So I have always wanted to build an electric vehicle, one that has decent range and is quick, 0-60 in five seconds or less. I thought a good base would be a classic VW Beetle. Obviously batteries has been the main thing on my mind. I will not make a lead acid EV, I want it to be lithium ion or something similar. Since it is a performance oriented vehicle it needs to be light. I found out you can get A123 M1's from dewalt batteries off ebay, 10 to a pack. How many batteries would I need. The white zombie EV uses 880 cells, so that is 88 packs, about 100 bucks a pack 8800 dollars for the batteries. Does that sound right? Is there a problem with using dewalt batteries? Since I don't need my vehicle to go 0-60 in 2.5 seconds could I use less batteries, or would using any less kill my range. Speaking of which what kind of range do you think I could get using the A123 batteries? If I could get 120 miles to a charge or so I would be very pleased. 200 would be my ultimate goal.

Hi .. your specs are ambitious but All the best for reaching your targett...

0-60 in 5 seconds is possible but the commercial versions that will do that are the TZero and the Tesla. You can get that kind of speed in a DIY vehicle but it will cost substantial money (between $20K and $30K). And forget the DeWalt battery packs.

You will need a powerful motor and battery pack. Actually, probably a pair of motors and controllers. There is a company in Santa Rosa, Ca. called Thunderstruck EVs that sells an AC motor/controller kit (80volts to 108 volts) for $4300 that would give you plenty of power and requires less battery muscle than a DC motor/controller system (you can contact them through their website). The owner built a Geo Metro with one of these set up and an 80 volt litium ion battery pack and it is very responsive.

Range is your biggest problem. You would need several parallel strings of lithiium batteries. A single 80 volt pack per motor wouldn't be enough just for the acceleration but to get 120 miles per charge you would probably need at least two parallel sets per motor, possibly more.

Its going to be very expensive, but doable with enough money.

Doug

if you went with A123 batteries 2.3Ah and 3.2V, 7.36Wh. Lets say you get 200wh/mile cruising at 50mph.... to get 120 miles you'd need 3260 A123 batteries, or 24kWh.

At ~10bucks each, you'd be looking at $32,600. Thats without motor, controller or anything else.

And you could use a huge series wound DC controller at 144V and smoke the tires if you wanted.... AC is not needed if you want performance.

Those AC controllers and motors are not going to get you the acceleration you need, you are going to need more than 80ftlbs of torque and 30hp. They're not water cooled and they WILL overheat. They're made for vehicles below 1000lbs. You need something a little bigger than their 8" motor. Also, those curves have not been verified by anyone.

Hi guys
I know it`s not mine thread
but I also think about build performance EV
just a bit different
I going to build EV on porsche body
I pick 928 as it`a my favorite one

I love to use it as daily driver
but they are unreliable, thirsty and expesive in parts
another thing i like eco friendly
and silent tyre burn is cool
so i need electric porsche 928
don`t need to be fast or powerfull
130km/h and 8 sec. to 100 will do
how much the parts gona cost?
and witch model to pic 4 speed auto or 5 manual?
I think automatic be more dificult to do and it`s heavy too (about 1500kg -standard car) I wont to make it as lightweight as passible

If you need batteries I am setting up a shop to build quality packs. You can check out my website at Kennedy Alternative Energy - LiFePO4, we can help you with any questions you have, find parts dealers, and give you a quote for a custom battery pack.