Chapter 2, Removing the engine.

The conversion starts.

This is a last look at the original two stroke 23 Hp engine.

The cold winter was finally over. Time to get out in the warm sun and work on the electric car. The motor, gas tank, exhaust system and everything else concerning internal combustion will need to be removed.


It is fun to notice how simple and easy a Trabant is constructed. I could remove everything with only a few essential tools. This is a car meant for people to be able to fix themselves I wish they would construct new cars with the same thing in mind

First thing to come out is the gas tank and parts of the exhaust system...

...And then the motor. which was so easy that it could be pooled out by hand.


Remember to mark the wires and cables going to and from the engine so you know which one to use and connect to the new electric components.


Wow it only took a day and now the engine compartment is totally empty and almost ready for the arrival of the electric motor. It was a fun and interesting experience to pool that motor out.

Then the grubby scullery maid task of cleaning the engine compartment, and believe me it was dirty...

...afterwards it is time to remove some rust. I chose to paint the gearbox so it would look nice next to my new motor.

The next day I could start taking measures for the new motor and the adaptor plate.

Chapter 1, The Trabant

Getting Started

The first thing you need before starting such a project is the basic car. This is the foundation of your project as this car is going to end up as your future electric car.
Some people, who work with electric cars, like to call this the "donor car”,
(I have never understood this phrase because the car would be receiving the "transplant" in the shape of new components, rather than providing any "Organs" except for its main body and majority... But never mind that I am not a doctor :-D)

There are not many limitations when picking the car for your conversion, but there are some golden rules you can follow to get the best possible result.


1) Get a small and light car!
A light car demands less energy to move. Meaning you can get longer for a smaller amount of electricity. Again meaning you don't have to buy a large expensive battery-pack to power your vehicle.


2) Preferably a simple car!
The power steering and air-condition of many modern cars are powered by the engine. This means that you have to buy electric pumps and special motors to power them. Further they drain your battery-pack meaning you get less reach or would have to buy more batteries. So once again -$!!!

3) Battery-space!
Because the batteries will need some space.





I chose a Trabant because:
*I like Trabants :-) they are fun to drive and work with!
*They are simple (no air-condition, no power steering, no vacuum brake pump)
*They have a god amount of battery space.
*They only weigh 615 kg.

WELCOME TO HELL!

(If you don’t want to read about nonrelated chaos, then skip to the moral)



I found mine in Køge Denmark and drew it home to Odense, on its own power. Or rather I drew it half of the way on its own power and then it broke down a and got poled for some time.


This is before it broke down. It was actually driving quit good, at a time I was driving and singing behind the wheel having a jolly time. Right until, I got to the Storebelt's brige, where it ran short on gas. Yes this was my fault I thought I had checked it before going on the highway but apparently I underestimated its fuel consumption, and I wasn't used to driving a car without a fuel-gauge. So I had to stand for an hour in the middle of the iciest winter in a decade on the middle of the bridge waiting for my mother to arrive with a gas cane.

After my little mistake the car gave totally up on trying to be perfect! In Nyborg (the town right after the bridge) it broke down twice because the generator wasn't charging and the battery had gone flat from waiting with the warning lights on at the bridge.

Then it only broke down twice in Langeskov and Twice in Odense before getting pushed by my mother’s car for the last 200 meters to our house.

I don't remember all the chaos and exactly how I got from one brake down to the other. My mothers car and jumper cables was a big help but for some time I bet that the Trabant and I got taken on board a UFO and carried for several Kilometers cause some parts of that journey has been supersede from my memory!

For all the Trabant fans out there:
I am not saying that Trabant is an unreliable car. Just don't expect anything from a 2000.-DKR car which has been sitting in a yard for several years!

But SCREW that because that stinking engine is being pulled out anyway.

MORAL:

You haven’t picked the car for its engine so perhaps you shouldn’t trust it for its last gas engine trip

Transport the car on a trailer if you are in doubt it can make it to the garage.

Welcome!

This blog is dedicated to the electric Trabant I am making in my spare time. Due to the fact that things are actually starting to happen around my project I now feel it is time to write a blog about it. And what better time to get my blog started than now as I wait for the 24 KW DC motor I have ordered.

Introduction to my project:

Around four years ago it came to my attention that a lot of armatures were driving around in electric cars they had build themselves from old conventional fueled cars. I was astonished back then to learn that you didn’t have to be an electric engineer in order to make such a thing function right and i was further surprised to learn that many of the cars they were building were both cheaper and better than many of the factory made electric cars. Full of eager I started to gather as much information on the subject as I could to prepare my self for the day where i would start such a project. And that day has come. in fact. it did so over half a year ago in February 2010

Something important?

This is taking place in Denmark, and as fare as I know this is the first time this type of armature electric car is being build in Denmark.
The Danish politicians and media is always talking on about the environment and saving co2. but most of their solution to the pollution and dependency of foreign oil created by our cars is to buy new and more fuel efficient cars... LAME!!! because:
1) New cars still pollutes!
2) Production of the new car and disposal of the old one creates a huge amount of pollution and uses a lot of energy.
3) Car efficiency toped in the late 80'ies there are not many changes left to do in order to make the internal combustion engine more efficient. plus a heavier shell and consuming air-condition means that you have to pick a smaller car in order to get a lower consumption and pollution.

But if I should somehow inspire some people out there to get hold of an old car, that perhaps otherwise would be sent to the scrapping yard, and refit it with an electric motor and a battery pack you would not only avoid the 3 issues mentioned, but if you did it in Denmark and charged the car at night, you would get pure renewable energy as the windmills (taking up 20% of our daily electricity production) produces all our energy at night when we are sleeping.

Until I get more time to write more, further information about my project can be obtained here:

http://evalbum.com/3365