With a sub-50 kilomile car now on offer at $3995 (in Utah), our cars are worth more as parts than as working cars. Not necessarily a bad thing. I'd love to transplant a full set of i-innards into a classic small car such as my Karmann Ghia Cabriolet. We've seen a LEAF fully disassembled and functioning on a wall, then transplanted into another vehicle. Anyone attempted this with an I-MiEV? It would be a superior EV conversion to the usual Curtis AC51 retrofit costing $19k in parts alone........
Drivetrain transplant
- Thread starter jray3
- Start date
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I think it would probably all fit quite well in a first generation Miata too . . . . and you can pick those up considerably cheaper than the Ghia's I'll bet . . . . but since you already own one and it's looking for a new drive train, why not?
We actually bought our first iMiEV when I was running the numbers for converting a Miata to a BEV. The completed Miata would have been very low tech compared to the iMiEV and doing it 'right' would have cost nearly as much back then when the iMiEV was about $23K after the tax credits. Why go to all that work for a car with no regen which would only go half as far when you could be driving a much higher tech car with A/C, power steering and regenerative braking?? I gave up on building my own from scratch then and there - Too little sugar for my nickel for sure! :lol:
You are oh so correct that transplanting the innards into anything interesting is soon to be a popular use for older iMiEV's. I can't wait to see what creative minds come up with!
Don
We actually bought our first iMiEV when I was running the numbers for converting a Miata to a BEV. The completed Miata would have been very low tech compared to the iMiEV and doing it 'right' would have cost nearly as much back then when the iMiEV was about $23K after the tax credits. Why go to all that work for a car with no regen which would only go half as far when you could be driving a much higher tech car with A/C, power steering and regenerative braking?? I gave up on building my own from scratch then and there - Too little sugar for my nickel for sure! :lol:
You are oh so correct that transplanting the innards into anything interesting is soon to be a popular use for older iMiEV's. I can't wait to see what creative minds come up with!
Don
Thoughts regarding transplanting everything vs. just the drivetrain and trying to hack the MCU vs. trying to match a controller to our motor and, if so, which one?
1kaspars, thank you very much for linking us to this video. I'm afraid I need to see if I can find a Voice-->Text-->Translate (or a fluent friend). Too bad there is only a small amount of i-MiEV detail in the video showing off the finished product.1kaspars said:
The image link didn't work for me, but copying the URL into a browser worked fine. It's a snapshot of the video at 3:57 showing the i-MiEV instrument cluster beautifully integrated into the housing just behind the steering. Here it is:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/yH5rRtTFiMYEmHP39
I don't know if he actually got the display to work.
All in all, a fantastic accomplishment IMO, and certainly right on topic with this thread!
tenthousandclowns
Active member
i have two electravans, (evalbum.com/4180) with mediocre brakes and no regen and old dying lithium batteries, very primitive analog stuff. they are rear wheel drive and i think with axles from the narrower version of the miev the drive unit would swap in nicely. if small enough wheels and tires could be made to work with the miev innards. they have 10" rims now. just a thought for the future mostly.
318iEV
Member
If anyone has any more info on this that would be great, I’m in the process of re-converting a BMW from a DC electric system to use imiev components.
At the moment I have the majority of the imievs components laid out on the ground all connected up excluding the Lights, air conditioner/heater, power steering rack, wheel speed sensors and airbags/seatbelts.
The car engages ready for a couple seconds before showing the high voltage warning light and the 12v battery light.
The imiev is an m spec model with the Toshiba cells which doesn’t require any air conditioning/heating circulation in the pack. It was also full drivable before it was disassembled (although it was an insurance write off)
At the moment I have the majority of the imievs components laid out on the ground all connected up excluding the Lights, air conditioner/heater, power steering rack, wheel speed sensors and airbags/seatbelts.
The car engages ready for a couple seconds before showing the high voltage warning light and the 12v battery light.
The imiev is an m spec model with the Toshiba cells which doesn’t require any air conditioning/heating circulation in the pack. It was also full drivable before it was disassembled (although it was an insurance write off)
PV1
Well-known member
Plug in some more of the components, and it'll likely stay READY. Namely, I think the car needs to talk to the heater and A/C systems.
318iEV
Member
I realised I forgot to plug the j1772 communication plug in properly which caused it to lose it’s ready state, the car stays on ready now.
And after plugging in the wheel speed sensors the dash is also no longer a Christmas tree!
It seems the car doesn’t need to talk to the heater/AC units to stay functional.
One weird thing I’ve noticed with all the wheel sensors plugged in is that the car seems to gauge the amount of regen on the wheel speed not motor speed,
where If the wheel speed sensors aren’t there it uses motor speed to gauge regen.
And after plugging in the wheel speed sensors the dash is also no longer a Christmas tree!
It seems the car doesn’t need to talk to the heater/AC units to stay functional.
One weird thing I’ve noticed with all the wheel sensors plugged in is that the car seems to gauge the amount of regen on the wheel speed not motor speed,
where If the wheel speed sensors aren’t there it uses motor speed to gauge regen.
318iEV thank you for posting, and I'll follow with great interest. If you set up a blog or post photos elsewhere, please link here.
318iEV
Member
Hi Jray here is a link to a blog i setup a couple days ago
https://318iev.blogspot.com/
progress may be a bit slow at times as i am studying fulltime, but i will try and keep the blog updated as much as i can
https://318iev.blogspot.com/
progress may be a bit slow at times as i am studying fulltime, but i will try and keep the blog updated as much as i can
rmay635703
Well-known member
- Joined
- Mar 19, 2014
- Messages
- 87
That is one strange independent rear drive train
If it was more modular you could plop that under the rear of any car
If it was more modular you could plop that under the rear of any car
bradleydavidgood777
Well-known member
318iEV said:Hi Jray here is a link to a blog i setup a couple days ago
https://318iev.blogspot.com/
progress may be a bit slow at times as i am studying fulltime, but i will try and keep the blog updated as much as i can
Pretty cool seeing everything out on the floor like that. Thanks for sharing. Cool project. I thought I read that it would be difficult for the i-miev computer to work on any other vehicle because of it's sensitivity to tire size. It doesn't even like small differences.
Thanks for maintaining the blog. Your reverse- engineering of the gearshift is enough to help us repair the original or replace it with a push button arrangement!
https://318iev.blogspot.com/2020/02/gear-selector.html?m=1
https://318iev.blogspot.com/2020/02/gear-selector.html?m=1
bradleydavidgood777 said:
I *think* the only thing the computer really cares about is a ratio between the front tire circumference and the rear tire circumference. There should be a multitude of size combinations that it would accept without any problems
Don
318iEV
Member
Here are the co-ordinates for the iMIEV's motor bolt holes i used to machine my adapter plate... thought this could be useful to others if anyone decides to do an iMIEV transplant too.
The co-ordinates are from top right to top left (clockwise) when looking at the face of the plate that will meet with the motor.
0,0 being the center of the motor shaft
C/B is counter bored 14mm wide (5mm deep for alignment pins)
format: X / Y ~ hole size in mm
71.95 / 113.4 ~ 11.1mm C/B
107.4 / 0.01 ~ 11.1mm
30.24 / -103.055 ~ 11.1mm
-101.74 / -90 ~ 9mm C/B
-134.4 / 15.225 ~ 9mm
-71.95 / 113.341~ 9mm
for pics and more detail:
https://318iev.blogspot.com/2020/07/motor-adapter-plate-co-ordinates.html
The co-ordinates are from top right to top left (clockwise) when looking at the face of the plate that will meet with the motor.
0,0 being the center of the motor shaft
C/B is counter bored 14mm wide (5mm deep for alignment pins)
format: X / Y ~ hole size in mm
71.95 / 113.4 ~ 11.1mm C/B
107.4 / 0.01 ~ 11.1mm
30.24 / -103.055 ~ 11.1mm
-101.74 / -90 ~ 9mm C/B
-134.4 / 15.225 ~ 9mm
-71.95 / 113.341~ 9mm
for pics and more detail:
https://318iev.blogspot.com/2020/07/motor-adapter-plate-co-ordinates.html
That's some good machine work there, making progress.
i thought it was clever to use the starter bolts for mounting a torque tube from the transmission to the rear motor mount. Will you also have a solid or flexible link to the chassis?
Did the motor bolt pattern end up being arranged on a bolt circle with respect to the shaft center, or was it something irregular or offset from the centerline?
i thought it was clever to use the starter bolts for mounting a torque tube from the transmission to the rear motor mount. Will you also have a solid or flexible link to the chassis?
Did the motor bolt pattern end up being arranged on a bolt circle with respect to the shaft center, or was it something irregular or offset from the centerline?
318iEV
Member
The motor and transmission is rubber mounted to the chassis, with a frame that also holds the motor controller, OBC, Vacuum pump, and power steering pump on top of the motor. Photo: https://photos.app.goo.gl/Ser7gnJDmtm3Uo5FA
Almost all the bolt holes for the motor are different distances from the center, and different distances from each other by a few millimeters to a few centimeters so it can look almost circular, but it’s definitely irregular.
Almost all the bolt holes for the motor are different distances from the center, and different distances from each other by a few millimeters to a few centimeters so it can look almost circular, but it’s definitely irregular.
Wery nice build! The idea and amount of work needed to fit almost full i-MiEV drivetrain infront of the car is amazing. Did you ever have a thought to install motor at the rear axle? I did that in my project but I don't know yet if it works. Your blog and videos, inspired me to go ahead with installing Mitsubishi wiring onto my car. Thank you!
