Cheaper Electric Car Motors

by Luther
(USA)



How and where do you get a cheaper electric car motor? Whenever I look for electric car motors, I'm seeing prices at $6000 to $9000. Is that right? Do I need to come up with that kinda money just to get started...or am I not looking at the right stuff?

Hi, Luther -
You can save yourself a lot of money by using a motor salvaged from a used electric forklift. There is an excellent forum thread here at the DIY electric car forums which was started by Jim Husted of Hi-Torque Electric and which deals with such things as exactly what to look for in a forklift motor, which motor to use (you want the traction motor, not the lift motors, for a car), and how to advance the brushes so you can use the motor at a higher voltage without arcing.

There are a LOT of pages on the thread, so it ought to keep you busy for a while; )

Regards,
Lynne

Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Motor Q&A.

Share this page:
Enjoy this page? Please pay it forward. Here's how...

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

  1. Click on the HTML link code below.
  2. Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.