dhrivnak
Full Member
I am contemplating a fairly radical conversion to my 2004 Avalanche that if it works as planned, should take my 2WD to 4WD, give me 35+mpg in the city and could give me an extra 70hp to boost.
With the cost of gas high and rising, an EV (Electric Vehicle) conversion could do the trick. One item I could use help from the club on is can one attach 4WD CV joints to the front wheels of a 2WD model? Are the wheels the same in the 2WD and 4WD models? I have the shop manual and it appears the parts are the same but I can not be 100% sure unless I tear into it. And I would rather get some advice from club members before I do so. If this can work can I get CV joints from a salvage yard and if so how far back can I go? Did GM change the gearing or attachment from 1990 to 2004?
Anyway here is the basic plan. Perm makes a 72V (PMG 132) small motor that generates about 35hp with about 28ftlb of torque. With a 6:1 gear reducer that would give me 150ftlb per wheel. The motor is small enough I can fit two where the front transaxle would normally go. Add a 6:1 gear reducer between the motor and CV joint and I should have front wheel electric drive with 150ftlb of torque at each wheel. From that I have read an 20hp electric motor is roughly equivalent to 150hp gas engine due to differences in torque curves.
With 12 Trojan T105 6V batteries I would have 225 amp hours or enough to drive it for about 25 miles, plenty to get me to work and back. The batteries will fit into 2 boxes that will line each side of the bed. They would be the length of the bed 8? wide and about 1ft tall. I would loose about 1/3 of the bed but could still use the mid-gate and it is rare I need the full bed.
I thought I could put in some interlocks and when the car is running and in neutral I would be on electric drive. With the drive by wire I can disconnect the throttle to the engine while in neutral and have the throttle power the controller to drive. If I run out of battery power I would drop into drive to disconnect the electric drive and drive it in 2WD as normal.
I figure the conversion will run about $5000, or not much more than a turbo charger but would give me a similar power boost and much better gas mileage. If I can do my in-town driving on batteries than even 40mpg should be easily obtainable. With 5000 miles a year in the city it should save me nearly $600 a year in fuel. Not a great payback but if you add in the 4WD option and other intangibles it should be worth it at least to me. Do any of you think this is possible?
With the cost of gas high and rising, an EV (Electric Vehicle) conversion could do the trick. One item I could use help from the club on is can one attach 4WD CV joints to the front wheels of a 2WD model? Are the wheels the same in the 2WD and 4WD models? I have the shop manual and it appears the parts are the same but I can not be 100% sure unless I tear into it. And I would rather get some advice from club members before I do so. If this can work can I get CV joints from a salvage yard and if so how far back can I go? Did GM change the gearing or attachment from 1990 to 2004?
Anyway here is the basic plan. Perm makes a 72V (PMG 132) small motor that generates about 35hp with about 28ftlb of torque. With a 6:1 gear reducer that would give me 150ftlb per wheel. The motor is small enough I can fit two where the front transaxle would normally go. Add a 6:1 gear reducer between the motor and CV joint and I should have front wheel electric drive with 150ftlb of torque at each wheel. From that I have read an 20hp electric motor is roughly equivalent to 150hp gas engine due to differences in torque curves.
With 12 Trojan T105 6V batteries I would have 225 amp hours or enough to drive it for about 25 miles, plenty to get me to work and back. The batteries will fit into 2 boxes that will line each side of the bed. They would be the length of the bed 8? wide and about 1ft tall. I would loose about 1/3 of the bed but could still use the mid-gate and it is rare I need the full bed.
I thought I could put in some interlocks and when the car is running and in neutral I would be on electric drive. With the drive by wire I can disconnect the throttle to the engine while in neutral and have the throttle power the controller to drive. If I run out of battery power I would drop into drive to disconnect the electric drive and drive it in 2WD as normal.
I figure the conversion will run about $5000, or not much more than a turbo charger but would give me a similar power boost and much better gas mileage. If I can do my in-town driving on batteries than even 40mpg should be easily obtainable. With 5000 miles a year in the city it should save me nearly $600 a year in fuel. Not a great payback but if you add in the 4WD option and other intangibles it should be worth it at least to me. Do any of you think this is possible?
