EV Conversion of an old bakkie

[PDBarron]

Hi everyone!

I have a 1973 International Harvester 1310 all-wheel drive pickup (bakkie) that doesn't have an engine. I have recently begun toying with the idea of converting it into an electric-vehicle (sometime in the future) but I suspect it will cost an arm and a leg.

I recently tried to contact a company called EV Dynamics (based in Vereeniging, Gauteng) but it seems like they've gone out of business. I live in the Vaal Triangle (only about 25km from EV Dynamics) so I was hoping to buy EV components from them. Does anyone here know EV Dynamics, and what happened to them?

My idea for the EV conversion is to do as simple a swap as possible: an adapter plate connecting an electric-motor to the existing 4-speed transmission bell-housing, but without the clutch. The reasons I don't want to use a clutch are firstly, I don't have a clutch and secondly, a new clutch for this particular vehicle costs over R12,000 to import from the U.S. Would it be possible to retain the transmission in an electric drive-train, not using it, just leaving it in in the drive-train, in an appropriate gear? I literally only want to replace the V8 engine/flywheel/clutch with an electric motor. I don't want to remove or modify any other component in the drive-train. My whole idea is to keep the conversion cost as low as possible and the old truck as 'stock' as possible.

Electric motor: the V8 engine that came out of this bakkie only produced about 137kW so if I could install an electric motor with a comparable output I would be very happy. The higher torque of an electric motor is where the big improvement will be. Where do you guys source your electric motors? What are the available options in SA? How much do electric motors in the 150kW range cost?

Battery: I would like to start with a single (small) battery-pack, housed inside the engine-bay, then (as more money becomes available) add two additional battery-packs (in place of the dual 60-litre fuel tanks, under the load-bed, next to the chassis). With the initial battery I would only need a 60 - 70 kilometre range. Where do you guys source your batteries? How much do they generally cost?

Control/power electronics and charger: Are these available as integrated 'off the shelf' systems, at reasonable prices? Building your own system, using discrete components, would be cheaper if you know what you're doing, I suppose. What would you guys advise?

Thanks everyone, I look forward to learning from you.

[Simon_Stockil]

Howzit PDBarron,

I hope you are well!

I wanted to follow-up with you on your post, unfortunately I have no value to add to your request but wanted to find out if you had any luck progressing your conversion project and where you got your EV engine from etc.

Please let me know as am keen to do the same on an old Land Cruiser of mine.

Thank you
Simon

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