[Electric Land Cruiser]

Aero drag will be your biggest nemesis at those high speeds. Everything else will be secondary. If you don't already have a car I suggest a convertible, then chop off the windshield and build a tonneau cover around everything but the driver and a small windshield like a 50s racecar. Otherwise you might consider chopping the windshield and lowering the roofline of whatever vehicle you choose. Frontal area is frontal area and you need to minimize it.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

Thanks guys for your input

The aero side of things we've got covered.
I've read the books, watched the video's, joined the ecomodder forum recently (long time lurker) and the team is very skilled to make it all happen.

So now we've got to cover the Driveline side of things.

Electric land cruiser, you have the leaf engine right?

Yes I'm using a LEAF motor as well as other parts and a Resolve-EV controller. It would be a good choice for you IMO as you could drop the FWD drivetrain in the front of another FWD car pretty easily. Also as to your question which is better FWD or RWD. It doesn't matter if the drivetrain is the same but typically RWD cars use a drive shaft and rear differential which reduce efficiency quite a bit. On the other hand RWD cars like the MR2 or Fiero use the same drivetrain as a FWD car, just in the back. Those have the same efficiency as a typical FWD car. For your project whatever is easiest, lightest, and simplest is best.

Do you have a vehicle yet or are you still looking?

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

We are dead set on a car but still have to buy the right example.

Well, go on spill the beans. What kind of car?? We're all dying to know plus it we can offer more tips.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

The OP is talking about going fast, over 100 MPH at least (he says "sub-120 MPH). All things being equal at 100 MPH the car will be using 4 times the power as it will be at 50 MPH because of the inverse-square law.

He's going to need literally as many batteries as possible.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

If this was a real thing I would choose a 2011/2012 Leaf that had a dead battery and then buy a couple 40kwh leaf batteries. You could probably actually swap a Leaf battery on the side of the road in 10-15 minutes with a couple guys who had practiced it.

Then add taller wheels/tires like brain said if you really need more than 94 MPH (gen 1 LEAFs go 94).

However I'm beginning to realize that this isn't anything. Road rallies and time trials etc are real but you need to have permission from local authorities and sponsors and this electric fast and furious meme doesn't have any of that.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

Looks guys, he's asking for our help on how to build an ALL OUT RANGE and EFFICIENCY build. He NEEDS OUR help.

Well, he already decided on the car and the aero and the batteries so besides that he's all ears!

I recommended a LEAF because you wanted to explore battery swapping and you can swap the battery in a LEAF in a matter of minutes.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

Are you being helpful or sarcastic?
I haven't come across another thread on this forum where the car choice is questioned.

I contacted a company that deals with leaf batteries daily, because I love the idea of a swappable leaf (partial) pack in the trunk. A bit like a fuel cell range extender.

So I thank all of you very much for each and any advice concerning the build.

However, others have advised me to build the permanent pack out of cooled cells.

I have much to learn regarding building an EV, and look up to all you experienced builders with the utmost respect.
So when a new suggestion pops up, I try to pursue that info and hope to end up with a viable building plan.

For now I am learning, contacting the right people, simulating costs, and trying to come up with the best possible build

Why do you want to cool the pack? More lines to disconnect when swapping out the battery in your "all our range and efficiency" race or whatever. The LEAF battery only gets a few degrees above ambient in my experience owning one for years and driving it at 94 MPH a lot.

Good luck sounds like you already know everything needed you just have to build it now!

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

No I don't! I value your opninion as well as the person's who suggested that my application required cooled batteries. Since I don't know half of it I need more info. Which you've only now just given me.
Actual info from your own application in practice.

So thank you for that. Please understand that I am between a rock and a hard place with all these opinions. I need to sift through all of that info and ask the right questions. I'm sorry you feel offended when I do...

But what I'm talking about is a cooled permanent pack, and a swappable trunk pack. It seems logical that the swappable pack be not cooled. (In my OP I had no idea some EV's had aircooled batteries)

Somebody gave me the advice to use a cooled pack in my application. If you feel that this is not necessary, I invite you to share your opinion.
This way you both help me out, and I learn more.

This whole thread is meant to get to know '"all" possibilities.

Swapping half of a battery just doubled your problems. Let's say you drive your car and run the battery down. You pull over to swap the fully charged pack in the trunk. Now, how do you keep that fully charged pack from discharging into the empty pack in the car instead of driving down the road? And now the permanent pack in the car is just a lump of dead weight providing nothing to move the car?

Your conundrum over which motor is more efficient, Nissan or Tesla? Which battery cells have the highest energy density? Etc etc are really trivial questions. Your range is going to be far more affected by 5-10 MPH variation on your top speed than any of those other variables.

You want to know "all" possibilities except the possibility of using a different, more suited vehicle, for instance. And if you start building a vehicle before looking at a rule book for the competition you are entering, you're going to have a bad time.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

It's hard to give advice without knowing the distance you intend to go and the average speed. EV conversions are hard enough as it is, let alone all the swapping etc. There are many way to swap out part of the pack, technically it's not a big deal. If you can convert a car to EV then that is a piece of cake. Like I said you are diving into such minute details and requirements without even stating how far or how fast you want to go.

Like I said in my first post based solely on the title of this thread I'd pick a 90s convertible like a Sebring or Toyota Solara, hack the windshield off and build a tonneau, and do a LEAF motor in front and pack as many batteries as possible everywhere else.

 

[Electric Land Cruiser]

Just buy a Model S and be sure to pay for supercharging.