openinverter forum

Hey everyone I have been dreaming of this for a long time and was finally able to start my project. I have officially ordered my fist EV conversion part, a Leaf motor

My donor car is a 1987 S10. It is rusty but I love it. It will mostly be used for a 6km commute each day and any other running around town I need. I don’t think I need more than 50km range. I am on a fairly tight budget but still want to make it reliable and safe. If I can get it safely mobile now I may upgrade things later as I have money and as parts come around.

I just ordered a Nissan leaf’s motor from one of the other members on this form. It is a gen 2 Nissan Leaf. The previous owner all ready has the openinverter drop in board installed and operational. I am planning to mate it to the 5 speed transmission that is already in the truck. Also I have a friend that can set me up with an electric vacuum pump that hopefully can run the brake booster. Other than that nothing else is decided.

For a battery I am thinking either a Leaf or a volt pack. If at all possible I would love to keep it in its original case. These batteries seem to be the most available in my area. I found a decent deal on a Gen 2 volt pack however I was hoping to use a SimBMS to save some wiring and money however from what I have read the Gen 2 packs are not fully supported.
No idea yet what to do for a charger. Tesla? Volt? Outlander?
Still haven’t figured out power steering, maybe and electric hydraulic pump out of a Volvo?

I am bother terrified and excited to see how this goes. If you have questions or comments or advice I would love to hear it.

Will a the full leaf stack fit under the hood?

If so thsts makes things very simple.

Might be worth pickong up a zombiverter

I think it would fit but I am not sure. A full stack was my original idea however the motor I am getting does not come with the PDM. Also it already has a drop in board openinverter board. It may end up costing just as much but right now I am planning on running a different brand of charger. Do you have any recommendations for chargers and BMS systems?I have followed some of your builds and admire your work. I might be looking for some mounting plates at some point.

Are you sure you want to use a Chevy Volt battery pack, they are so small by today's standards at only 16/18 kWh and have that odd T shape design, also once you break the modules apart they are of like 3 different sizes, consider throwing a 42 kWh BMW i3 battery pack in the bed of that truck and calling it good


Chevy Volt Gen 1 and Gen 2 Packs

BMW i3 battery pack - Wiring up a Dilithium BMS System on a 400 Volt Battery Pack!

I have definitely considered the i3 pack. I think it would be awesome to do like Jonny 5 did with his Hilux and just put it between the frame rails under the bed. Such a clean build! Honestly the biggest reason i don’t go that way is price and availability. I think I found a volt battery for $700 + taxes and shipping. I think the i3 were at least double that and a lot further to ship. Also because I am keeping my drive shaft I don’t think I could fit a square pack between the frame rails. I would need to make boxes beside the drive shaft. The other thing is that 99% of the time I think 16kwh will be enough. The truck will very rarely do more than 20km a day. Honestly my dream is one build a quality sodium ion battery for it. I live in Canada so we have some cold days. If they can handle the cold better that would be the dream.

there are also some BMW battery packs that are saddle-shaped as if to bridge a driveshaft through the middle, and i had considered using them for that same between-the-frame rails while dodging the driveshaft application. have you seen those? the one i was looking at is called the SP41 from a 530e. Here's a video showing it: https://www.diyelectriccar.com/threads/ ... 43/page-15

Yea that would be ideal if it would fit
Between the frame rails.

not to rain on your parade but it is natural to start off an EV Conversion wishing or hoping to use the packs in their native shape, and not have to even crack them open, then as you progress through the process, you say to hell with that, as they all have some silly quirks making them impossible to use in our conversions, having said that, the BMW X5 12 kWh square shaped battery pack is still on my list of packs I wouldn't mind trying to wedge into some vehicle as is

As someone who has used several Volt packs (originally built the '40 with two 1st gen and then swapped for two 2nd gen), I'd caution against it. They are good for what they are good at (very tolerant of high power demands, for relatively cheap) but they are a bear to fit into a car, have been finiky when it comes to isolation, and I've seen more degradation than I would like with them. If this was my build, I'd look for something else.

I would also add this: In my opinion, you should build in more range than you think you'll use. Its real easy to start out thinking "I'll only need this much" but then want to take it to this place, and realize that's a stretch. Or want to take it to this event, but then its a pain, or decide what the hell, lets roadtrip the thing, and realize how much time+stress charging can add. Whether road tripping, or just driving regionally, you will probably find that there are times where your range makes you more anxious than you need to be. I'm not saying it need to have 200 miles of range, but I am saying that my car with 65 miles of range, which I've taken on many long road trips, still makes me anxious just driving around regionally. I would say a conversion should target at least 100 miles, just to provide a nice buffer for a day out and about.

I'd say all of the above suggestions are decent, but so is the Bolt, or a Model 3 pack, both of which are really falling in price.

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. It is good to know the Volt is not a great option. I definitely get that longer range would be nice. I have already been thinking about making a 500km drive with it once’s it is mobile but not sure if I can make it work with the charging that is available.

I've said for a while now that with EV conversion batteries right now its a classic 3 criteria, you get to pick 2 situation:
Low Cost
High Power Capability
High Energy Capacity (range)

The Volt batteries are low cost, high power, low energy capacity. There are good number of options that are low cost and high energy density. We are starting to see some options that are getting close to low(er) cost, high power, high energy capacity. That's when the fun starts

(the fourth criteria is probably "packaging/reconfiguration ability")

Anything to look for as far as Chevy Bolt batteries or model 3 batteries? Year? Size? Chemistry?

Model 3 i would cation against as they are one of the most difficult and delicate to reconfigure/ package.

some 800v cars like the tycan might be worth looking at as you can use half the pack, and they are very moduler.

I have half an ioniq pack (36kwh) and it’s been great. Not too much to repackaged, and modern chemistry.

p.s. laid it out great, its all about which compromise you want to deal with

And greg raises a good point! a small battery you dont have to mess with allows you to focuses on everything else and get something running and driving, very easy ith a truck, just throw water ever battery un changed in the bed.

This was how the beginnings of my datsun was. Volt pack im the bed, drove all summer like that.

Honestly I was attracted to the Volt battery because I seen what you did with your Datsun.

S10man wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 1:01 am Anything to look for as far as Chevy Bolt batteries or model 3 batteries? Year? Size? Chemistry?

With the Bolt I would say get the VIN of the car its from and check if it had the battery replaced as part of the recall. There are websites that will do that. You don't want one from a car that has not had it replaced, due to fire risk from a manufacturing defect.

With the 3 there are really just two sizes, from what I can tell, but I'd defer to others experience with those.

Bratitude wrote: ↑Tue Mar 24, 2026 2:51 am
And greg raises a good point! a small battery you dont have to mess with allows you to focuses on everything else and get something running and driving, very easy ith a truck, just throw water ever battery un changed in the bed.

This was how the beginnings of my datsun was. Volt pack im the bed, drove all summer like that.

This is a fair point. It all depends on how you want to go about packaging things. The batteries in my '40 are inside the car between the drivers seat and the rear axle, and it is a bear to remove and replace them, so I tend to think about the battery selection and installation as a more permanent thing than others do.

Here is my latest update.

I got the ICE motor pulled. The clutch torn apart and I am starting to work on the mounting plate. Oh, and my electric motor showed up. Thanks Zieg

Working on getting an adapter mocked up. I was thinking of buying the set up from Brat Ind however the money I have to spend on the project is a bit tight. I was able to find some scrap aluminum around my work place and I am going to see what I can make.

Here is what I am thinking for mounting plate. I work at a truck shop and I found a damaged aluminum wheel hub in the recycling bin. I am thinking to get rid of my belhousing all together and replace it with that. What do you people think?

As long as everything ends up concentric and straight why not!

Do you have a way to true both matting faces?

Hey. Honestly from factory it should be pretty good but I will have to see. So far my biggest concern is that the flang on the hub won’t catch all the bolts. Just curious with your adapters is there any adjustments that needs to be made to make sure everything is lined up or can you pretty much bolt it up and everything should be aligned. Obviously you need to get the coupler made but other than that, I guess.