looks like a great candidate.... why do you HAVE to change the brakes? I would really hesitate to mess with brakes of all things.
If you go with a reasonable Lithium pack, you will finish pretty much at stock weight, no real need to beef up brakes much.
I totally agree. I would rather not mess with the brakes. My alternative (described below) is to use a car older than 1993 which I dont want to.
I'll try to explain the Swedish regulations for converting cars (as I understand them).
If you convert an older car (< 1993) everything is pretty easy. But, if you convert a car newer than 1993 things get messy. Basicly the are two categories of converted cars, "changed vehicle" (ändrat fordon in Swedish) and "rebuilt vehicle" (ombyggd fordon). A changed vehicle implies less changes and a rebuilt vehicle implies more changes done to the car.
For a car newer than 1993, if you only change the engine (which an electric conversion is) you need the car manufacturers certificate that the new engine is OK to put into the car. That means getting VAG to certify that the electric motor I have put in is OK for the A2. This they will never do! And this closes the path to have a newer car classed as a changed vehicle. You have to go the other path, making it a rebuilt vehicle.
In order for a conversion to be categorized as rebuilt vehicle at least two out of three major components of the car have to be changed. The major components are 1) engine and drive train, 2) brake system, 3) steering. And since the brakes are easier to change than the steering this is the way most car converters in Sweden do it.
To summarize. I you want to convert a car to electric in Sweden, either use a car older than 1993 or also change the brakes or steering.
The good thing about this is that the certification procedure actually is easier for a rebuilt vehicle than for a changed vehicle. There is an organzation called The National Swedish Vehicle Builders Organisation (Svenska Fordonsbyggares RiksOrganisation, SFRO) who perform a pre-approval of the car and the official certification agencies basicly only check that SFRO have performed the steps they need to do and then issue a new certification. Another good thing is that there are no EMC requirements for rebuilt vehicles, only recommendations (Note: this is not 100% confirmed yet).
So, some things get easier, while some things gets harder when converting newer cars in Sweden.
i guess most people would agree that this is a crazy. The cars will not get any safer for amateurs are changing important safety systems, like the brakes. Personally, I believe this is a huge limiter on the DIY electric conversions. There is an ongoing discussion about easying the regulations for converting vehicles to electric, but, SFRO representatives do not think that will happen in near time.
DISCLAIMER, This is the way I understand the Swedish regulations. It is not an official statement!
