[Duncan]

You REALLY want to help newbies at this? Post up a correlation between electric motors and ICE setups. They are NOT the same HP or performance, but there MUST be a correlation to help people get an idea on what they need to select to get the performance they want.

The trouble is that there isn't

Even with IC engines there is a difference between the "I want 200,000 miles of reliable operation" and I want to go really really fast for a few seconds

With electric motors that difference is much much greater!

I'm using a 10 kW motor - but it's propelling a road legal car up to 93 mph at the end of the 1/8th - I'm "feeding it" over 400 kW

The various production EV's have motors intended to run for 300,000 miles with no warranty failures
How much more will they take in a car used on the track?

You will probably find the batteries and controller much more of a limit

 

[Duncan]

..The short answer was that the Leaf motor/battery is the best bang-for-buck, and the Tesla stuff is the best bang. Both solutions have a lot more hassle than off-the-shelf components, but the price for performance plummets when you deviate from OEM salvage.

Disagree I would say that the price for performance bifurcates
You can go to "New" parts especially AC - which are expensive and wimpy
Or Old DC parts which are a LOT cheaper than salvage EV parts and at least as powerful - sophisticated? NO - powerful - YES

 

[Duncan]

A Leaf motor puts out over 200ftlb, runs to 10k RPM, has an option for 8:1 gear reduction if you want it, and can be had for $500 (plus gearbox). What forklift motor can touch that for a car you would want to drive on the street?

My 10 kW Hitachi forklift motor cost $100 and in my "Street car" will blow away anything with a "Leaf" motor

But as Brian said I was comparing it to aftermarket motors NOT OEM salvage which is definitely the best way to go these days