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Electric Car Conversion, Pt II

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DougoMan

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Ok, so since my other thread was unfairly locked up.. I have started another. Please try to control your emotions and not insult me so it does not happen again. I have not insulted anyone here.

My newest plan is to base this conversion around a '97 BMW M3 that I will hopefully be buying soon.

I might just drive it for a while though. The engine is using some oil so hopefully if I beat the shit out of it I will have a reason to do the conversion soon enough.
 
Unless you have a well thought-out plan that accounts for every issue you will face, you will most likely fail. Did you count the number of times that you had to say "I'll have to come up with something to take care of that" or revealed your ignorance of a highly relevant subject in the last thread?

This is not a joke, you are currently en route to a total waste of money.
 
I've got to agree with Howard. There are quite a few details that your previous plan did not account for. You need to walk through everything from the vehicle you want to modify down to how you're getting an input from the gas pedal to turn into a response from the electric motor and everything in between. Unless you work through everything before you start you'll end up buying things that won't work for what you want. At best, it will mean that you're wasting money. At worst, it could be dangerous. If you're truly interested there are plenty of forums that work on building electric vehicles. If you go and take a look at their plans that they've pieced together to get an idea of what you'll need to do a good conversion.
 
I read an interview from a DIY guy about converting his BMW Z3 to an EV. He used Li-Ion batteries and still added 386lbs to the vehicle weight. Cost him around $21k to complete the build and he ended up with a 50-mile range. This is an EV conversion, using a BMW, where he kept the clutch and transmission, seems to be as close to your idea as one could get. Good luck.
 
I suggest you start with a concrete list of requirements, instead of constantly changing (car, to car towing trailer, to solar panels, etc).

What do you want the range to be, and what do you want the top speed to be. That will define your required energy storage amount and the torque you'll need from your motors. You can then move on to sizing your motor, picking your battery, and defining your motor controller.
 
About three years ago I had a '87 civic on its last legs. Looked into an electric conversion. Read what people had done to the exact same car. Even with a clear plan to follow it seemed far too time consuming and expensive to be worthwhile.

But if you just want something to tinker with for months or years on end, have garage space and extra cash, and another car to actually drive, why the heck not?
 
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