Maggie The Electrical VW Camper – What Makes Her Tick

Bear in mind the superior electrical VW camper from eDub providers I wrote about some time again? What really makes her tick, or tock, or whizz, or buzz? Properly, what she definitely doesn’t do is chug, or splurt, or cough and splutter. Maggie is 100% electrical, and has left the previous world she was born into. Identical to Indie did earlier than her, however this time with even cooler tech.

Photograph by Equipment Lacey/eDub Providers. Maggie subsequent to Indie

Maggie is a 1979 VW T2 camper van, initially from the USA. It got here to eDub as a fairly worn-out bus with a very good chassis. It had the romantic paint shades of brown and orange with an olive inexperienced inside. It was bought by eDub for a consumer with the intention to take away the unique engine and exchange it with a battery pack and Tesla Drive Unit.

“Some folks say we take away the soul of a camper with an electrical conversion, however I disagree,” says Equipment Lacey, eDub Firm Director, and elaborates: “This can be a coronary heart transplant. Campers need to be off exploring the hills, mountains and countryside with out polluting it with noise and smoke. An electrical conversion provides the soul of the camper new heights
to succeed in.”

With this in thoughts, I believed we should always get into the weeds a bit, as a result of whereas I definitely nonetheless love the sounds and rumbles of previous basic automobiles, there’s a sure aura across the conversion course of from combustion to electrical. As Equipment Lacey will attest by means of his a few years of expertise, it’s not a matter of simply throwing in a battery and a motor. It’s craftsmanship at its most interesting. You must care for each single element with a view to get a easy operating and dependable outcome.

Render by eDub Providers. Full e30 conversion pack.

Maggie options eDub’s e30 pack, which is a intelligent conversion choice that provides an exterior bolt-in pack that doesn’t have an effect on your inside. A big field within the engine bay holds 12 model new CALB lithium-ion battery modules with one other 4 on the petrol tank shelf. Maggie’s modules are 2.2 kWh every, making 35.2 kWh in whole. The brand new 2023 fashions, accessible to order now, have a bit of extra at 2.35 kWh per module, making 37.6 kWh whole in the identical kind issue, which fits to indicate simply how unbelievable the evolution in battery know-how is normally.

Photograph by Equipment Lacey/eDub Providers. Pack put in and considered contained in the engine bay.

The eDub group don’t have entry to fancy air tunnels like OEMs do, and doesn’t actually care that a lot about vary predictions. Everybody is aware of that trendy EVs have very optimistic ranges on their automobiles. However the brand new ID.Buzz is claimed to have an affordable common mileage of two.8 mile/kWh (4.5 km/kWh). Nevertheless, as luck would have it, the eDub conversions have roughly the identical vitality consumption. This provides an actual world vary of 100 miles (160 km) with the brand new e30 pack. The 2023 modules would bump this 7% to 107 miles (172 km).

Every battery module within the e30 is a 6s2p format (cells organized as 6 serial and a couple of parallel), making the modules 22.8V nominal. This makes a complete of 364.8V nominal, the proper voltage to drive the Tesla Drive unit, but additionally to provoke fast charging, accessible by means of the CCS socket on the facet of the van. The e60 pack additionally runs on the identical voltage, however makes use of 24 modules, every with a 4s3p configuration. That is what permits the bigger pack to run at the next capability, whereas retaining the identical voltage to be appropriate with the drive unit, charger DC/DC converter and HVAC system.

Render by eDub Providers. Customized subframe designed to deal with the Tesla motor and battery pack at the back of the T2.

Charging an eDub is out there throughout all widespread speeds. eDub configures its packs to “ABC” (All the time Be Charging), which begins on the campsite. A whole lot of rural websites solely have a 10A provide, the place electrical automobiles on “granny chargers” would journey the location, as they’re set to 13A. eDub solved this by supplying an adaptive charging cable which might cost as gradual as 6A (1.5 kWh). The on-board BMS (Battery Administration System) can also be configured to permit charging at any pace and can regulate the CAN (Controller Space Community) bus messages accordingly.

On the opposite finish of the spectrum, CCS2 charging is out there at 70 kW (CCS1 can also be accessible for worldwide markets). For the e30 kits, this can recharge the pack from 0–80% in 25 minutes, with the e60 doing the identical top-up in 41 minutes. eDub’s extra reasonably priced e36t pack, the place a Hyper 9 motor is bolted onto the guide gearbox, doesn’t have the CCS choice, and can cost at a most of 6.6 kW (5 and a half hours to completely recharge).

Photograph by eDub Providers. Element from the customized T2 subframe housing the Tesla motor.

This finally comes right down to energy accessible. The most important menace to vary is a heavy proper foot. For those who can restrict that throughout the car and the expertise, with out compromising efficiency, then you definately get the most effective of each worlds. eDub’s e30 and e60 packs (the e60 has a 61.2k Wh pack for 171 actual world miles of vary) each use Tesla motors. These are able to 290 BHP, however are tuned right down to about 96 BHP, which remains to be double the unique engine energy. Plus, as these conversion kits are totally computerized and retain the massive torque from 0 rpm, these campers can blast off the road and up hills with out losing tons of energy.

Photograph by Equipment Lacey/eDub Providers. View beneath of the put in pack.

The one different comparable issue to the unique is weight. Fashionable EVs will be over a ton heavier than a petroleum equal. However extremely, eDub’s e30 pack is identical weight as the unique engine, gearbox, and full gas tank (we will’t neglect that an 80 liter gas tank is sort of 80 kg of weight!) The e60 solely provides 180 kg extra, and all that’s beneath the car, so it acts like a couple of additional passengers within the again. That’s nonetheless effectively under the two,200 kg whole weight these campers had been constructed to deal with.

Photograph by Equipment Lacey/eDub Providers. Full e30 battery pack and Tesla motor on show, exhibiting the IO for the low voltage, excessive voltage, and coolant.

All in all, Maggie represents the top of VW camper van conversions for eDub thus far. Simply the best mix of energy, weight, utility, consolation, and reliability. And Maggie’s trustworthiness implies that she is out there for rent, and is now additionally accessible to rent in Scotland in 2023 for one season solely on Airbnb! So cool! If you wish to talk about changing or buying your very personal electrical VW camper van, check out eDub Conversion.

Photograph by Equipment Lacey/eDub Providers. The consolation of Maggie inside.

Take pleasure in this new video the place Equipment Lacey presents the Tesla-powered VW T2 Camper Van in nice element. It’s actually value a watch if you wish to find out about all of the issues behind it. Equipment Lacey has been at it for a decade now, and he has stubbornly been studying by doing what he loves.