Electric conversion kits

[uNi]

Has anyone been following this? Would be interesting for classic/older cars, here's a beetle:

 

 

 

There's also a Fiat 126 that's now road legal here in PT, will see if I can find a link for it.

[HeavyDuke]

Yuk, i would rather no longer drive my car and keep it with its V8 then convert it to this boring soundless crap.

[SouthLand]

Yuk, i would rather no longer drive my car and keep it with its V8 then convert it to this boring soundless crap.

 

I agree.

[Murciélago]

Yuk, i would rather no longer drive my car and keep it with its V8 then convert it to this boring soundless crap.

You're probably one of those people that hates cars changing lmao. "Boring soundless crap", you've probably never even sat in an electric car. Edited September 29, 2016 by KifflomBroBro

[Outcast]

 

Yuk, i would rather no longer drive my car and keep it with its V8 then convert it to this boring soundless crap.

You're probably one of those people that hates cars changing lmao. "Boring soundless crap", you've probably never even sat in an electric car.

 

I had the chance to drive a Tesla Model S a couple years ago and I found the road noise quite intrusive. The Tesla guy kept telling me "look how quiet it is!" and all I could do was just smile and nod while thinking "Buddy, I come from driving Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. This sh*t ain't that quiet in comparison".

[epoxi]

It's a great idea for classic cars which never had decent engines to begin with, like the Beetle and DeLorean. Petrol engine swaps are a full engineering project: engine blocks you can't reshape, complex wiring looms, the dilemma of beefing up the transmission, having to fashion your own parts.

 

By comparison electric parts are easy to install and get smaller every day, they definitely have their place in the market.

[Murciélago]

 

 

Yuk, i would rather no longer drive my car and keep it with its V8 then convert it to this boring soundless crap.

You're probably one of those people that hates cars changing lmao. "Boring soundless crap", you've probably never even sat in an electric car.

 

I had the chance to drive a Tesla Model S a couple years ago and I found the road noise quite intrusive. The Tesla guy kept telling me "look how quiet it is!" and all I could do was just smile and nod while thinking "Buddy, I come from driving Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. This sh*t ain't that quiet in comparison".

 

Well, Tesla's a relatively new brand, give em a few years to improve on their technology and I'm sure their cars will get quieter.

[Outcast]

I'm still very intrigued by EVs but apart from not having to pay for gas and the instant torque I've found everything else to be subpar. I'd definitely like a Tesla as a daily driver, but not at that price point. 100k for W221 interior parts and crappy leather, no thank you. I'd drive my S350 around as a daily over a Tesla any day of the week. That being said, I wouldn't mind picking a Tesla up second hand if the prices drop significantly.

Edited September 30, 2016 by Outcast

[Murciélago]

I see what you mean, I'd personally get a Tesla just for the acceleration and huge touch screen haha (Once the price drops of course)

Edited September 30, 2016 by KifflomBroBro

[Outcast]

Oh for sure, that touch screen is just marvelous to look at! I really like how they've done something similar in the new Volvo XC90 as well. The issue I see with massive touchscreens like these are with updates a couple years down the road getting less and less responsive (think an iPhone 4 running iOS 7). Unless you're able to take the car back to get the electronics upgraded I think it'd be a major issue to drive around in something that lags like crazy every time you want to change the climate control settings or something.

[owl-man]

The issue I see with massive touchscreens like these are with updates a couple years down the road getting less and less responsive (think an iPhone 4 running iOS 7).

As someone running iOS 8 on their 4S, that truth in that sentence hits real hard. Onto the topic, this conversion is pretty cool, 308 engine got destroyed and it was converted to a EV.

 

Environmentally friendly, pisses off the purists, what more could you need?

[Dottie]

I wouldn't mind picking a Tesla up second hand if the prices drop significantly.

Something tells me if Aston Martin made an EV, that'll definitely happen

 

These conversions seem pretty neat for those willing to spend the money converting the car and don't mind the lack of engine noise. Looks like a good alternative to those godawful, ugly ass EV's that exist on the market today.

[epoxi]

Touchscreens in cars are dumb. Everything should be possible to operate with buttons or other controls which you can use without looking. Putting a touchscreen in the car isn't futuristic or fashionable, it's just lazy ergonomics.

[Dottie]

Seems like touch screens just contributes to the distracted driving, but poorly placed buttons (like hiding them or awkward layout) can easily cause distraction too. My biggest concern would be the touch screen responsiveness as mentioned earlier. Laggy ass gps devices and infotainment systems are beyond annoying

[unbid]

I might go on a neutral side in here (although very subjective). I think the idea itself is very cool, especially for old cars with underpowered engine but don't want to revamp most parts for an engine swap. Plus, maybe someday electric converted classics are allowed on areas with age restriction on cars (e.g. Paris) so you can enjoy driving it in said places. But as a car guy, I would miss the engine purr and growl from the conventional engine. Battery capability might still become the problem of current electric cars (capacity will deplete in high rate as car age)

[epoxi]

areas with age restriction on cars (e.g. Paris)

Oh wow, I just looked this up. I had no idea cars made before 1997 were banned from the capital!

 

That's even more uninformed and arbitrary than the London "all hybrids are exempt from congestion charge" proviso...which has now thankfully been dropped in favour of emissions-based exemptions which are at least somewhat empirical.

Edited October 1, 2016 by epoxi

[MindCorrupt]

Honestly, if I was going to go down the route of electric it'd be on a motorbike. Comparable range with half the charge time and less than half the price.

 

But until we start seeing Mad Max levels of fuel scarcity, I wouldnt go near electric.

[Mark]

Thanks for the heads up uNi, this has piqued my interest. I had a small pipe dream of getting an old Mini and sticking either a 600cc bike engine or electric motor in it, along with some generic aftermarket handling upgrades. Just for the challenge and sh*ts and giggles of it really.

Edited October 5, 2016 by Mark

[Lurch]

I like the appeal of instant torque that electric engines provide. Certain cars would definitely lose their soul from such a swap. A Beetle would be one of them. A Bug without some noisy boxer engine sounds like it would be pretty boring.

My biggest complain so far is weight. Even if you're only adding 130 lbs in something like that, that's still quite a bit of weight on a sub 2k lbs car. Once this tech is a bit lighter (and the lighter stuff is more readily available), I could see E swaps being pretty appealing.

[uNi]

Other factor is the cost, as it's DIY right now it can get pretty expensive. The guy that converted the Fiat said he used around 8k euros in it (legal bureaucracy included), but should be able to drop it to 5k in the next install.