Looks like the people at Electric GT are producing a self-contained EV conversion 'crate motor' with a V-engine form factor: https://www.autoblog.com/2019/10/14/electric-gt-crate-motor-ev-conversions/
In addition to the additional length issue, it will be interesting to see what the weight and cost come in at...But from a general packaging and marketing standpoint, I could totally see this concept becoming trendy.
It's interesting. I'm also curious about the cost and weight. I'm really curious how they are handling the ancillaries like heat and maybe A/C. And P/S in some cars.
The Fiat Spider conversion they built looks clean.
Probably sounds like heresy, but I kinda want for my Miata. It'd surely be a terrifying ride.
The real question is what's the cost?
that's awesome! didnt know of these guys but looks like they are doing some really cool stuff
are they supplying battery packs too , you need to get the weight correct ,
and the one EV motor conversion I have driven really showed how loud the gearbox really is !
But it looks like a good start.....
I was watching for the E-COPO crate, but this is extremely similar. Yes, please.
Their Tesla Swap sounds cooler - comes integrated into a subframe and you similarly bolt it on. And more power!
The 'hard' part of any EV conversion is not the motor, but where and how to install all the batteries.
Every car is not the same in this regard, so a generic motor kit isn't actually very helpful, but it does look cool if you think an electric car should look like a gas car.
In reply to nimblemotorsports :
I imagine it would help the swap if the motor/controller/etc. fits like an LSx. You could just buy one of the hundreds of swap kits and not have to engineer something yourself. Still doesn't help with the batteries though, like you said. Baby steps right?
thatsnowinnebago said:In reply to nimblemotorsports :
I imagine it would help the swap if the motor/controller/etc. fits like an LSx. You could just buy one of the hundreds of swap kits and not have to engineer something yourself. Still doesn't help with the batteries though, like you said. Baby steps right?
It does help, some. Since the electric motor is so small (relatively), the bulk of the base engine volume is made up of batteries and controllers. Which helps a lot.
And the fuel tank can easily be "replaced" by equal mass of batteries of a full tank.- tank isn't used anymore, so you can take it out, and place the modular batteries right in it's place.
The real problem is cost- when the swap is WAY more expensive than a reallly good crate motor, or perhaps way more expensive than the car will ever be worth..... If they can get the cost in the range of a crate motor + a handful of years of fuel- then I think we just hit the tipping point. Until then, swaps like this will be for the EV enthusiast. Which isn't a bad thing.
It's a fun idea, but the sad thing is that it's very transitory. As the build thread shows, this is a really cool thing but is really just to gussy-up electric motors.
Ian F said:It's interesting. I'm also curious about the cost and weight. I'm really curious how they are handling the ancillaries like heat and maybe A/C. And P/S in some cars.
The Fiat Spider conversion they built looks clean.
AC-50s are about 150lbs apice, per EV west. They are driving internal electrics off of a standard alternator- it's not the most efficient thing, but it's far easier than an array of DC-DC converters. AC and power steering/power braking would have to be solved via vaccum pump which some owners have done.
Heat is the wierd one. If you water-cool your batteries you can run a standard-ish heat exchanger like any other car, or you can get a ceramic heater like what was in the EV Smarts (basically giving you a space heater in your car). Some EVs even do a combination of both.
What I want to see is electric motors that are packaged like a FWD axle. Spline on one end to go into the hub and the other end mounts to the subframe.
I want an electric motor that looks like a gas motor about as much as I want a gas motor that looks like an electric one.
I understand the form factor thing, but that seems a bit silly,
In reply to aircooled :
Agreed. I like that it's in one chunk, and that it bolts to normal transmissions. That stuff is hard. I don't care what it looks like.
Batteries seem really hard though. I don't see any practical way to get a wad of kilowatt-hours without spending kilobucks. most donor ideas from EVs are big and wide, all wrong for retrofitting.
If anyone does this swap, I demand a "You're the One That I Want" video featuring the engine.
Ian F said:It's interesting. I'm also curious about the cost and weight. I'm really curious how they are handling the ancillaries like heat and maybe A/C. And P/S in some cars.
The Fiat Spider conversion they built looks clean.
If they are smart you'd have a DC DC converter or step-down. This would take your HV DC power and step it down to ~13V or ~48V. Then you run electric accessories found on many current production cars. For instance, some new Mercedes do not have an accessory belt, they are all electric.
FuzzWuzzy said:The real question is what's the cost?
It bothers me that they are not showing a price.
side note: they should offer a "stripper" package where you don't have to have the unsightly v8 LEGO block. And charge us real people way less for it.
Their electric FJ40 is an interesting proposition:
https://www.electricgt.com/toyota-fj40/
I haven't perused the build thread but instant torque sounds very appealing for offroading! And plays nicely with the outdoor conservation crowd.
porschenut said:What I want to see is electric motors that are packaged like a FWD axle. Spline on one end to go into the hub and the other end mounts to the subframe.
Hackaday just posted a link to this - a package that was developed for electric Mini conversions.
https://swindonpowertrain.com/uk/news.aspx
porschenut said:What I want to see is electric motors that are packaged like a FWD axle. Spline on one end to go into the hub and the other end mounts to the subframe.
Isn’t that what a Leaf is?
I don’t see the point in retaining a transmission. Swaps that just have a couple of half shafts to the wheels make more sense.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
With the transmission there is an easy button for reverse.
The easy button for reverse on an electric motor is to just run it backwards.
Rons said:In reply to Keith Tanner :
With the transmission there is an easy button for reverse.
Not really. All a controller has to do is swap the polarity on the motor to run it backwards, and even in the eBike world there might be a couple of cheap controllers that can't do that. Not only do you have full power reverse- you can reverse as fast as you go forward!
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