openinverter forum

Hello,
I am converting my microvan to electric using a prius gen2 inverter and prius gen 3 transaxle, batteries are new raw 256ah li-ion cells connected in 56 series (207v nominal). I don't have a deep understanding of any aspect of ev conversion, but I know enough of everything to hopefully see this to the end.

The microvan.
The motor spinning after a remote session with Johu viewtopic.php?p=63807#p63807


The microvan is RWD, so I have to mount the transaxle longitudinally, lock the passenger side axle cup and mate the original propeller to the prius drive shaft and figure out new mounts.

I am not sure what vehicle speeds to expect or how the prius differential will hold up till we test it.

very interesting and exciting. Why did you choose the prius transaxle?

Jacobsmess wrote: ↑Wed Nov 22, 2023 6:32 pm very interesting and exciting. Why did you choose the prius transaxle?

its low cost and its readily available in my locality. I hope to convert more of these if this turns out great.

Good to see!
The voltage might turn out a little low for the Prius transaxle. Lets see if you get sufficient power, maybe it suits your use case nonetheless.

I’d wip the transaxle apart and weld up the diff if I were you,

yeah you dont want to lock one diff output, you'll likely destroy the sun gears. Weld the diff centre instead.

You may also find the gearing somewhat unsatisfactory as the output of the transaxle is already reduced, intended to run directly to the wheels and instead you'll reduce it again thru your rear diff.

The other option being driving the prop shaft from the input shaft of the transaxle, this does unfortunately require even more extensive modifications including solidly coupling mg1 mg2 and the input shaft, reversing the oil pump ports as it will have to run backwards ect, it can be done see my build thread for this all done on a rx400h transaxle (essentially a bigger Prius gen3)

These are great suggestions, thanks. My plan is to start from the simplest option, to the more complex. if one option fails, we take notes and try the next.

The differential will almost certainly fail if you use it as a speed doubler by locking the other side. My bet is it won't last one full battery worth of distance. Your best hope is it will weld itself for you instead of exploding.