Electric Moke Stuff

[Terry]

HI,

Was chatting with moeMoke late last night and we were talking about Electric Moke, in particular one i have here and others in general and thought might start a wider discussion it.

First thing we were talking about was the drive chain into a standard Moke/Mini gearbox.

On the half baked project I have here the previous people welded a cog for a motorcycle chain onto the input shaft and made a panel to seal off the oil inside the box so the chain would run dry.

However my thoughts, confirmed by others is that the torque from the chain twist the cog and would simply destroy the input shaft because the spigot(?) bearing that normal takes the load is not there as the transfer case is gone. So to fit the transfer case, run a wet/oil set up has its own problems, simply there is not enough room between the edge of the transfer case and cog to run a chain.

So where we ended was trying to think of a rubber belt, like a cam belt, or a thin chain, that could run in oil, be thin enough to fit and still take the load. Anyone got any suggestions?



The second idea for drive we came up with was to get a small car diff, fit it between the drive shafts and then point the input up and drive the motor directly into the diff. No gears, but minimal loss of power. So can anyone think of a diff that has real short axles or maybe universal joints close to the bell?

Terry

 

[sports850]

Have a look through this site , he uses an auto box though instead of a manual one but the principle is similar http://homepage.ntlworld.com/electric.mini/index.html , just not sure on how to keep a working clutch with the manual box to allow quiet gearchanges .

[moemoke]

Terry, like I said last night I rekon an early Subaru rear diff would almost fit, with the elec motor running north south, not sure if it would fit in a moke eng bay, what length is the elec motor you have, I could go to the wreckers tomorrow and measure a subbie diff, they even have similar pot joints if my memory serves me right.

[moemoke]

Measured up a Subaru rear diff this morning
They are 110mm from centreline of rear axles to rear of diff, U beauty I thought, should fit in a moke.
Climbed to the front to measure the front of the diff and it's 400mm from axles to uni, bugger, much to long for the moke.
Also looked at Toyota Tercel and Diahatsu Terios but they both have solid axles

The wreckers man thought maybe a diff out of a quad bike might work, I'm not sure if it would handle the power.

Back to the drawing board

[Tim]

I reckon this is the way to go.



Its the electric motor and differential out of a Japanese e-4wd. E-4wd is a system that is used by Nissan and other manufacturers to convert their small fwd cars into 4wd. They stick the above powertrain in the back with driveshafts that look exactly like Moke ones going to the wheels. When the front wheels lose traction, a large alternator mounted on the engine clutches in, sending volts to the electric motor, it could just as easily be a battery. Get one of these, stick it in the front, put batteries in the huge hole still available in the engine bay, and you're away. Then get another one and stick it in the back...e-4wd!

How do you get one? Buggered if I know.

Tim

[moemoke]

that looks good, I did google it and foundthat they are only a 'motor assist' system,
seems to have been around since 2002 on a Nissan Micra.
We have a local wreckers who does import stuff from Japan, maybe I could
get them to get one to play with.

[Terry]

Hi,

I know a Moke person who drives a Micra, whos idea of going offroad is visting me, so I could probably remove his and he wouldn't notice.

Terry

[moemoke]

Sorry Terry, Jap version only. so you might not find much under their rear end

[sports850]

Going back to the original idea of usingthe subi diff , how about mounting it vertically (might have to make an oil line to lubricate the front bearing) , as in with the back of the diff facing downwards and the universal's yoke upwards , and one or even two smaller electric motors driving the yoke by belt or chain ? It'd be a fairly simple , compact unit and the belt or chain would be easily accessible for maintenance .

[Terry]

Sport850,

Mounting it vertical as you explain it was the original idea, but i must admit i hadn't considered the oil and bearings issue. Perhaps could leave the diff in its normal orientation and sit the motor on top and do a simple chain arrangement to the input side. In that arrangement the ability to easily alter the drive ratios may still be achieved albeit not quite as quickly as moving a gearstick.

My preference is still to try and fit up a 'gearbox' because it gives you choices for power and range however you do lose energy. I am not thinking about really using the clutch, but if i am in generally flat terrain I would set and forget in 4th, In hilly areas I might stop and select 2nd. Having the choice of different ratios can extend the range of the batteries.

Terry