV parts suppliers. Check EV Parts Suppliers section on the weblinks page for more info. Several weeks after purchasing this one, I discovered it had once been part of John Wayland's "Blue Meanie". I think that is kind of neat. |
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Batteries
The battery pack on my Civic consists of 26 Delphi sealed lead acid batteries. They are wired into parallel pairs, and then the pairs are wired in series to deliver 156 volts nominal. These are the same batteries GM originally used in the EV-1. Mine were part of a laboratory test program that was canceled when GM switched to Panasonic batteries. There are a number of nice EV batteries available, just check out the EV Batteries section on the weblinks page for more info. |
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Charger
The battery charger on the Civic is a Zivan NG5 that I purchased from Gary Flo at InnEVations. This is a very nice unit, with fully automatic three stage charging. I like it because it is basically a plug in and walk away type unit. There are a many good chargers available on the market, as before just check out the EV Parts Suppliers section. |
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Adapter Plate, Flywheel and Clutch
To mount the electric motor to the stock transmission, I ordered an adapter plate fabricated by EVCC through InnEVations. The adapter plate must be machined to a very high level of accuracy, so it isn't something most of us can do ourselves. EVCC is the primary source of adapters, and can make them to fit almost anything. They are available through almost all EV Parts Suppliers. I had the flywheel machined down to clear the adapter plate, and lightened and balanced. I used a new stock style clutch from NAPA auto parts. |
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Contactors
The contactors are the master on-off switches of an EV. I installed two, one on the most positive, and one on the most negative ends of the pack. This was to help insure complete isolation of the battery pack during charging. To protect the contactors from dirt, water, and prying hands, I installed the in boxes. The contactors are Curtis-Albright SW-200 units I purchased from Ray Boggs at Parts on Sale. These are common in the EV conversion industry, see the EV Parts Suppliers section for additional sources. |
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Gauges
My Civic is equipped with only two non stock gauges, an ammeter and an Emeter. The ammeter is a Westberg #2C6-30X 500 amp unit, with two Deltec #MKB-500-5 shunts, one in the battery circuit, and one in the controller output circuit. A small rocker switch on the dash selects between the two. I bought the ammeter from Gary Flo at InnEVations. The Emeter is a sophisticated microprocessor based battery monitoring system made by Cruising Equipment. I got a bargain on a use one from a fellow club member. It even came with the required mini DC/DC converter, but not the prescaler. I purchased a prescaler from Rod Wilde at Wilde EVoltuions. Both of these meters are common in the EV conversion industry, see the EV Parts Suppliers section for additional sources. |
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DC/DC Converter
Electric car conversions still have a large number of 12 volt loads to operate, such as lights, fans wipers, radios and such. I equipped my Civic with a Todd PC-30 DC/DC converter to supply this power. This is basically a 12 volt power supply, fed from the main battery pack, that charges the small gell cell auxilary battery. It can deliver a max of 30 amps. Mine is wire to be "on" all the time, but it switches from low voltage to high voltage when the "ignition" switch is turned on. I bought my Converter from InnEVations, but these are common in the EV conversion industry, see the EV Parts Suppliers section for additional sources. |
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Heater and Relays
I installed a dual element heater system, totaling about 3000 watts, on my Civic. It uses two ceramic heating elements, similar to those used in those small "cube" office heaters. These elements are available from most EV Parts Suppliers. To control them I installed three Potter & Brumfield KUEP-3D15-12 relays that I purchased from URS Electronics at the recommendation of John Wayland. I also equipped them with a snubber network, consisting of a capacitor and resistor, as suggested by Lee Hart. |
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Vacuum Pump
My Civic came with power brakes, and I wished to retain this feature after conversion. Since electric motors produce no vacuum, a separate pump had to be installed. I used a GM unit, as commonly found on older Cavaliers. I mounted it in the space behind the front bumper on the right side, where the air intake box formerly resided, and used 4 feet of "soaker" hose to muffle the exhaust. For more information on these pumps see the Power Brakes page I wrote for my Jet 007. |
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