Freelander 1 Freelander EV

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Great thread concept! Love this :) We have a VW eUP! which is a great town car, but it's range is a limitation beyond the limits of London.

The trickiest bit to this project is keeping the price affordable - and using as much of the donor as possible is key to this. And the battery is the most expensive part.

Leaf's (certainly first generation) had no battery heat management, and they have a reputation for degrading their batteries prematurely. In contrast, EVs with battery heat management seem to have extremely impressive battery lives - so perhaps a different donor should be considered? That said, a Leaf donor would prove the principle and you could consider a battery upgrade later?

For me, I would want to take my EV-converted Freelander off road. The instant torque of an electric motor would be very helpful, and the 1st gear on a PG1 would then serve quite well as a low-range?

Silly, I know, but having a dead rev-counter on the dashboard of a converted FL1 would annoy me big time. I'd use the fuel gauge as the battery status indicator, but what to use the rev counter for? Motor speed???
 
My requirements for an electric FL1 would be:
  1. Retain full functionality of the all-wheel drive system and the off road capabilities (I want to splash about on Salisbury Plain).
  2. Vehicle performance should remain similar (preferably slightly superior to) the original ICE platform.
  3. Good range - off roading will increase energy consumption and there aren't too many charging points in the wilderness. 200 miles minimum, preferably 300 (which will likely equate to 50-100 miles off road).
  4. Implementation should appear OEM as possible, with fully functioning instrument packs and no unsightly extra buttons.
Easy-peasy eh?
 
rob_bell said:
We have a VW eUP! which is a great town car, but it's range is a limitation beyond the limits of London.
Click to expand...
Good little town car the Eup, and cheap to run too.
rob_bell said:
The trickiest bit to this project is keeping the price affordable - and using as much of the donor as possible is key to this. And the battery is the most expensive part.
Click to expand...
I think using as much as possible from a crashed Leaf is the best thing to do.
rob_bell said:
Leaf's (certainly first generation) had no battery heat management, and they have a reputation for degrading their batteries prematurely.
Click to expand...
Yes they did. But not many people know that only a few actually cells fail, so these are easily swapped for good cells. The Leaf battery is a stacked modular design, so removing bad cells and replacing with good cells is very possible.
rob_bell said:
In contrast, EVs with battery heat management seem to have extremely impressive battery lives - so perhaps a different donor should be considered
Click to expand...
I think I'd look at some form of retrofitted cooling system for the cells too, which due the the modular design, shouldn't be that difficult to do.
rob_bell said:
For me, I would want to take my EV-converted Freelander off road. The instant torque of an electric motor would be very helpful, and the 1st gear on a PG1 would then serve quite well as a low-range
Click to expand...
Absolutely. That's the direction I'd take. Use 3rd for every day driving, and make a low range that selects 1st for off road use.

rob_bell said:
Silly, I know, but having a dead rev-counter on the dashboard of a converted FL1 would annoy me big time. I'd use the fuel gauge as the battery status indicator, but what to use the rev counter for? Motor speed???
Click to expand...
Motor speed would be the best use of the rev counter, although at high speeds it'll be strange to see the needle pointing at P in RPM!!:eek:;)
 
rob_bell said:
Retain full functionality of the all-wheel drive system and the off road capabilities (I want to splash about on Salisbury Plain).
Click to expand...
Absolutely. No point in losing off road abilities imho.
rob_bell said:
Vehicle performance should remain similar (preferably slightly superior to) the original ICE platform.
Click to expand...
Performance will exceed that of the V6, maybe around 9 seconds 0-60. :D

rob_bell said:
Good range - off roading will increase energy consumption and there aren't too many charging points in the wilderness. 200 miles minimum, preferably 300 (which will likely equate to 50-100 miles off road)
Click to expand...
100 Miles is doable. 2 to 300 is going to be difficult, simply because there's insufficient space for the batteries needed for that range.
As long as it charges at 50 kW, then I don't see pulling over to charge for 30 minutes every 100 miles much of an issue. ;)
rob_bell said:
Implementation should appear OEM as possible, with fully functioning instrument packs and no unsightly extra buttons.
Click to expand...
Absolutely. It needs to look absolutely stock for the casual observer, so things like the charge port will be either hidden under a false fuel cap, or maybe hidden behind a hinged flap built into the front grille.

The gear selector can use a lever from the auto FL1.;)

rob_bell said:
Easy-peasy eh
Click to expand...
:eek:
Not that easy, but not a deal breaker I don't think. :D
 
Alibro said:
Not yet but I still haven't confirmed the motor can be mated to the gearbox without fouling the IRD. I think it should but haven't confirmed yet.
Click to expand...

Here's some screenshots I've grabbed off YouTube.

The area adjacent to the IRD is very rounded and smooth, so it looks like there's ample space. The Leaf motor is tiny compared to the petrol engines. The casing is only about 10" long, 11" wide at the front output end and about 18" high with the inverter on top. The output shaft is just over 2" long and about 3/4" in diameter.

Basically it'll look small in the FL1 engine bay, but leave plenty of room for other stuff needed like PS pump, vacuum pump and AC compressor.
20200624_154332.jpg
20200624_154418.jpg
20200624_154525.jpg
 
It's a lot taller with the inverter bolted to it if you get the Gen 2 model but should fit or can be made to fit. Ben Nelson used one with a tractor and Performance EV used one with a Porche 911 but he hacked off most of the top of the motor.
 
rob_bell said:
Great thread concept! Love this :) We have a VW eUP! which is a great town car, but it's range is a limitation beyond the limits of London.

The trickiest bit to this project is keeping the price affordable - and using as much of the donor as possible is key to this. And the battery is the most expensive part.

Leaf's (certainly first generation) had no battery heat management, and they have a reputation for degrading their batteries prematurely. In contrast, EVs with battery heat management seem to have extremely impressive battery lives - so perhaps a different donor should be considered? That said, a Leaf donor would prove the principle and you could consider a battery upgrade later?

For me, I would want to take my EV-converted Freelander off road. The instant torque of an electric motor would be very helpful, and the 1st gear on a PG1 would then serve quite well as a low-range?

Silly, I know, but having a dead rev-counter on the dashboard of a converted FL1 would annoy me big time. I'd use the fuel gauge as the battery status indicator, but what to use the rev counter for? Motor speed???
Click to expand...
I stupidly didn't go for a used 2012 leaf with very minor damage a couple of months ago. It was only £3500 and had something like 90% battery left. 95% of what is needed for the conversion was right there. OK the battery would have been too small but would be easy to add to for more range.
Absolutely agree about keeping 4WD. If I didn't want a 4WD I'd build a BM or Merc EV.
rob_bell said:
My requirements for an electric FL1 would be:
  1. Retain full functionality of the all-wheel drive system and the off road capabilities (I want to splash about on Salisbury Plain).
  2. Vehicle performance should remain similar (preferably slightly superior to) the original ICE platform.
  3. Good range - off roading will increase energy consumption and there aren't too many charging points in the wilderness. 200 miles minimum, preferably 300 (which will likely equate to 50-100 miles off road).
  4. Implementation should appear OEM as possible, with fully functioning instrument packs and no unsightly extra buttons.
Easy-peasy eh?
Click to expand...

1. Agree 100%
2. Agree but maybe a bit faster.
3. Agree but for me 150 miles would be sufficient, 200 hundred would be perfect.
4. I plan to keep all gauges working by injecting CAN signals into the dash. Not sure how yet but I've been working on it.

 
OK... Done my mockery, read the entire thread now, so its time for serious contribution.
Alibro said:
Getting a spline coupler is one of the challenges with the Leaf motor. I believe a Fiat clutch has splines close enough to use but it is true they may have a relatively short life.
Click to expand...
These guys can "broach" internal splines...
https://www.millerbroach.com/pot-rotary-spline-broaching/

Nodge68 said:
Good little town
Absolutely. That's the direction I'd take. Use 3rd for every day driving, and make a low range that selects 1st for off road use.
;)
Click to expand...
I can probably give you a hand with making the linkage? Although for an EV, I'd wonder about doing away with the linkage and putting in a linear actuator to drive high / low range at the push of a button.
 
Jayridium said:
These guys can "broach" internal splines...
Click to expand...
The normal way to make up the coupling, as to use clutch centres one for each spline. Obviously the TD4 clutch centre fits the Getrag box, and it appears that the Fiat /PSA small shaft size fits the motor shaft. So all I need to do is to turn the clutch centres down in the lathe, so I can press fit them into a short length of thick wall tubing. I can weld them into place, then clean up the welds to make it look factory made. Hopefully it won't fail, as it's only taking 280Nm, which actually isn't that much for the size of the components being used.
If my home made coupling failed, then I'd have one fabricated. I can broach a single keyway myself, but an internal spline is a different kettle of fish, but actually connecting the motor to the gearbox isn't going to be that difficult, or expensive if a home brew coupling us used.

The hardest mechanical job will be lining up the adapter plate between the motor and gearbox. The shafts need to be perfectly centred, or there will be a side load imposed on the bearings, which would cause bearing failure of the gearbox input shaft, and potential damage the splines on the coupler too.
Jayridium said:
I can probably give you a hand with making the linkage? Although for an EV, I'd wonder about doing away with the linkage and putting in a linear actuator to drive high / low range at the push of a button.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the offer. I don't imagine a gear linkage is very different to fabricate. Manual boxes are simple to control, most using cables these days. But a pneumatic or electric linear actuator is a good idea, so that is something to look into, if a change of gear is necessary. For normal use, the gearbox can simply put in whatever gear works best and left there.
 
Thought I'd found a bargain. Found a Leaf write off cheap, but the motor, invertor and batteries had already been removed!! Doh
 
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