Deciding on an approach?

[Greenbeast]

I've been sent this way from the DIYelectriccar forum.

I was initially looking at a cheap and cheerful forklift motor project, because i'm short on cash up front and figured it'd be a good entry point. I've seen some real budget builds done and it's inspired me to get started after 11 years of dreaming.

But i came over here and can't see anything about diy boards for simple DC motors (feel free to correct me and point me there), but instead got wowed by the idea of the lexus or leaf drivetrains.
A cursory search this morning reveals a leaf stack for £1k on ebay, another search reveals LEXUS GS450H transmission with no inverter for £400. I'm planning to keep the existing 4wd transmission in the conversion vehicle though.
I was hoping to spend a couple of hundred on a DC motor and find a diy controller build to keep things well well under £1k, was i dreaming? if not where might i find such a project?

Alternatively if the DC motor route is gonna cost me ~£1000-1200 anyway, am i better looking at the lexus/leaf idea, what would total drivetrain cost be there?
For Leaf it's presumably £1k for the Nissan stack and then at least £150-300 for a Damien VCM, is that it, or other parts needed that bump it up?
I guess with the OEM AC stuff there's the option of regen too?

Thoughts much appreciated

[ZooKeeper]

Sometimes the hardware one finds sets the direction.

In may case, it was hardware and the vehicle, although the MGR will work in "any" vehicle with IRS on the driving end. The $100 MGR sold me on the AC path, since range is only a function of overall efficiency and the kWh of the pack chosen; one can series or parallel modules to bias the pack toward voltage or amperage.

For my build, a DC motor meant having to keep the transmission and that has no practical benefit (no mass-produced EV that I know of has one). Losing the trans decreases weight and improves efficiency.... WIN + WIN. The MGR actually weighs about the same as the transmission I am losing, so if my batteries are = or < engine mass, the completed conversion will be net-neutral on mass or *hopefully* less!

What won't I have?
- Good winter heat, though similar to stock and no aircooled does -
- High power, will be about the same as the aircooled
- Long range, as it is not needed for a city-dweller like me
- Very low cost (but about 1/4 of a typical DC VW "kit")
- Ability to use a charging station, again not really needed.... BUT can be added

EVBMW (Damien) did a sub 1000 euro build, so it absolutely IS possible and my hardware is under that all-in.

[Greenbeast]

Hi, thanks for your reply.
Yes I binged the sub €1000 build as well as the Audi8e build someone else did in the last couple of days.

I did a bit more reading on current trends (I have tended to dip in and out over the last 11 years and there are always big changes to catch up on!) and see lots of movement on AC/oem repurposing.

I need to retain the transmission to keep the 4wd as stock, but I'm toying with a gen 1 leaf motor/inverter. It's just a lot of cash up front. For example if I went with DC and a diy controller I can spend a few hundred here or there on each new stage (mating motor to gearbox, building controller, etc...), buying oem means a, larger commitment to even do anything right now