Honda CR-V Conversion

[Michael J. Baysek]

Hi all. I have been plotting to do a conversion for many years, and
now, I'm finally ready to do it! I'm so excited about the project.
It's so cool to be a part of getting more electric cars on the road!
I'm thankful for the fact that there is an accessible local repository
of knowledge and experience in ChargeCar.

Originally, I planned to convert a car I already own, but looking to the
future, that car is not practical for us to keep at all, being two door,
etc. So I am selling it... And my pickup truck to raise the funds for
my conversion. Our needs are such that we need something bigger than a
compact car, and we want something 4WD capable, and my wife prefers an
SUV. So... I've put a deposit on a very nice donor vehicle, a 2003
Honda CR-V with nearly 200k miles on it, but otherwise the vehicle is
very well kept and clean. The CR-V is a great candidate for conversion,
being only 3200 lbs. A 5 seat SUV with good cargo room, plus having 4WD
capability for winter safety makes it really probably the best choice if
you need to convert an SUV.

I realize my choice of (not a Civic) is not optimal - in terms of the
ChargeCar blueprint, but I thought, perhaps, an output of my experience
with the CR-V could produce another blueprint for the community. I plan
to go with the AC-50 motor and probably a 200Ah LiFePO4 battery pack at
maximum voltage for the Curtis 1238. I figure this will give 70+ miles
range, or so.

One tricky thing to reverse engineer will be the 4WD. The CR-V does not
have a switch to engage 4WD. It normally operates as a 2WD and when
slippage is detected, the 4WD is engaged automatically. It will be
interesting to see how this is engaged - whether a mechanical actuation
in the transmission or an electronic actuation. If electronic, I
imagine it would be fairly simple to hijack and measure the signal
coming from [wherever] and replicate it.

I'll be receiving the vehicle in the next few weeks from out of state.
I plan on starting the conversion as soon as I sell my car and truck.
This will net most of the money needed to do the pre-battery part of the
conversion. I'll probably end up financing the battery on a line of
credit when it's ready for a battery.

I've been a bit disconnected since the summer pow-wows except for
reading the blog posts and being on the mailing list. I haven't even
stopped over at Electric Garage since Fall. I realize the conversion
kit for the Civic might not be ready yet, but I don't exactly need that
since I'll need to get my own adapter plates made and whatnot. I guess
my question is, is ChargeCar ready at this point to start supporting
community conversions at all? And, for the future (obviously not my
conversion, but others) is ChargeCar interested at all in considering a
kit for the CR-V. I'm willing to share anything learned over the course
of the project, if so.

Cheers,

Mike B.

[Marty Swartz]

Hello, Michael -

As a fellow long-term plotter, I applaud your decision to "put it in
gear"!

The only thing I have to point out today is some previous discussion
relating to conversion of 4WD vehicles to EV. A search for "Musings"
in the ChargeCar forum will take you to that thread of discussion in
July 2010. Hope it helps!

Best,
- Marty

[Nick]

Hi Mike,

I wanted to ask you if you live in the US and what state?   I write for the Examiner and have been looking for someone who is doing a conversion from the start.  Let me know if you are interested.

Thanks, Nick

As Above, So Below. As Below, So Above.

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[Michael J. Baysek]

Hi Marty. I found a guy on EVAlbum who converted a CR-V already. I've
emailed him to see what he has to say about this. Will let you know.

Mike

[Ben Brown]

Mike,

We are certainly interested in your CR-V conversion, and happy to
provide access to the engineering we've done on the Civic. Your choice
of the AC-50 motor and 200A-hr (~20kW-hr?) pack sounds reasonable, and
I believe you should be able to get 70+ miles on a charge.

On the Civic, we decided to keep things as simple and modular as
possible to facilitate the conversion process. We have designed a
controller/electronics box that sits atop the motor, and provides
mounting for pump and heater accessories. I believe this unit will work
for the AC-50 as well as our AC-35 motor. Our battery box (~10kW-hr) is
a single unit that fits in the spare-tire well, and includes BMS and
safety features. In addition we have an in-dash display/computer that
provides selectable feature display for the driver. Conversion is then
simply a matter of installing these three modules--along with
motor/transmission adapter--and wiring them together. We plan to be
getting the battery and electronics box built by an outside vendor, so
these modules could be available to you if you're interested. We expect
to be doing at least one commercial conversion before the end of the year.

Ben Brown
for the ChargeCar team

[Mike Baysek]

Great!

So, on Wednesday I bought the CR-V. I found it online and flew out to
Chicago area to buy it. I got it for way under book value (probably
because of the high miles) but man it is nice!! This car has
essentially no rust underneath, and only a few tiny cosmetic
imperfections, both inside and out! I'm basically ready to start the
conversion as soon as we sell our old car and pickup truck.

Is anybody around over at the garage any time soon? I've been trying
to stop by, but I haven't seen anyone. I guess I don't really know
much about ChargeCar's plans as far as how exactly you get involved
with community conversions.

In my case, I had planned for years to convert, and am only now
finding costs to be within an acceptable range. I'd be doing the
conversion myself anyway even if there was no ChargeCar. I am very
interested in learning what resources are available through ChargeCar
that might save time / hassles / cost during the process.

Best,

Mike

[Joshua Schapiro]

Mike,

Generally we dont hang out in the garage, unless we have something
specific to do. Since we finished the second civic, we have been
spending less and less time there.

If you want to stop by during normal business hours, just let us know
when and we'll try to get some one there to answer your questions.

Thanks,
Josh

[Michael J. Baysek]

Well, I work at CMU in NSH so I could easily just meet anyone whenever,
wherever. Let me know what's convenient -

Best,

Mike

[Joshua Schapiro]

Mike,
I dont plan on being in the garage for the next day or two, but maybe
on wednesday. I will let you know.

Thanks,
Josh