Conversion... Taking out an engine and putting in an an electric motor...

Darragh29

Just wondering with all the talk of CO2 emissions, I read in the Sunday Business Post yesterday that the government will be pushing a scheme for new fully electric cars. I'm just wondering has anyone thought of the idea of converting cars that currently run on a hydrocarbon fuel into a fully electric car???

Basically this would involve taking out the engine and transmission and putting in its place an electric motor or two and a drivetrain/transmission system and batteries. Does anyone think there could be a future industry in this???

Max_Damage

http://www.evalbum.com/689

Matt Simis

Darragh29 wrote: »

Basically this would involve taking out the engine and transmission and putting in its place an electric motor or two and a drivetrain/transmission system and batteries. Does anyone think there could be a future industry in this???

That would entirely depend on the cost of conversion and the markets willingness to void all warranties and likely severely reduce performance. Whats the consumer benefit?

craichoe

Top Speed 56 MPH (90 KPH)
or more down a steep hill
Acceleration 0 to 25 MPH in about 40 seconds
Range 10 Miles (16 Kilometers)
(with 100-200m hill climes)

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

Cosmo K

a better example:

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=C3WZlFtPfyM&feature=related

woop

actually on this note I was looking into a vectrix scooter
jay leno had one on his site seem fairly good.......cheap on electricity and theyre available in ireland too

Del2005

Darragh29 wrote: »

Basically this would involve taking out the engine and transmission and putting in its place an electric motor or two and a drivetrain/transmission system and batteries. Does anyone think there could be a future industry in this???

You don't need these with an electric car. The motor should directly power the wheels to reduce losses.

DublinDilbert

Darragh29 wrote: »

Just wondering with all the talk of CO2 emissions, I read in the Sunday Business Post yesterday that the government will be pushing a scheme for new fully electric cars. I'm just wondering has anyone thought of the idea of converting cars that currently run on a hydrocarbon fuel into a fully electric car???

Basically this would involve taking out the engine and transmission and putting in its place an electric motor or two and a drivetrain/transmission system and batteries. Does anyone think there could be a future industry in this???

For most EV conversions leave the transmission in place (usually in 3rd gear), and bolt an adapter plate onto the bell housing of the gear box. The motor and coupling then bolt onto the adapter plate. The housing of the motor must be supported by the engine mountings.

The most important thing is the adapter plate and coupling, these can be purchased for various cars. In the US the Mark1 Golf (VW rabbit) was very popular with lots of conversion kits available.

Most DIY conversions use a DC motor, either Series or SepEx, and an off the shelf motor controller (Kurtis, Sevcon, SRE)... You can't use standard Lead Acid car batteries, you need "deep cycle" batteries, which typically have "Gel cells". You would need to make up battery boxes to hold the batteries.

On a large scale I'm not sure there would be an industry doing conversions, but I'm sure there would be an industry in making low cost electric cars for cities. If you look at the distances people are travelling in the major cities in Ireland, an electric car would be quite practical.

Del2005 wrote: »

You don't need these with an electric car. The motor should directly power the wheels to reduce losses.

Typically you will need some sort of gearing between the motor and the road wheels. It will all depend on the torque speed curve of the electric motor being used.

Max_Damage

I remember seeing on eBay a while back a Fiat Strada and a Renault Le Car (R5) for sale in America with electric motors fitted. They also had 4 speed gearboxes aswell.

Darragh29

Sorry, this link was for another thread... Removed...