Coupler and Adapter Plate For DIY Electric Car Conversion
In any Do It Yourself (DIY) [tag-tec]electric car conversion[/tag-tec] project, your goal is to remove the internal combustion engine and replace it with an electric motor. The question is, how do you connect the electric motor to the transmission? You use the Coupler and Adapter Plate. Check out the video below.
If you are an electric car enthusiast, you may want to do your own electric car conversion project from your home garage. Check out the top Electric Vehicle Conversion Guide on the web.
[…] the electric motor to the drive train. The component is call the adapter kit which consist of the adapter plate and coupler. The setup of this unit is very important because any misalignment will affect the performance of […]
Why is a gearbox needed as, I thought the electricity supply to the electric motor created an “automatic” gearbox action.
Thanks,
David.
Hi David, thanks for visiting my blog.
Firstly, if you are planning to convert a gasoline driven car to run purely on electricity, it is a good idea to choose a donor car with a manual transmission. I wrote an article about choosing an EV donor car, you can check it out.
An electric motor is actually quite powerful. However, we need a way to transfer all the torque from the motor to the wheels. To do so, the electric motor has to be connected to the existing transmission. When you drive a homemade electric car, all you have to do is shift into 2nd gear and leave it there. Next, step on the accelerator and off you go. It is sort of like driving a “semi-automatic” car.
‘Will
[…] you join both the motor and transmission shaft together? You will have to use a device known as a universal coupler and adapter plate. To line up the shafts, you have to custom made a medal bracket for the electric […]
[…] both the motor and transmission shaft together. You can custom made a metal bracket and then use a universal coupler. Alternatively, you also custom made an adapter […]
Excellent this info. I apreciate a lot of this tips in the technical references very necesaries for to build a ELECTRIC CAR OF COURSE… A lot of Thanks for this info…
Fraternallly: Agustin Gonzalez.
[…] probably you would have to outsource the work to make the adapter plate also. Unless you are a machinist and you have tooling equipment in your garage, you have to […]
[…] The toughest component to fabricate on your own is the metal adapter plate. […]
[…] biggest advantage is the adapter plate. Since the metal adapter plate is already cut to fit a Beetle, all you have to do is line it up and […]
Thank you for clearing this issue up, Will. It was something that had me a bit confused as well. Just one question remains from my side however. Will you still be using the clutch when changing from neutral into second?
I do apologise for the silly question. This is a learning curve for me, as I am new to the electric car conversion concept.
It depends on how the electric motor is connected to the existing transmission unit. Most DIY electric car converter will connect the electric motor direct to the transmission bypassing the clutch. The way they drive the EV is by engaging in second or third gear and pretty much drive around using that gear only.
thank you for that,made things easyer,Will a 10 hp ac motor work in electric car?
i too am glad the question about the gearbox was asked as i was looking at other information and thinking that the motor also acted as a direct drive. if you use all the gears in the standard gearbox will it not travel at higher speeds like in a gasoline powered car?