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Old British Leaf, 500e or i3 swaps

3K views 10 replies 5 participants last post by  scottherrington 
#1 ·
I’m new to this forum and considering an ev conversion of an old British sports car. Here’s my first basic question:
is it possible to take a complete system - motor, inverter, charger, battery pack, gearbox, etc. from one of the above and transplant it into an old car? No need for a/c, power steering or brakes, navigation, etc. just ev propulsion.
Tons of other mechanical issues, of course, like where to put it all and how to graft the drivetrain to the old wheels but I’ve seen lots of complicated talk here over pairing old packs and computer/dashboard error messages from the donor car to the new.
Can a swap happen in isolation, leaving old systems on their own and an independent ev system powering the ride?
Thanks so much!
 
#2 ·
Hi and welcome to the forum,
Yes, not sure and let's see [emoji848]
There is a Leaf into Mini conversion on this forum (tremelune)
A Leaf into rx8 on YouTube and on here (south West EV UK)
And I am trying an i3 into a mini (mini Life Crisis on YouTube)
I don't know of any Zoe conversions but this could be due to the amount of lease batteries on these.

Sent from my moto g(8) power lite using Tapatalk
 
#5 ·
If you want to use a Leaf, you can now get the Resolve Controller which is standalone and lets you use all the parts on a donor leaf.


I just pulled the trigger for myself.
 
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#7 ·
Thank you for your thoughts on this. I've been scouting used Leafs. Interestingly, used ones (non-salvage) may be relatively affordable, too and so re-use or resale of other parts could be easier. Biggest problems seem to be battery tray mods from almost any car, and drivetrain connections. Lots of other big problems would still need attention! :unsure:

Still looking at other cars as well. i3's are expensive but for small sports cars, they are already rear drive - that could be an advantage for transplant. (Thanks for the YouTube reference.) Fiat 500e has smaller wheels - closer to old stuff like mine. That could also aid in the transplant process.

I will try to stay in touch on this project. Realistically, I should get my car on the road, as is, next month. Nothing like Spring driving to inspire improvements...
 
#9 ·
I think you are right. I was mistakenly thinking that the rear drive on an i3 was through a single drive shaft more like a conventional ICE connected to a rear differential. Seems I was wrong on that. The question becomes how to attach the motor and gearbox/axles in a car that was originally designed differently - with a front engine, rear drive. It becomes more of a mid-engine or rear-engine car driving the rear wheels. Have to find the room and structure depending on if the layout has the motor in front of the wheels or behind the wheels? I'm pretty sure I read in here(?) which cars have which layouts
.
Thanks.
 
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