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Planning Open to Advice Coinversion

1364 Views 14 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Wayne Alexander
Hello!

I am very interested in building an EV conversion but would like some input before I start down a path that is too difficult to make a reality. I want to make this a straight forward build to the greatest extent possible. I am open to many different platforms. A porsche 356 would be a dream car but am open to others and listed a few below. Thank you!!
  • Your skill level with auto mechanics and fabrication
    • Welding, electrical though not with EV systems, plenty of suspension work, open to learning new things to make the thing work
  • The range you are hoping to get (how many miles/charge)
    • I would like to get in the 80-100 mile range if possible
  • What level of performance you are hoping to get
    • Mostly around town driving, I also would like to be able to commute on occasion 75mph on the highway for 20 miles
  • How much money you are willing to put into your project
    • I am thinking between 10-15k but probably need to hear what I should be expecting realistically. Cheaper the better that meets my range and top speed expectations
  • What parts you've already considered, if any.
    • Porsche 356
    • Saab 96
    • VW squareback
    • Modern Mini (clubman?)
    • VW Golf
    • Lowered jeep on street tires and suspension
    • I ideally want 4 seats for short drives under 20 miles on back roads, roof rack as a possibility would be great.
    • Open to any wagon or convertible that I could weld a roll cage in to function as a roof rack
  • Avoid: Vw Beetle, Tesla parts
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Hi, If you do everything yourself you are looking at about $35k just in parts. I dont think your budget is realistic, with all due respect.
For the range, I think the budget's tight but possible with the right car choice (not Jeep).

The 75MPH may be fantasy within that budget, though (again, not Jeep).

HP/kW is the other cost multiplier, besides range.

This assumes conversion cost, not the conversion targeted vehicle itself.
Thank you both for your replies. I will go back to the drawing board, adjust my expectations and find some more room in the budget.
The Saab 96 would definitely be interesting, but I don't think they have much room. I got sucked into restoring a 1973 Saab Sonnet and it has similar mechanics to the 96. Parts were very difficult to find. So just to get a mechanically sound Saab 96 might push your budget.

I think EV West has complete kits for the 356 and Squareback at roughly $8800 without battery pack. Might want to check out the performance they are pushing for those.
Every one wants the 400 mile range at 75 MPH in their Mini, OK where are you going to put all the cells ? all in the back seat area and next to you where the passenger seat was ? still not enough room, OK I have the solution . put the rest in a trailer. that will work NOT !!!!. people some how loose all common sense when they want to build a EV. small , every time, but they forget about battery space, and what will all that extra weight do to the suspension , steering and brakes.
You have to find a medium to work with, then they say, OK Ill get a Jeep Cherokee, now you have the room and your carrying more weight . your not going to get that long range and at that speed no matter what you do or who tells you different .
Manufactures have spent a billion dollars to research this and they still are putting out crap that is always barking down.
I think that Tesla ism the only one that has done well so far. Now there a full recall on the news to remove all the self driving crap
as for me I dont own a EV or do I want one. I do it as a business and its been very good, this may be my last year in it. age and health are working their magic on me , sell off everything , move back to Florida and drown shrimp
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Are you still out there? I may have mispoke - here is a living breathing example of a Saab 96 conversion! I may even look into one of these as my next project - if I survive this one!!

Every one wants the 400 mile range at 75 MPH in their Mini, OK where are you going to put all the cells ? all in the back seat area and next to you where the passenger seat was ? still not enough room, OK I have the solution . put the rest in a trailer. that will work NOT !!!!. people some how loose all common sense when they want to build a EV. small , every time, but they forget about battery space, and what will all that extra weight do to the suspension , steering and brakes.
You have to find a medium to work with, then they say, OK Ill get a Jeep Cherokee, now you have the room and your carrying more weight . your not going to get that long range and at that speed no matter what you do or who tells you different .
Manufactures have spent a billion dollars to research this and they still are putting out crap that is always barking down.
I think that Tesla ism the only one that has done well so far. Now there a full recall on the news to remove all the self driving crap
as for me I dont own a EV or do I want one. I do it as a business and its been very good, this may be my last year in it. age and health are working their magic on me , sell off everything , move back to Florida and drown shrimp

Offering my respects to you Mr. Wayne, I just wonder why you don't own an EV? I use my conversion on daily basis, have done it for the past 9 years, it's my "moving biz card", I have 200+ mile range, my Hybrid is used for extreme long distances only or I use a bicycle for shorter trips.

In the 2006 MINI we converted some years back we have 130 mile range, better and cheaper than the Stock OEM Electric MINI.

Conversions are the way to go! Conversions eliminate the cancer on earth (ICE), NO single TESLA, Rivian, Leaf, Bolt, i3, SmartED, BYD etc... eliminate any cancer, they just add traffic on streets and roads, and no OEM wants to work on this... that's perfect for EV Enthusiasts!
For me its not about saving the planet, it will take car of its self. once humans are gone things will get back to normal .
Im building Lotus 7s now. Scary fast and born to pollute. 300 HP on a car that weighs 1400 lbs . Im still making parts for EVs . but its more fun doing the 7s . the next one will be a Aerial Atom, 450 HP on a 1200 lb chassis .
cant live forever
Great projects

You will live forever.

I'm about to finish a 1955 Messerschmit conversion here, 3-wheels, 1 hub AC motor. This car came form Airplane industry after WWII, my customer has 3 of them, not a racing "bullet" but useful as NEV: 60MPH, 60Mile range, tree "e-Speeds: Normal, Sport and Turtle, better that Renault's Twizy.
have you any idea how much these things are worth ??? some have sold for over 100,000$ . dont screw it up, restore it to original condition
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I just got a reply from the owner $50,000usd, my conversion cost: $8,000 with Lithium, 9.6KW pack

We love is to leave the car as intact as possible, that's why a MINI Cooper is not a good candidate for conversion, there is no room for batteries, the MINI conversion is now 2 seats only. Back to the Messerschmitt, battery mounts have been finished with no single new hole on the firewall, we re-used existing screws, original pedals. The owner has the seats, cabin, lights, etc. He removed everything before the conversion. This car will look like it was

You can get one from Spain here messerschmitt kr 200 de segunda mano - Búsqueda de coche de segunda mano - el Parking (el-parking.es)

I think one of his cars has a damaged motor, waiting to be converted. The owner said he used to go to many places like Acapulco, Nevado de Toluca (volcano crater), etc.

This battery modules are beautiful: they can be turned ON or OFF, a very safe feature while installing everything, you can't abuse C rate, 377 x 2170 Samsung cells inside, there is no need to use power fuses anymore because there is a breaker, and look at the power wiring, very simple, BMS? It's all inside the module, no external control spaghetti wiring. BTW, I have stock of those modules 48V100Ah. We have to organize power, control and charge wiring, work in progress...
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Looks like your doing a good job, it will be the only one of its kind
I still get mails asking to do conversions, but im done, let some one else take over
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