MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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If I was at a loose end* I’d be looking into this as a project - nice to see a not silly money installation ready electric motor option on the market now. Hope they get loads of orders.
*with money, a garage and still owning my shonky but pretty 1971 VW beetle
Primary intended uses for the new motor include sports cars, classic cars, small commercial vehicles and recreational vehicles such as golf buggies.
That's gonna be quite some golf buggy. And here we are getting into a froth about unchipped e-bikes.
its not silly money as it doesn't come with an inverter or batteries. Once those are thrown in, you're looking at doubling/tripling the cost
it is also a fairly weak motor. It would be ok for things like minis and beetles, but once they have 400kg of battery onboard they're not going to be particularly nippy. I don't see many of these dropping into sports cars
That's quite cool, although the form factor probably limits it's use in a lot of classic cars. What you really need for a bolt on conversion is something gearbox sized that can be installed into the transmission tunnel so all you need is a modified prop shaft. That said the differential wastes a lot of power so maybe that's not such a bad thing. Just means most classics would need to fabricate some sort of IRS subframe to bolt in where the original live axle and leaf springs were.
I'd love to get a Hillman Imp and put one of those in each end, 4WD with about 200 HP.
Check out Jonny Smith's trip to the factory. They make mad e-bikes as well.
Also, you'd still need batteries.
For comparison the BMC A-series in a mini weighs 150kg wet, inc the transmission. A full tank of fuel (inc the tank) is about 50kg.
A Nissan Leaf battery also weighs 150kg, this weighs 50kg, so actually all in it's not that different to the standard car as long as you can find the space for the batteries.
If I had the £35k or so it would probably end up costing (plus the donor car) then would you be tempted to convert something like and MGB rather than buy an i3?
Well, that's the thing, isn't it? I'd love to do a squareback VW, but you're looking at 20k plus the vehicle. You can get in to an i3 that'll have better performance and range, dynamically be a better vehicle in a myriad of ways, and hold its money better for 20k.
I’d love to get a Hillman Imp and put one of those in each end, 4WD with about 200 HP.
Are you planning to sit on the batteries?
A Nissan Leaf battery also weighs 150kg,
no, it doesn't. It weighs approx 280kg.
Additionally a classic mini fuel tank (inc fuel) is only 30kg
Electric Classic Cars do this- they've recently done a Fiat 500 (old style). IIRC the new motor, batteries etc weighed c40kg more than the old engine & tank but it had 3x more power.
In the background they had an AH Sprite/MG Midget- be interesting to see that. Had I still had a Spitfire might have considered it.
I’d love to get a Hillman Imp and put one of those in each end, 4WD with about 200 HP.
But the standard Imp engine is so fun! Though these conversions will be the future of savings these old cars, especially with E10 fuel on route...
They did mention in the video that the classic mini weighed 75kg more than the original car.
107bhp is a fair bit in a mini though, especially when you consider that, being electric, it’s instantly available.
If I had the £35k or so it would probably end up costing (plus the donor car) then would you be tempted to convert something like and MGB rather than buy an i3?
Reality and practicality don't really carry much weight when boys are fantasizing about the cool hot-rodded cars they're going to build when they grow up and strike it rich.
no, it doesn’t. It weighs approx 280kg.
You're right, sure I've seen 150kg quoted somewhere, googling suggests that the weight per 100km of range so maybe that was it, or the delta Vs a Micra drivetrain.
Additionally a classic mini fuel tank (inc fuel) is only 30kg
Later (1980ish onward) were bigger.
That and you're splitting hairs, my guesstimate for the engine weight didn't include coolant, piping or starter battery either, just an engine and gearbox with oil in the sump.
My point was that you could in theory build it into even a small British classic and have usable mileage without affecting the weight too much. I could have picked a BGT V8 or Triumph GT6 if I'd wanted it to come out lighter.
Are you planning to sit on the batteries?
Or replace the bag of cement in the boot.
What about a classic BMW?
These guys will electrify pretty much what ever you take them or let you buy the bits and fry yourself at home
https://www.electricclassiccars.co.uk/
I was thinking I might convert this when the drive train dies as it is a free donor in effect and I won't be 'destroying a classic'
Later mini tanks are bigger but the injection ones have swirl pot in that reduces reduces capacity
#geek
They have been doing this in California for some time. Wheeler Dealers did a twin turbo Maserati some time ago with an electric motor. During the program Mike tried out a 'standard' VW Caravanette conversion that would outdrag a Porsche.
The Maserati was already an old conversion to electric so they just updated it and kept standard gearbox. Seem to remember it would pull away in any gear cant remember what they did with the clutch.
Worth a look if you can find it and think I would be looking at west coast suppliers to compare costs.
Maserati BiTurbo makes sense for conversion as most would blow their engines anyway and they sold quite well in the '80s. It is a shame they never put the 6 valve per cylinder engine into production just for the sheer madness, instead they just cranked up the turbos and fitted bigger intercoolers
Good Classic EV playlist on the Fully Charged channel - as mentioned above some good stuff coming out of Cali, especially EV West's stealth beetle conversion from a few years ago.
Hugely expensive for an off-the-self motor nailed (fairly badly) to an off-the-shelf gearbox and for just 80kW (and they dont' say if that's the motors continuous or peak rating)
And they don't seem to offer the hardest bit to get right, namely the matching energy storage system (ie batteries and BMS/charger etc).
I guess if you a "SINGER" of this world and can charge £200k for a restomod car, then a £25k powertrain (which is what this will cost by the time you've added in everything you need and enough batteries to be able to do more than drive it just once round the block) is not so bad, but for everyone else just buy a s/h leaf,zoe or a crashed Tesla and use the bits from that, most of which have already been reverse engieered to allow there use outside of their normal host vehicles 🙂
And of course, as the sales of EVs increase, the supply of s/h and crash damaged parts is going to increase, and unlike for ICE cars, buying an electric motor with 100kmiles on the clock is no deficit, at worst you could put a couple of new bearings in it (cost about £20) and it'll be good for another 500k miles....
Really don’t see the point.
Motors are motors ie small.
Batteries are big, heavy and take up room.
Classic cars are light, small. Chassis not designed for heavy weight = doesn’t work
Classic cars are light, small. Chassis not designed for heavy weight = doesn’t work
Well, you would obviously reinforce it with a spaceframe rollcage/chassis, upgrade the suspension and brakes, and redo the interior and electrics to modern standards of comfort. Apart from that, completely original.
I guess if you a “SINGER” of this world and can charge £200k for a restomod car,
Or £400k which is what they actually charge.
Well, you would obviously reinforce it with a spaceframe rollcage/chassis, upgrade the suspension and brakes, and redo the interior and electrics to modern standards of comfort. Apart from that, completely original.
Therefore loosing all the sole and character of the original car
Therefore loosing all the sole
If they come back, they're yours.
Really don’t see the point.
Motors are motors ie small.
Batteries are big, heavy and take up room.
Classic cars are light, small. Chassis not designed for heavy weight = doesn’t work
Except my fag packet maths showed you'd get about 100km (OK, I admit I thought it was more, but 100km is enough to get you to a country pub for lunch which is 99% of what they're ever used for) for nigh on the same weight as an original A-series. That only gets better as the engine size goes up.
You could argue what's the point of a car that only goes 100km, but then what's the point of a Series LR V8 that does 15mpg and leaves you with ruptured eardrums after 100km?
I think people need to drive an EV before commenting on the lack of power they percieve. My old Zoé 40 with the 90 motor had perfectly adequate performance despite being a heavy litle lump and the Zoé 50 with the 110 motor is a wizzy thing.
That electric Mini is under 10secs to 60 and will do it totally fuss free every time. Getting a 60s Cooper S to 60 in under 11 seconds required controlled wheelspin in first, a firm yank into second with barely a lift of accelerator or dipping of clutch and then either another change to third with a low final drive or lots of revs to reach 60 in second with a long final drive. Amusing but attention attracting noisy and anti-social.
With an electric you're in the right gear all the time and flooring the throttle produces instant almost silent go to the point passengers find it disconcerting.
Crack on, it will make all my unspoilt classics rarer and therefore more valuable. For the same reason I'm always happy to see any of the type of vehicles I own being scrapped. Maybe I just have no soul!
Nothing inherently against electric cars by the way. I haven't yet found the one for me, but I don't think it will be too far away and I'm looking forward to it.
Am I alone in thinking that sticking an electric motor in say an Austin Healey would be somewhat missing the point?
Not at all Slowoldman. Starting up my old Alfa never fails to put a smile on my face, and redlining it in the hindhead tunnel turns that into an insane cackle...
With people like Edd China making a road going shed, sofa and bed, I’m waiting for a road going bumper car!
I want to do a dual tesla motor classic milk float
Can you imagine the amusement on taking on say a Ferrari at the lights in a milkfloat that'll crack 60 in about 3 seconds! It'd be a total deathtrap of course, but you'd be grinning like a maniac on your way to those pearly gates!
This whole Is a classic a classic if you modernise it is rampant even if you ignore the electric car. I had a bloke at a show muttering away because I stuck a modern BMW engine and dash into my car. I am not sure if he was more or less disgusted when I told him it was a modern car just dressed up to look old.
I did it for a few reasons but one was so I could have a pretty (in my eyes) car with classic lines that I could use and abuse every day without the brakes failing, electrics catching fire and trailing oil where ever I went.
I think that is what a lot of the retro-mod people want. Old classics look great but are generally a pain in the arse to live with.
Classic cars are light, small. Chassis not designed for heavy weight = doesn’t work
The mini in the video weighs 75kg more than the original so it's hardly outside the design parameters.
As for not seeing the point - that's fine, I don't see the point in owning classics either, but whatever, each to his own as long as it doesn't harm anyone else.
I'd love a Citroen DS or SM electrified. Tie fighter noise optional.
Yes! I think a DS is a perfect candidate for electrification. It's supposed to be elegant and graceful and refined.
An FJ40 or a Classic Range Rover would be good, too. Because the engine is just a tool in those, really.
I've seen aircooled Porsches electrified, and that's just utter sacrilege.
An electric Mini Marcos might be a bit of fun...