been thinking... Electric conversion?

[Plays_with_Toys]

I want to start researching into electric conversions on cars. I think with the smaller size of our motors an electric motor would bolt in nicely. With a wagon and the gas tank removed, plenty of room for batteries. I know the cost of conversion is pretty stout, and it's nothing coming soon, but with what one would spend on a new car, you could pay about 2/3 of that to restore the chassis/bushings/suspension and install the electric drive system into an older car. Who knows if it would be a legacy, at that point the skies the limit for chassis choice.

Anyone know of some information sources?

[decke48]

hmm interesting.. but i think theres a problem. for the car to work you would need a CVT transmission. because of the spike when shifted you shorten the life of the motor. idk if you could retrofit another CVT in to a subaru and keep it AWD or even FWD. it to over the top for me to even try.,, or if you could find a R1 electric from japan and rip its guts out and drop it in.. the r1s are based on 1.8 boxers and awd.. so maybe thats a option. but interesting non the less

[MCarp22]

because of the spike when shifted you shorten the life of the motor.

I'd imagine the torque converter would dampen that enough for it to work well with a 4eat

[Plays_with_Toys]

^^^ Exactly, I think an automatic transmission would be in order. 1st gear for in city, and 2nd gear for highway? Something like that? I'm going forum hunting this weekend to see if I can find a good informative site.

[Tokio]

wow, i just stumbled on this thread... i just got done building an electric S10 for the Airport PR Dept. where i work... Auto trannys DO NOT WORK at all with electric motors. AT ALL. either you do direct drive or you use a manual tranny, which is actually pretty awesome... no clutch needed, and doesnt hurt the motor any.

on a side note, theres no way in hell you could fit all the batteries safely on a BD, and even if you found a way in a BG, the weight would be so great in back youd need some crazy stiff springs and it would ride like crap. just like all the other electric converted vehicles on the road today. i had to add 10 leaf springs to each side of the rear end.

[Colorado_Outback]

i had to add 10 leaf springs to each side of the rear end.

Damn! :shock: any pics of this beast?

[Grafton]

theres some company that does electric conversions, but its not cheap

but you would only need about ~400lbs of Li-Ion batterys to have a good range and thats not that much more weight in a BG or a BD

[Tokio]

ill grab some pics from my work comp.

the total price for us was around $12k.

beast? hardly, gimme a combustion engine any day. itll climb the steepest hill in town, but driving it is so lame.

[liquidracing]

what about an electric assist conversion, where somehow the electric motor is tied into the system, like a starter, dedicated use, but, duty-specific.

i mean, what if you have an electric motor that helps ONLY during acceleration then totally disengages until the car is given a signal to accelerate again...like, let's say.....1/4 throttle or more.

only problem is that the electric current HAS to originate from somewhere, and that alone takes away the hp, if generator driven, later on down the road, unless it were a battery bank that was charged from an electrical outlet not of the car. that being said, then there's the run time issue if charged that way.
this is another thing i have comtemplated for years, but, to no avail...the technology is still not quite there yet, but, that's why engineers make the big bucks right?