• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Has anyone here ever tried to convert a car to electric?

Status
Not open for further replies.
SSSnail

SSSnail

Lifer
How hard can it be? </Clarkson>

I'm thinking one of these days, when I move back down to SoCal, I may want to restore a Karmann Ghia, and I'd want to make it electric.

Anyone here ever done something like that? What do I need to watch out for? Etc...
 
Ecomodder.com forum has a ton of threads on it. It's fairly common over there.

Haven't done it personally.
 
Our college EE project was to convert one. We didn't take the engine out or transmission stuff (the class before us did) but otherwise it's fairly straight forward. We used all COTS parts including the controller, and we also installed a generator ,backup and start up alarms.

Overall I think we had 12 car batteries installed in the car, plus a solar panel on the roof and the car could go about 50 miles at a time if it was sunny out.
 
Just a few years ago it was the only way to get an EV, more or less. Now, with some other options, it just makes no sense. It typically involves a great deal of work and a mediocre end result. There is a guy at priuschat who bought a Porsche a couple years ago and paid somebody to turn it EV. That person messed it up, so he paid somebody else and they still couldn't get it--and even then the thing was never going to have a fantastic range or be all that powerful. Then, Tesla came out with the roadster and this guy just bought one of those instead.

Given that you can now buy a Leaf in the 20's that works with exceptional reliability and has a warranty, I think you'd probably end up dissatisfied with a personal project.
 
Get an electric car, and cut and paste the Karman body on it.

Normally, for a cut and paste job, you'd be looking at getting a bunch of totaled cars, but I think with the battery being what it is, you won't be lucky in that regard. You may be able to get one with serious body damage though, and a healthy chassis (storm (hail/tree/debris) damage) that wasn't totaled by the insurance, and so the owner can get rid of it at a decent price, with the running gear mostly intact.

Of course, that's not going to work very well, if they build the bloody things with space frames, and you can't get chassis and body to separate properly, without everything becoming a wobbly mess.

Still, from here it looks like a better bet, than going out and getting motors and batteries, and wiring everything up. Who knows how much battery mass you can install, before the chassis doesn't want to take any more, and then there's the issue of whether to install a transmission, what motors to choose, and so many ways to do it wrong, it's not even funny.

At least with a cut and paste job you have a working base to start out on. It becomes more of a coachbuilder's task than an engineer's one, but the probability of success is slightly higher, if you find a suitable donor e-car.

Looking at the recent piece on the drive youtube channel on the electric SLS, that seems to have a mostly independent chassis, on which you could build anything. Now that is not what you're looking for, but something in that vein, ripped out of a near write-off, cut and welded to length, with the body stretched to width and welded on, and booyah: the best of both worlds.
 
I work with a woman who converted a Toyota MR2 to electric. It is pretty cool, and it is a manual. She took me for a ride in it a few months ago.
 
z1ggy said:
How's that work, seeing as a true EV doesn't have gears...?
Click to expand...

He didn't notice, he was too busy "getting a ride" 😉

C&D had a story several years back about a guy who had converted an old Nissan IIRC into an EV, and drag raced it. It was extremely quick off the line then ran out of juice (so to speak), I believe he had a ~100hp motor at each wheel.
 
There's a guy in my town who converted his vintage VW Beetle to electric, I see it everywhere. Seems to have good range & performance in-town, it always keeps up with traffic. Pretty cool project!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top